Manjaro can't detect external hard drive

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sudo dmesg | tail -n 100 | grep sd

[   92.170267] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Spinning up disk...
[  125.250414] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[  125.250416] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Sense not available.
[  125.250419] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 0 512-byte logical blocks: (0 B/0 B)
[  125.250421] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 0-byte physical blocks
[  125.250425] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[  125.250426] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 00 00 00 00
[  125.250429] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
[  125.250431] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  125.270677] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_ERROR driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
[  125.270680] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Sense not available.
[  125.270686] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
[  128.458538] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[  138.486704] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Spinning up disk...
[  253.113609] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Read Capacity(10) failed: Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[  253.113613] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Sense Key : Not Ready [current] 
[  253.113615] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Add. Sense: Logical unit is in process of becoming ready
[  253.113619] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 0 512-byte logical blocks: (0 B/0 B)
[  253.113620] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] 0-byte physical blocks
[  255.119123] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Test WP failed, assume Write Enabled
[  257.124852] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Asking for cache data failed
[  257.124856] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  263.157616] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdc] Spinning up disk...
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Even after that, smartctl won’t work on /dev/sdc? :flushed:

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I don’t know why but smartctl has new result instead of previous.
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc:

smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.10.26-1-MANJARO] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Read Device Identity failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

A mandatory SMART command failed: exiting. To continue, add one or more '-T permissive' options.
24

This is looking more and more like a hardware failure, and I’m wondering if it’s a coincidence it started happening after/during a Manjaro update, or something about that process triggered this.

What is the brand and model of this USB drive? Unless someone else drops in this discussion with other ideas, this is what I would do if it happened to me:

  1. Discard the drive and resort to a backup, and purchase another drive to become the “new” backup, or…
  2. Pry apart the USB plastic enclosure and try to remove the internal SATA drive within, then plug it into a new enclosure, or SATA-to-USB adapter, or inside my PC to access and copy all of the files to a new drive

Remember, this is my thought-process, so someone else might actually be more familiar with this specific problem.

The large “desktop” drives are normally not soldered to the USB chipset, but the small “portable” ones can be a bit more complicated or even impossible to remove if they are soldered to the connector.

25

Heading out now, but what about,

sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdc

(That’s a “capital i” not a lowercase L.)

This can at least rule out smartctl incompatibility with that particular drive, if that’s the issue.

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sudo hdparm -I /dev/sdc:


/dev/sdc:

ATA device, with non-removable media
Standards:
        Likely used: 1
Configuration:
        Logical         max     current
        cylinders       0       0
        heads           0       0
        sectors/track   0       0
        --
        Logical/Physical Sector size:           512 bytes
        device size with M = 1024*1024:           0 MBytes
        device size with M = 1000*1000:           0 MBytes 
        cache/buffer size  = unknown
Capabilities:
        IORDY not likely
        Cannot perform double-word IO
        R/W multiple sector transfer: not supported
        DMA: not supported
        PIO: pio0

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc:

smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.10.26-1-MANJARO] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Read Device Identity failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

A mandatory SMART command failed: exiting. To continue, add one or more '-T permissive' options.
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The hard drive brand and model is A-DATA HD650.
Do you think the data wasn’t ruined and it’s possible to retrieve the data?

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Even hdparm is showing “0” for drive size and giving strange readouts.

One final clue, before you try anything else…

On your Windows 10 computer, plug in the USB drive, and then hit WINDOWS-KEY + R and run this command:

diskmgmt.msc

Look at the bottom pane. You should see a listing, such as Disk 0, Disk 1, CD-ROM 0, and etc.

Do you see your USB drive listed? How “large” does Windows 10 claim it is? If you see it listed, do not do anything to it! Don’t try to “repair” or “scan” or “format” or anything at all.

I attached a screenshot of what this might look like under Windows 10. My external drive is 4TB, and the entire size is reflected under Microsoft’s Disk Management.

disk-management-luks-usb-drive
disk-management-luks-usb-drive996×544 81.5 KB

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I plugged in the hard drive and opened disk management on windows 10. It just kept showing Connecting to Virtual Disk Service...

Hard Drive
Hard Drive1912×1020 21.7 KB

State changed quickly when I ejected the drive and show this result:
Hard Drive

I tried to reconnect the drive but nothing happened.

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I’ve done following steps to gather more data:

  • sudo su
  • echo “options usb-storage quirks=125f:a35a:u” >> /etc/modprobe.d/99-disable-uas.conf
  • rmmod uas usb-storage
  • modprobe usb-storage quirks=125f:a35a:u
  • sudo mkinitcpio -P
  • reboot

when I ran fdisk -l I’ve noticed something(I don’t know if it’s related to subject):

...

Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.
...

usb-devices:

T:  Bus=03 Lev=01 Prnt=01 Port=00 Cnt=01 Dev#=  2 Spd=5000 MxCh= 0
D:  Ver= 3.00 Cls=00(>ifc ) Sub=00 Prot=00 MxPS= 9 #Cfgs=  1
P:  Vendor=125f ProdID=a35a Rev=95.01
S:  Manufacturer=ADATA
S:  Product=HD650
S:  SerialNumber=402048361023
C:  #Ifs= 1 Cfg#= 1 Atr=80 MxPwr=896mA
I:  If#=0x0 Alt= 0 #EPs= 2 Cls=08(stor.) Sub=06 Prot=50 Driver=usb-storage

lsusb -t:

/:  Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/4p, 5000M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Mass Storage, Driver=usb-storage, 5000M
/:  Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/9p, 480M
    |__ Port 5: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
    |__ Port 5: Dev 2, If 1, Class=Video, Driver=uvcvideo, 480M
    |__ Port 6: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
    |__ Port 6: Dev 4, If 1, Class=Wireless, Driver=btusb, 12M
/:  Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
    |__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/8p, 480M
        |__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
        |__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M
        |__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 2, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 12M

sudo smartctl -a /dev/sdc -T verypermissive

smartctl 7.2 2020-12-30 r5155 [x86_64-linux-5.10.26-1-MANJARO] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-20, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Read Device Identity failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Device Model:     [No Information Found]
Serial Number:    [No Information Found]
Firmware Version: [No Information Found]
Device is:        Not in smartctl database [for details use: -P showall]
ATA Version is:   [No Information Found]
Local Time is:    Sat Apr 10 12:49:53 2021 +0430
SMART support is: Ambiguous - ATA IDENTIFY DEVICE words 82-83 don't show if SMART supported.
SMART support is: Ambiguous - ATA IDENTIFY DEVICE words 85-87 don't show if SMART is enabled.
                  Checking to be sure by trying SMART RETURN STATUS command.
SMART support is: Unknown - Try option -s with argument 'on' to enable it.
Read SMART Data failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Status command failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: UNKNOWN!
SMART Status, Attributes and Thresholds cannot be read.

Read SMART Error Log failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

Read SMART Self-test Log failed: scsi error medium or hardware error (serious)

Selective Self-tests/Logging not supported

and lspci -nv | grep 125f:a35a didn’t show anything.

31

I’m sorry to say but it really looks like this is a very bad hardware failure. If you’re lucky, it might only be the USB-to-SATA controller that failed, and you can still salvage the 2.5-inch SATA harddrive within the plastic enclosure. If any other part failed, such as the drive’s PCB (the chipset on the bottom of the drive) or the drive’s internals, such as its motor or head, then unless you are willing to pay hundreds or thousands of dollars, the data is pretty much gone forever. :pensive: (It’s possible to replace the PCB if that’s the component that broke, but it’s not always easy to find the same exact replacement.

As it stands now, if you are willing to spend some time and money, you can try to recover the data yourself. Going forward, I recommend you have 3 copies of data that is irreplaceable. A primary daily-use copy, a regular backup copy, and another backup that you might keep at a different location, in a safe, or somewhere safe as an emergency. If anything happens to any copies, you have to treat it with the same urgency as “I’m about to lose my data” and immediately make sure the other copies are in 100% healthy condition, and proceed to make a third copy once again, so you have a total of three. It’s good to get into the habit of routinely checking each copy to make sure they can still be accessed and read.

1500×1500 130 KB

  1. First you’ll need a SATA-to-USB adapter that is compatible with 2.5" drives.

  1. Secondly, you’ll need to slowly and carefully pry apart the plastic enclosure to access and remove the 2.5" drive within. This will void the warranty. If you damage the plastic, it’s no problem. Use old credit cards or guitar picks to wedge and pry the enclosure open. As long as you don’t accidentally drop the drive or damage it, then it doesn’t matter how badly you damage the plastic. Just be careful not to cut or pinch your skin, since the edges can be sharp. I’m not familiar with ADATA products, but the concept is usually the same for most external USB drives. Be careful not to bend any connectors or chips or metal parts that are touching or connected to the drive.

  2. By watching some videos and guides, you’ll see the main objective is to remove the SATA-to-USB chipset from the drive’s connectors. Usually it’s a single small piece that you can simply “unplug”.

  3. Once you unplug the SATA-to-USB chipset, you should be able to now connect the 2.5" drive (also known as a laptop drive, just FYI) to the SATA-to-USB adapter that you purchased. Plug the USB into your Manjaro system, and access the drive like normal. (I suggest to keep the drive “upright” so that its PCB is resting on your table’s surface, but make sure the surface is not metal. Wood, plastic, tile, glass, and ceramic are fine. If it’s a metal surface, place a piece of paper down for the drive to rest on.)

  4. Manually unlock the LUKS container without mounting the EXT4 file-system.

  • sudo cryptsetup luksOpen /dev/sdc1 crypto_fsck_me

  1. Run a full fsck

  • sudo fsck.ext4 -f -v /dev/mapper/crypto_fsck_me

  1. Re-lock the LUKS container

  • sudo cryptsetup luksClose crypto_fsck_me

  1. Unplug the USB

  2. Plug the USB back in and try to access your files like you always have in the past

  3. I HIGHLY SUGGEST you backup these files elsewhere and decide what to do from this point forwards.

  4. You don’t need the usb-storage / uas “quirk” anymore, so that custom .conf file can be safely deleted.

Good luck. :v: Until then, I don’t advise you keep plugging in the drive into any computer. Better to play it safe.

1 Like
32

I sent the hard drive to one of the well-known hard repair centers(it took long). As you said it’s hardware failure. They told me there is something wrong with head (if I can remember it was a head crash). For repair they asked for half of the new hard drive price which was expensive.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence which happened during a Manjaro update or not but losing data cost me a lot. I hope it never happens to anybody else.

Thanks a lot for your help @winnie .

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Hi I am also having the same issue and I have couple of 2tb external hdd which are in NTFS file system Now 1 of them is not detecting. :sob: when every I plug to new pc It detects for 10s and disappears

can anyone help?

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