[SOLVED] Made internal HDD external, Linux won't detect

[kensington314]

Hi all.

I just got a refurbished laptop and replaced the HDD with a Solid State, figured I'd drop the HDD into an enclosure and use it externally. Just powered up my laptop and Linux won't recognize it. What should I do?

Details:

1. Working in Linux Mint 17.2
2. I presume this makes no difference, but: HDD originally had no OS, I swapped it out immediately without any changes or storage to it.
3. It's a USB drive enclosure that I'm using.
4. I've booted it with the HDD plugged in, and without, not recognizing it either way.
5. inxi -Fxd result below.

System: Host: Thread-box Kernel: 3.16.0-38-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.2)
Desktop: Cinnamon 2.6.13 Distro: Linux Mint 17.2 Rafaela
Machine: System: Dell product: Latitude E6420 version: 01
Mobo: Dell model: 038C0K version: A00 Bios: Dell version: A08 date: 10/18/2011
CPU: Dual core Intel Core i7-2640M CPU (-HT-MCP-) cache: 4096 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 11174.7
Clock Speeds: 1: 1041.468 MHz 2: 1148.00 MHz 3: 933.625 MHz 4: 821.515 MHz
Graphics: Card-1: Intel 2nd Generation Core Processor Family Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0
Card-2: NVIDIA GF119M [NVS 4200M] bus-ID: 01:00.0
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) FAILED: nouveau Resolution: 1600x900@60.0hz
GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Sandybridge Mobile GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio: Card-1: NVIDIA GF119 HDMI Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 01:00.1
Card-2: Intel 6 Series/C200 Series Family High Definition Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k3.16.0-38-generic
Network: Card-1: Intel 82579LM Gigabit Network Connection driver: e1000e ver: 2.3.2-k port: 5080 bus-ID: 00:19.0
IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Card-2: Intel Centrino Advanced-N + WiMAX 6250 [Kilmer Peak] driver: iwlwifi ver: in-tree: bus-ID: 03:00.0
IF: wlan0 state: up mac: <filter>
Drives: HDD Total Size: 400.1GB (6.4% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: SanDisk_SDSSDHII size: 240.1GB
2: USB id: /dev/sdb model: MK1646GSX size: 160.0GB
Partition: ID: / size: 215G used: 24G (12%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 6.32GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap
RAID: No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 25.0C mobo: N/A gpu: 57.0
Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A
Info: Processes: 233 Uptime: 12 min Memory: 1298.2/5848.6MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4
Client: Shell (bash 4.3.11) inxi: 1.9.17

[ofb]

You should include make/model of the enclosure and of the HDD.

2: USB id: /dev/sdb model: MK1646GSX size: 160.0GB

This isn't it?

[kensington314]

Meant to! Sorry.

Not sure how to accurately capture the HDD. Some details from the disk itself:

TOSHIBA
MK1646GSX
HDD2D92 F VL01 T
DC+5V 1.0A 010DO/LB114C
2.5" SATA
Probably not relevant but it's 160GB

The enclosure itself is Vantec/NexStar TX 2.5" Hard Drive Enclosure

[ofb]

2: USB id: /dev/sdb model: MK1646GSX size: 160.0GB

So this is it, which means Linux does recognize it. So now I'm less sure about what you mean when you say it doesn't.

It should show up in Disks, and it should show up in the Places section of your File Manager. Similar to plugging in a USB stick. Is it formatted?

[Pierre]

use Gparted to check if it's formatted, or not.

[ofb]

use Gparted to check if it's formatted, or not.

Is Gparted installed by default yet?

Anyway, Disks will tell you what it's formatted as, if at all. It's not necessary to install Gparted.