Problems with mounting external (SATA/USB) drive

[oygle]

I have a 500 Gb external drive. It has a switch to use either USB or ESATA connection. I can use it okay with USB, but as there is a lot of files to copy to it, I would prefer to use the SATA/ESATA connection.

Have modified /etc/fstab to include the mount parameters. Reboot and the computer just hangs for about 5 mins at post BIOS, trying to auto detect the external drive I think. It does into Ubuntu and a screen with options to Skip, Wait, etc. All up it will not recognise the drive in ESATA mode. When I try to do a manual mount, I get an error message:



sudo mount -a
[sudo] password for fred:
mount: special device UUID=43eb-0004 does not exist

Here is some info:


fred@fred:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="43eb-0001" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda3: UUID="43eb-0002" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: UUID="43eb-0003" TYPE="swap"
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ ls /dev/disk/by-uuid/ -alh
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 100 Feb 21 19:08 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 100 Feb 21 19:08 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:08 43eb-0001 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:08 43eb-0002 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:09 43eb-0003 -> ../../sda5
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=43eb-0001 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /home was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=43eb-0002 /home ext3 defaults 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=43eb-0003 none swap sw 0 0
# / external hard drive - 500Gb
UUID=43eb-0004 /media/externaldisk ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
//192.168.1.100/Win95B /media/windowsshare cifs guest,uid=1000,iocharset=utf8 0 0
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ sudo lshw -class disk
[sudo] password for fred:
*-cdrom
description: CD-R/CD-RW writer
product: CD-RW SOHR-5239S
vendor: LITE-ON
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@5:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom2
logical name: /dev/cdrw2
logical name: /dev/sr1
version: 2S08
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
*-disk
description: ATA Disk
product: ST3500320AS
vendor: Seagate
physical id: 0
bus info: scsi@0:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sda
version: SD15
serial: 9QM5N21A
size: 465GiB (500GB)
capabilities: partitioned partitioned:dos
configuration: ansiversion=5 signature=0003fa35
*-cdrom
description: DVD-RAM writer
product: DRW-2014S1T
vendor: ASUS
physical id: 1
bus info: scsi@1:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/cdrom
logical name: /dev/cdrw
logical name: /dev/dvd
logical name: /dev/dvdrw
logical name: /dev/sr0
version: 1.01
capabilities: removable audio cd-r cd-rw dvd dvd-r dvd-ram
configuration: ansiversion=5 status=nodisc
*-disk
description: SCSI Disk
physical id: 0.0.0
bus info: scsi@4:0.0.0
logical name: /dev/sdb
size: 2TiB (2199GB)
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ sudo blkid -o full -s UUID
/dev/sda1: UUID="43eb-0001"
/dev/sda3: UUID="43eb-0002"
/dev/sda5: UUID="43eb-0003"
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ /usr/bin/udisks --mount /dev/sdb
Mount failed: Error mounting: mount: you must specify the filesystem type

fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ mount
/dev/sda1 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/sda3 on /home type ext3 (rw)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/fred/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=fred)
//192.168.1.100/Win95B on /media/windowsshare type cifs (rw)
fred@fred:~$
fred@fred:~$ ls -al /dev/disk/by-uuid/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 100 Feb 21 19:08 .
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 100 Feb 21 19:08 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:08 43eb-0001 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:08 43eb-0002 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb 21 19:09 43eb-0003 -> ../../sda5
fred@fred:~$


I can't figure out why this external drive won't mount in SATA mode. Hmm, GParted says /dev/sdb is 2 Tb (it's only 500 GB I think) and "unallocated" ??

PLEASE note, wherever you see either 43eb-0001, 43eb-0002, 43eb-0003 or 43eb-0004, these are not the correct UUID, only for display purposes.

[sudodus]

The computer I'm using right now is booted from an SSD connected via eSATA. There should be no particular difficulties with eSATA.

Your drive mounts properly when connected via USB. So the disk is OK, and the filesystem is OK.

I think something is wrong with the eSATA connection:

- the eSATA port in the computer (or electronics 'behind it')
- the cable
- the eSATA port in the external casing (or electronics 'behind it')

Can you test the external drive in another computer with eSATA?

Can you test with another cable?

Can you take the disk out of the casing and test it directly in a SATA port?

[oygle]

The computer I'm using right now is booted from an SSD connected via eSATA. There should be no particular difficulties with eSATA.

