external drive is not being detected

sourcemorph · September 21, 2009, 10:06am

Hi, I have a Seagate 1 TB external drive which has three partitions (ext3, ~250 gb each one of them). I was copying some stuff on one of the partitions when my system froze (might have been because something else). And when I restarted, it asked me to repair the disk by logging as root, since it could not find all the drives mentioned in /etc/fstab. So I removed the entries of the external drive from /etc/fstab, and did a reboot. But now when I connect my external drive, it shows in the usb connectors but not in /dev/sd**, nor does it show in the yast2 partitioner application.

Here are some outputs,

I got this from the log file, when I plugged in my external drive.

<code>
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access Seagate FreeAgent 0132 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.00 TB/931 GiB)
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.00 TB/931 GiB)
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
Sep 21 13:20:56 glory kernel: sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
</code>

The output of lsusb was

<code>

lsusb

Bus 002 Device 030: ID 04f3:0230 Elan Microelectronics Corp.
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0bc2:3008 Seagate RSS LLC
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
</code>

The output of fdisk -l looks like this

<code>

fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xd0240c18

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 14593 117218241 f W95 Ext’d (LBA)
/dev/sda5 1 1567 12586864+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 1568 3134 12586896 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda7 3135 4701 12586896 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 4702 4897 1574338+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda9 4898 14593 77883088+ 83 Linux
</code>

and my /etc/fstab is

<code>

more /etc/fstab

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHV2120BH_PL_NW9XT723B7JW-part8 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHV2120BH_PL_NW9XT723B7JW-part5 / ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHV2120BH_PL_NW9XT723B7JW-part9 /home ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 2
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHV2120BH_PL_NW9XT723B7JW-part7 /storage ext3 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-FUJITSU_MHV2120BH_PL_NW9XT723B7JW-part6 /storage_fat vfat user,users,gid=users,umask=0002,utf8=true 0 0
</code>

Can somebody please help?

deano_ferrari · September 21, 2009, 11:16am

And when I restarted, it asked me to repair the disk by logging as root, since it could not find all the drives mentioned in /etc/fstab. So I removed the entries of the external drive from /etc/fstab, and did a reboot. But now when I connect my external drive, it shows in the usb connectors but not in /dev/sd**, nor does it show in the yast2 partitioner application.

It is not usual to include external partition entries in /etc/fstab.

At the very least, the external storage partitions should show up with ‘fdisk -l’ and ‘dmesg|tail’ should show something like

sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 234441648 512-byte hardware sectors (120034 MB)
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
sdc: sdc1 sdc2
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
usb-storage: device scan complete

Your log shows similar, but do you get the last line when external media plugged in? What is the output of

lsmod |grep usb_storage

sourcemorph · September 21, 2009, 12:54pm

the output of dmesg | tail is this.

dmesg |tail
scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Seagate  FreeAgent        0132 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.00 TB/931 GiB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.00 TB/931 GiB)
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
 sdb: sdb1 < sdb5

and for lsmod | grep usb_storage

lsmod | grep usb_storage
usb_storage            90376  1
usbcore               165892  5 usb_storage,usbhid,ehci_hcd,ohci_hcd
scsi_mod              149856  5 usb_storage,sr_mod,sg,sd_mod,libata

deano_ferrari · September 21, 2009, 1:34pm

Well, I’m not sure about this one. The dmesg output shows its responding, but I’m wondering if you have a problem with a corrupt partition table (or similar).

With the device plugged in, try this from terminal as root

fdisk /dev/sdb

If this works, then type ‘p’ to print partition table and ‘v’ to verify it.

Also check out gpart utility: ‘man gpart’

Good luck.

caf4926 · September 21, 2009, 1:40pm

I would be inclined to check it out with Parted Magic.

As Deano said, external usb devices are not included in fstab

sourcemorph · September 21, 2009, 4:00pm

well fdisk /dev/sdb did not work, i guess the drive will have to be replaced after all, doesn’t seem to me to be a software problem.

twlevo · September 21, 2009, 6:44pm

have similar problem with a 1 TB maxor basics drive which just worked before a kernel update. now dmesg|tail gives:
Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
usb 5-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK,SUGGEST_OK
end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
and fdisk -l does not show a partition.
when i use the installation dvd and boot into the rescue system there is no problem at all and the disk can be mounted and copied.
so it looks like the drive and partition and filesystem is oke,
now this could be a problem with the suse linux kernel?
current installed is this kernel:
linux-ls7d:/home/twlevo # uname -a
Linux linux-ls7d.perpektiefinternet.nl 2.6.27.29-0.1-pae #1 SMP 2009-08-15 17:53:59 +0200 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
linux-ls7d:/home/twlevo #

twlevo · September 21, 2009, 9:09pm

now installed 2.6.27.7-9-vanilla kernel and booted, and there are no problems anymore with the external usb drive, so it looks like there is a problem in the suse linux kernel.
twlevo@linux-ls7d:~> uname -a
Linux linux-ls7d.perpektiefinternet.nl 2.6.27.7-9-vanilla #1 SMP 2008-12-04 18:10:04 +0100 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
twlevo@linux-ls7d:~>

twlevo · September 22, 2009, 10:54pm

after latest kernel update on vanille and default kernel usb drive does not work with both kernel versions, with these messages:
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: New USB device found, idVendor=0d49, idProduct=7410
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: Product: Basics Desktop
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: Manufacturer: Maxtor
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: SerialNumber: 2HBF09H2
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: Initializing USB Mass Storage driver…
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: scsi4 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: USB Mass Storage support registered.
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb-storage: device found at 3
Sep 22 22:42:00 linux-ls7d kernel: usb-storage: waiting for device to settle before scanning
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access Maxtor Basics Desktop 0122 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors (1000205 MB)
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 1953525168 512-byte hardware sectors (1000205 MB)
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 2d 08 00 00
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
Sep 22 22:42:05 linux-ls7d kernel: sdc:<6>usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:06 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:06 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:06 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:06 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK,SUGGEST_OK
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: Buffer I/O error on device sdc, logical block 0
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:07 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:08 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:08 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:08 linux-ls7d kernel: usb 1-8: reset high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
Sep 22 22:42:08 linux-ls7d kernel: sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK,SUGGEST_OK
Sep 22 22:42:08 linux-ls7d kernel: end_request: I/O error, dev sdc, sector 0
and these error messages keep repeating as long as drive is connected. fdisk -l does not show partition.
twlevo@linux-ls7d:~> uname -a
Linux linux-ls7d.perpektiefinternet.nl 2.6.27.29-0.1-vanilla #1 SMP 2009-08-15 17:53:59 +0200 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
dont know how to revert vanille kernel back to the old version.

twlevo · September 25, 2009, 11:31pm

it appeared usb harddisk must be connected to usb connector on the back of pc on the motherboard. then it works. older linux kernels did not need this for some reason.