USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mode

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Fraoch
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USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mode

Post by Fraoch »

Hello:

I just upgraded to LM 17 Cinnamon 64-bit from LM 16 Cinnamon 64-bit. Suddenly I have a mechanical USB 3.0 hard drive that mounts, then unmounts, then re-mounts, etc...all on its own. It will not stay mounted. It will stay mounted for a few minutes sometimes then unmounts, then re-mounts, etc. seemingly with random timing.

It's a Seagate Backup Plus 1 TB - based on a 2.5" mechanical disk, the type that is powered by the USB bus and needs no external power. It worked fine in USB 3.0 mode on LM 16. Now it will only stay mounted when connected to a USB 2.0 port.

I was thinking it was the USB 3.0 port so I tested other USB 3.0 devices. A USB 3.0 flash drive and a different USB 3.0 mechanical drive (a bus-powered Western Digital drive similar to the Seagate but with 500 GB capacity) both work fine. I'm using a "badblocks" test run to hammer away at them for hours, both pass and never unmount.

The USB 3.0 port in question is on the front/top of my case, connected to the USB 3.0 internal header on my Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UD3 motherboard.

I believe that unmounting/remounting could be a sign that the USB bus is not providing enough power to the hard drive, but it worked fine under LM16 and this is USB 3.0 with more power than USB 2.0...and it works fine in a USB 2.0 port.

I'm not sure what help dmesg and syslog would provide, all they seem to indicate is that they're trying to read/write to/from a drive that just dropped off the bus...I/O errors, file system not found, etc. However I'd be pleased to post any log files that may be helpful. SMART data indicate the drive is fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks for any assistance.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
taisingera

Re: USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mod

Post by taisingera »

I have a similar issue using LM 17 x64 KDE and an external enclosure with Asmedia USB3.0 chipset. I plug the hard drive into a USB3 port on the motherboard and the drive sits there and clicks, then mounts, but unmounts after a minute. I tried plugging the drive in on USB2 port and it worked fine. This enclosure works fine on USB3.0 port under Windows 7 x64. So it doesn't seem to be a port power problem or anything wrong with the enclosure. But what could it be?
taisingera

Re: USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mod

Post by taisingera »

Ok, I think I solved my problem. I had to use the extra 5V USB connector on the enclosure for it to stay mounted. I wasn't expecting this because on Windows I only need to connect the USB 3.0 cable. I guess the problem is with the drivers in Linux and they don't supply enough power to the port. Although I thought power from a port only relied on hardware and not drivers.
Fraoch
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Location: Cambridge, Ontario, Canada

Re: USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mod

Post by Fraoch »

taisingera wrote:Although I thought power from a port only relied on hardware and not drivers.
Yes, that's the thing. On mine, it worked fine under LM 15 and 16, but not under LM 17. It shouldn't be, but perhaps there's something in the new kernel.

Also - I've had trouble with ASMedia controllers before:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=49&t=155839

The old 1040 was problematic. I would think that the current 1042 would be better.

My controller is currently a VIA VL805 - it did work fine for a while but not now. Still looking for suggestions...
prophet60091

Re: USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mod

Post by prophet60091 »

Same mobo, same problem, different external USB3 drive (Seagate 3TB GoFlex).

I've posted a bug report here, so I suggest you do the same so it gets some attention:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/1353050

I've also started up a thread in the Mint forums, but have found no real solutions yet:

http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 72#p903472
Fraoch
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Re: USB hard drive mounts - unmounts - mounts in USB 3.0 mod

Post by Fraoch »

prophet60091 wrote:Same mobo, same problem, different external USB3 drive (Seagate 3TB GoFlex).

I've posted a bug report here, so I suggest you do the same so it gets some attention:

https://bugs.launchpad.net/linuxmint/+bug/1353050
Done, thank you!
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