External hard drive not detected on 9.10

[Leppie]

try loading the usb_storage module:

modprobe usb_storage

then connect the usb drive and see if it is detected

[Rodemire]

I had a similar problem a few months back that just disappeared later. At that time, I did not investigate it. Can you try with a different kernel and see if you are able to read the drive?
On googling your dmesg error: usb_storage: `' invalid for parameter `delay_use'
you might want to try setting usb_storage.delay_use=1 and see if that helps.
This is in the file /etc/default/grub for the GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT variable. Once you set this, run "sudo update-grub2" and then reboot.
If it does not help, just revert back to the original file and run sudo update-grub2 again.

Could you please show me a screenshot of how this will look like in the file (/etc/default/grub). I tried it and it didnt seem to change anything, and i am now thinking maybe i didnt do it correctly.

[Rodemire]

try loading the usb_storage module:

modprobe usb_storage

then connect the usb drive and see if it is detected

Hi Leppie,

the command gives the following output,

 WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong into /etc/modprobe.d/.
WARNING: All config files need .conf: /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vmc, it will be ignored in a future release.
FATAL: Error inserting usb_storage (/lib/modules/2.6.31-14-generic-pae/kernel/drivers/usb/storage/usb-storage.ko): Operation not permitted

Thats not good right?!

PS: It still doesnt pick up the hard drive after the modprobe.
Thanks for your help thus far guys.

[Leppie]

sorry, you need root permissions to do that:

sudo modprobe usb_storage

also move the modprobe.conf (but do not overwrite an already existing modprobe.conf in the destination dir):

sudo mv /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf

[Rodemire]

sorry, you need root permissions to do that:

sudo modprobe usb_storage

also move the modprobe.conf (but do not overwrite an already existing modprobe.conf in the destination dir):

sudo mv /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf

the results above are after i had done it with sudo. With or without sudo it still presents the same results.

I will move the .conf, what does that do? If i may ask.

Thanks Leppie, i know this must be mind boggling right now and infuriating but i really appreciate the help hey.

[Leppie]

it should contain the parameters for the usb_module to be used when loading the module.

could you post the contents of the other file mentioned in the error /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist-vmc and the file /etc/blacklist.conf? (and maybe the output of "ls -l /etc/modprobe.d/")

[Rodemire]

also move the modprobe.conf (but do not overwrite an already existing modprobe.conf in the destination dir):

sudo mv /etc/modprobe.conf /etc/modprobe.d/modprobe.conf

Hi Leppie,

This piece of code turned out to be the winning one. Moving the modprobe.conf to /etc/modprobe.d was what was needed. In some way it now makes sense to me the error messages i was receiving. Basically my modprobe.conf was in the wrong folder hence it giving the following warning.

WARNING: Deprecated config file /etc/modprobe.conf, all config files belong into /etc/modprobe.d/.

Secondly, the modprobe.conf was not properly written, when i opened it it was written as:

 usb_storage.delay_use= 1

I noticed there was a space between the "=" and the "1", hence the reason why it was giving me this error:

 `' invalid for parameter `delay_use'

So i removed the space and my memory sticks and hard drives were automatically detected.

Looking back there was no way i could have understood what was happening without you guys, thanks again Leppie and john newbuntu. Now i don't need to go to Windows to access my external drives.

[Leppie]

glad you've been able to resolve the issue