Seagate hard drives that come in 512e format are not in the ideal configuration for `ashift=12` in ZFS pools, so we need to prepare them to be 4kn. First we need to connect the hard drive to a sata controller, not a USB enclosure of any sort. Next we use the openSeaChest tools to manipulate the seagate hardware. ```sh $ nix shell 'nixpkgs#parted' 'nixpkgs#openseachest' ``` Then we scan for attached drives so we can update firmware if necessary. ```sh $ sudo openSeaChest_Firmware --scan ``` Flashing firmware ```sh $ sudo openSeaChest_Firmware -d /dev/sdb --downloadFW "/path/to/EvansExosX16SATA-STD-512E-SN04.LOD" ``` Power cycle the hard drive Then get the available sector sizes ```sh $ sudo openSeaChest_FormatUnit -d /dev/sdb --showSupportedFormats ``` Now we can switch the sector size ```sh $ sudo openSeaChest_FormatUnit -d /dev/sdb --setSectorSize=4096 --confirm this-will-erase-data ``` Disk is blank, so use parted to `mklabel gpt`