I have been looking at a replacement computer (Dell Optiplex 9020) and would like to get a SSD. Good to know others are using them.


Your drive mounts properly when connected via USB. So the disk is OK, and the filesystem is OK.

The KDE partition manager says the drive has unallocated space ? I looked in the sys logs and found ..



21/02/14 19:49:59 asus64 kernel [ 2530.037539] EXT3-fs (sdb): error: can't find ext3 filesystem on dev sdb.
21/02/14 19:49:59 asus64 kernel [ 2530.062161] EXT4-fs (sdb): VFS: Can't find ext4 filesystem
21/02/14 20:31:17 asus64 ata_id[4262] HDIO_GET_IDENTITY failed for '/dev/sdb': Invalid argument



I think something is wrong with the eSATA connection:

- the eSATA port in the computer (or electronics 'behind it')
- the cable
- the eSATA port in the external casing (or electronics 'behind it')

Can you test the external drive in another computer with eSATA?

Can you test with another cable?

Can you take the disk out of the casing and test it directly in a SATA port?

I will check all of that, except I don't have another cable and the other computer is only SATA (internal). I'm wondering if I should reformat it to EXT4 ? It does have todays latest backup on it though.

[sudodus]

The KDE partition manager says the drive has unallocated space ? I looked in the sys logs and found ..

Maybe something is bad with the disk (physical or logical defect) after all


I will check all of that, except I don't have another cable and the other computer is only SATA (internal). I'm wondering if I should reformat it to EXT4 ? It does have todays latest backup on it though.

There are eSATA to SATA cables.

If you do not intend to connect the drive to Windows, it will be more efficient to use ext4.

If you want to or have to play very safely, you'll get another external drive, so that you will have a backup all the time. But I think the risk is small, that the computer (or file system) will be damaged while you re-format the external drive and make a new backup.

[oygle]

Maybe something is bad with the disk (physical or logical defect) after all

Had to reboot numerous times, as a few boots just hung. One msg at BIOS was about HDD failure, so looks like that drive is on the way out. Last time I poweed down, powered off the external, powered up the external drive, rebooted, and a msg about 679 days since checking, so it went into checking the drive. I waiting 15 mins or so, then pressed "C", and when it booted up, the drive mounted okay. I can see it appear in Dolphin and KDE partition manager recognises it. Tried a few commands to see the UUID, and that worked out.

I still think a reformat would be the best idea long term, to EXT4.

[sudodus]

Have you checked the S.M.A.R.T. information? If OK, then go ahead and reformat it with gparted!

Good luck :-)

[oygle]

Thanks, yes I ran a quick test and all the S.M.A.R.T. information was okay. Will reformat it tomorrow as it's late at night here.

Thanks for all your help. :)

[Morbius1]

fred@fred:~$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="43eb-0001" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda3: UUID="43eb-0002" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: UUID="43eb-0003" TYPE="swap"
Can someone explain to me how that's possible?

A UUID in the form of '43eb-0001' is that of a Fat32 partition not a Linux partition which has the form of "076426af-cbc5-4966-8cd4-af0f5c879646"

And this line references a UUID that does not exist:

UUID=43eb-0004 /media/externaldisk ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
You might want to run blkid in a way that resets its cache:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null

[SeijiSensei]

21/02/14 19:49:59 asus64 kernel [ 2530.037539] EXT3-fs (sdb): error: can't find ext3 filesystem on dev sdb.

This error indicates you are trying to mount the entire device, /dev/sdb, as a filesystem. You must mount the partitions on the device, e.g., /dev/sdb1, not the device itself.

[oygle]

Can someone explain to me how that's possible?

A UUID in the form of '43eb-0001' is that of a Fat32 partition not a Linux partition which has the form of "076426af-cbc5-4966-8cd4-af0f5c879646"

And this line references a UUID that does not exist:

You might want to run blkid in a way that resets its cache:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null

My apologies. I have made a note to ignore the actual UUID. :)



21/02/14 19:49:59 asus64 kernel [ 2530.037539] EXT3-fs (sdb): error: can't find ext3 filesystem on dev sdb.

This error indicates you are trying to mount the entire device, /dev/sdb, as a filesystem. You must mount the partitions on the device, e.g., /dev/sdb1, not the device itself.

