[SOLVED] Seagate external USB hard drive not mounting

[YAOMTC]

With Hardy, a Maxtor external drive needed no manual mounting, as it needed on Feisty. However, this Seagate one does not automatically mount, and I can't figure out what the command is. I've tried a previously listed "fix":
sudo mkdir /mnt/harddrive
sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /mnt/harddrive
but that didn't work:
mount: /dev/sda1 already mounted or /mnt/harddrive busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/sda1 is mounted on /
Then I tried switching in sdb1 instead of sda1, but nothing happened there.

Unfortunately, my sister who I'm borrowing this from doesn't know the capacity, and it doesn't look like it has a model number or name on it.

[zoiks]

Monitor the file /var/log/messages to see what device it's showing up as, as well as look for potential problems automounting. For example, in an open window try "sudo tail -f /var/log/messages" and then plugging in your device.

[YAOMTC]

Result of 'sudo tail -f /var/log/messages':

Jun 3 17:22:57 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17033.543594] usb 5-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
Jun 3 17:23:04 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.755473] usb 5-5: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Jun 3 17:23:04 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.843104] usbcore: registered new interface driver libusual
Jun 3 17:23:04 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.869092] Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
Jun 3 17:23:04 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.870181] scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Jun 3 17:23:05 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.871064] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
Jun 3 17:23:05 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17040.871070] USB Mass Storage support registered.
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.336215] scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access ST316002 3A 8.01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.346951] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 312581808 512-byte hardware sectors (160042 MB)
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.348282] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.350013] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 312581808 512-byte hardware sectors (160042 MB)
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.351263] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.351276] sdb: sdb1
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.374003] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
Jun 3 17:23:10 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17046.374076] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
Then after powering off:
Jun 3 17:27:59 YAOMTC-1 kernel: [17334.496328] usb 5-5: USB disconnect, address 4

EDIT: Result of "sudo fdisk -l":
Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0009106b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 18703 150231816 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 18704 19457 6056505 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 18704 19457 6056473+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2d4d776f

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 19455 156272256 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
So... It's FAT32. Is there anything I can do with that?

[YAOMTC]

.

[zoiks]

So after

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/harddrive


it still doesn't mount? (Assuming /mnt/harddrive exists)? Silly question - are you sure it's vfat and not ntfs?

[YAOMTC]

Well, no. I'm not sure what it is, exactly. It could be ntfs. But... it seems replacing "vfat" with "ntfs" doesn't work, and results in:
NTFS signature is missing.
Failed to mount '/dev/sdb1': Invalid argument
The device '/dev/sdb1' doesn't have a valid NTFS.
Maybe you selected the wrong device? Or the whole disk instead of a
partition (e.g. /dev/hda, not /dev/hda1)? Or the other way around?
So... I'm doing something wrong here, but what?

[YAOMTC]

.

[YAOMTC]

.

[YAOMTC]

Still haven't gotten it to mount.

[medic2000]

Post the output of "sudo fdisk -l" If it is ntfs and i think it is first install the ntfs-3g if not installed. Then mount it like:
"ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1(or sdc1 whatever it is) /your_mountpointer.
And visit www.ntfs-3g.org
Additionally read "man ntfs-3g"

[YAOMTC]

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0009106b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 18703 150231816 83 Linux
/dev/sda2 18704 19457 6056505 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 18704 19457 6056473+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2d4d776f

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 19455 156272256 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
So... It's FAT32. Is there anything I can do with that?

[YAOMTC]

.

[slibuntu]

Ok, its FAT32, and its detected under /dev/sdb1.

Make a mount point in /media by running sudo mkdir /media/sdb1

Now, to actually mount the drive, try the following
sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

I cant think of any reason that would not work.

[YAOMTC]

Finally, it mounts! Thanks a lot!

[gatorbrit]

Ok, its FAT32, and its detected under /dev/sdb1.

Make a mount point in /media by running sudo mkdir /media/sdb1

Now, to actually mount the drive, try the following
sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

I cant think of any reason that would not work.

Hi - I was having the same problem - and this mounts the seagate external hard disk fine. But it only is read only. How do I change permissions?

Thanks

Rich

[slibuntu]

There's a fix for that too, although I'm having the same problem and it didn't work for me, see this (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=835810&page=2) thread.
The workaround that seems to work for alot of people is to run this command ;

sudo chown slibuntu:slibuntu -R /media/sdb1

Replacing slibuntu with your user name and if your mount point is different to the one above, replacing /media/sdb1 with your mount point.