(Solved) Is it possible to install Mint on a USB hard disk without data loss?

[Matthew_Wai]

By the following command?

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sudo pppoeconf

[phd21]

Hi Matthew_Wai,

Linux Mint uses a Network Manager icon in the lower right of its system tray panel to manage network connections. If you are connecting to the Internet using an Ethernet cable, wired connection, it should be automatic. If you are using WiFi, then you have to click that icon and select the WiFi router that you want to connect to and provide its password.

A lot of WiFi adapters are automatically recognized by Linux Mint, but not all of them. USB WiFi adapters that are known to automatically work with Linux Mint without updating or compiling drivers are available from around $10 and up from Amazon.com, Ebay, local electronics stores, business supply stores, etc...

In the years I have been using Linux Mint, I have never had any problems with it automatically connecting to a wired ethernet connection unless the Ethernet port is bad or has gone bad, or a bad ethernet cable, and you can easily get a USB ethernet adapter or another ethernet cable for that as well from the various places described before.

Once in a while with a new installation of Linux Mint 18.x while booted into Linux Mint, I have had to remove a USB Wifi adapter wait 10-12 seconds, and re-insert it for it to recognize it the first time, or run the command below from a console terminal and wait a little for it to restart and rescan available network devices.

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sudo service network-manager restart

Hope this helps ...

[Matthew_Wai]

Out of curiosity, how did you kill the previous internal hard drive?

As I told you before, I removed a sticker covering a hole. What do you think is the purpose of such a hole as shown below?

硬碟貼紙下有孔洞 2.jpg

[phd21]

Hi Matthew_Wai,

What Is the Purpose of the “Do Not Cover This Hole” Hole on Hard Drives?
https://www.howtogeek.com/127433/what-i ... rd-drives/

On a hard drive, what does it mean when it says “do not cover this hole”? - Quora
https://www.quora.com/On-a-hard-drive-w ... e%E2%80%9D

Hope this helps ...

[Matthew_Wai]

The sticker on my damaged HDD did not say “Do Not Cover This Hole”.
It said “WARRANTY VOID IF REMOVED”.
The sticker covered the hole shown in my photo above.

[phd21]

Hi Matthew_Wai,

I tried looking that up as well without finding any good responses.

I do not see how that would have hurt the drive either?

[vansloneker]

I think the sticker is a seal, to indicate the disk has been opened. Opening a hard disk means air containing dust particles comes in. The tolerances on a hard drive are so tight, even a dust particle can make the head crash.

Your hard disk crash maybe a bizarre coincidence. Why did you remove the sticker anyway?

[Matthew_Wai]

even a dust particle can make the head crash.

Do you mean even one dust particle can damage the read/write head?

Why did you remove the sticker anyway?

The warranty already expired long ago, so I considered it okay to remove the sticker

[vansloneker]

The head is just not touching the platter. The distance between the platter and the head is less, way less, than the thickness of a human hair. A dust particle can damage both the head and the platter.

Here are some explanatory images

[Matthew_Wai]

A dust particle can damage both the head and the platter.

Here are some explanatory images

If I understand correctly, a dust particle can damage the platter but not the head.
Please correct me if I am wrong.

[vansloneker]

The head is as fragile as the platter.

[Matthew_Wai]

I have asked a related question at viewtopic.php?f=150&t=267752

[Matthew_Wai]

There are 3.5" and 2.5" hard-drives. The former is for desktops(= bigger) and the latter is for laptops. The hard-drive found inside the external USB hard-drive is the same as that found inside the desktop or laptop, ie they are interchangeable.

I just found that my USB hard drive is of the same type as this one, so they are not interchangeable.
Perhaps a Seagate USB HDD has SATA.

[michael louwe]

@ Matthew Wai, .......

.

.
http://www.texplr.com/2013/01/convert-e ... drive.html (How to Convert External Hard Drive to Internal Hard Drive )

P S - Most consumer-grade HDDs above 80GB are SATA. HDDs 80GB or below are mostly PATA/IDE.
....... SATA is not compatible with PATA/IDE = requires an adapter-connection for compatibility.

[Matthew_Wai]

http://www.texplr.com/2013/01/convert-e ... drive.html (How to Convert External Hard Drive to Internal Hard Drive )

It talks about an SATA HDD inside a case. The one inside my case has no SATA. See below:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8202/8205 ... 0cfe_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8478/8205 ... f518_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8198/8204 ... 917d_b.jpg
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8344/8204 ... cbc9_b.jpg

[michael louwe]

@ Matthew Wai, .......

.

.
Sorry, I didn't know that.

Should avoid buying such WD Passport external USB HDD.
....... Seems, to recover data from such a dead WD external USB HDD, you have to pay certain Data Recovery companies which have been provided with exclusive SATA adatpers(connectors) by Western Digital.

[BG405]

I haven't seen those before. The connector looks like the USB ones used on SATA to USB adaptors - can't quite see it well enough though. If not, it should (hopefully) be possible to get the pinout & make a lead, maybe using the plug from the unit it came from, if you're handy with a soldering iron. Perhaps the SATA data & power lines are also available on some of those other (normally covered) pins.

Fortunately my old WD NetCenter uses what appear to be standard IDE 320GB HDDs; I still have the old one from the previous unit & will have to try it in a Linux machine. It definitely wasn't readable from Windows when I tried it years ago & the documentation said so. I've a suspicion it'll be readable in Linux. Need to get a Round Tuit.

Good luck with any experiments!