Thanks for pointing that out. Am about to reformat the drive. Booting with it turned on takes a very long time, so I will just make one partition, and modify /etc/fstab accordingly to sdb1

[oygle]

GParted didn't take long. I thought it would reformat the whole drive, it just changed it to EXT4 and wiped all the data (which is okay)
The line in /etc/fstab for the mount of the external is .


# / external hard drive - 500Gb
UUID=43eb-0004 /media/externaldisk ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1

and it is mounted but I'm having permission errors. What do I change to give access to "guest" and no password please ?

43eb-0004 is used for privacy purposes only.

[sudodus]

If the partition is mounted on /media/externaldisk and you can see it and manage it with sudo (superuser do alias root permissions), you are now able to give any directory the access you want.

For example:

You can make a shared subdirectory and give user/group/others read/write/execute permissions (or set permissions for the whole partition)


sudo mkdir /media/externaldisk/shared
sudo chmod ugo+rwx /media/externaldisk/shared


The files that are created in this directory should be available for all logged in users except guest. But if you copy files to the directory and preserve their permissions, you may have to change them afterwards to let the other users access them.

As guest I can see that a file exists in the directory /home/shared, but I am not allowed to open it. I can also see the /tmp directory and create files there, but not open files created by other users. I tried it in Lubuntu version 13.10.

I guess the system is made like this for security reasons and I don't know how to increase the permissions for the guest user.

If it is not OK for you to create normal user (for example 'friends') and set log in without password for 'friends', you have to wait for help from someone else.

[oygle]

Thanks for explaining that. Have done the cmod and all files under that now are okay for accessing, viewing, writing. I'm not concerned with other users, as I'm the only one who uses this computer. The only reason I mentioned guest was because another mount had this in /etc/fstab



//192.168.1.100/Win95B /media/windowsshare cifs guest,uid=1000,iocharset=utf8 0 0


so I thought I had to modify this line ..



# / external hard drive - 500Gb
UUID=43eb-0004 /media/externaldisk ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1


in the same manner, to enable access to everyone else (other than sudo). It's all working fine now, so I will mark the thread as solved. Thanks for your help.

[sudodus]

I'm glad it works :-)

Please click on Thread Tools at the top of the page and mark this thread as SOLVED

[oygle]

I don't think I'm mounting this correctly, after having read https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Mount/ , and the problems I had with File system root has only 0 bytes disk space remaing (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2207307)

I only want the mount to be physical on the external drive, and logical on /dev/sda1. Seems it was physical on /dev/sda1 as well as physical on the external drive.

I'm sure a "mount point" can be logical, acting like a symbolic link. Like in ~/.gvs path

Can someone explain please.

[oygle]

Now when I boot and the external drive is NOT powered on, Ubuntu hangs, no message. There used to be a message about "press S to skip".

Anyway, I press "S" even though there is no message, and Ubuntu boots up okay.

Also, Ubuntu at boot, tries 3 times to access a shared mount on another computer, when that computer is powered off.

It's not a clean boot, possibly the lines in /etc/fstab need modifying slightly.



~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=4ce2075s-8f01 / ext3 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /home was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=4ce2075s-8f02 /home ext3 defaults 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=4ce2075s-8f03 none swap sw 0 0
# / external hard drive - 500Gb
UUID=4ce2075s-8f04 /media/externaldisk ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
//192.168.1.100/Win95B /media/windowsshare cifs guest,uid=1000,iocharset=utf8 0 0


4ce2075s-8f0n are not the real UUID's

[sudodus]

If you use the option 'noauto' for the drives that are not always connected, the computer will not complain, but it will not automatically mount them either.

Modify /etc/fstab like this


# external hard drive - 500Gb
UUID=4ce2075s-8f04 /media/externaldisk ext4 noauto,errors=remount-ro 0 1

-o-

So you should mount them manually when it is time to do it. If you use a label it will be easy.

For example the label 'data': Use the full and correct UUID to specify the external disk (instead of 4ce2075s-8f04)


sudo tune2fs -L data UUID=4ce2075s-8f04...

and then you can mount with


sudo mount -L data

[oygle]

If you use the option 'noauto' for the drives that are not always connected, the computer will not complain, but it will not automatically mount them either.

Thanks for explaining that. I will modify /etc/fstab as you have instructed and give the external drive a label. I must say that 13.10 has less problems with mounting, than 12.04

Oygle