External Samsung HDD no longer mounting

[llloyd]

So. When I install (or, in this case, reinstall) Kubuntu I have to unplug my external USB 3 Samsung 8tb HDD as the installer sees it as /dev/sda, not the drive that's actually internal and plugged into the first SATA port. Eh. * shrug * Last time I installed Kubuntu (24.04lts) , I plugged it back in, no issues, it mounted just fine. This time, installing 25.05 , it has upchucked on mounting.

An error occurred while accessing 'Seagate Expansion Drive', the system responded: The requested operation has failed: Error mounting /dev/sde2 at /media/llloyd/Seagate Expansion Drive: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sde2, missing codepage or helper program, or other error
​

/dev/sde2 , not /dev/sde ? Anyway, if I give the Konsole a poke, let's see. Going by a page I Googled ( and it didn't help) .

llloyd@Nyeri:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for llloyd:
Disk /dev/loop0: 73.89 MiB, 77475840 bytes, 151320 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop1: 4 KiB, 4096 bytes, 8 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop2: 73.91 MiB, 77504512 bytes, 151376 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop3: 516.01 MiB, 541073408 bytes, 1056784 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop4: 91.69 MiB, 96141312 bytes, 187776 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop5: 264 KiB, 270336 bytes, 528 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop6: 44.45 MiB, 46604288 bytes, 91024 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/loop7: 49.29 MiB, 51687424 bytes, 100952 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes


Disk /dev/sda: 3.64 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WD4003FZEX-0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: B46B5955-F242-425C-8095-6601225B4538

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sda1 4096 618495 614400 300M EFI System
/dev/sda2 618496 7814037101 7813418606 3.6T Linux filesystem


Disk /dev/sdb: 3.64 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
Disk model: Samsung SSD 870
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 06796AE2-C91F-A05C-CC95-BF5E1C451282

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 206847 204800 100M EFI System
/dev/sdb2 206848 239615 32768 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb3 241664 7814035111 7813793448 3.6T Microsoft basic data


Disk /dev/sdc: 7.28 TiB, 8001563222016 bytes, 15628053168 sectors
Disk model: WDC WD8001FZBX-0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 0D235711-0790-4433-8BEA-4203E1B3653A

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdc1 34 32767 32734 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdc2 32768 15628050431 15628017664 7.3T Microsoft basic data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/sdd: 7.28 TiB, 8001563222016 bytes, 15628053168 sectors
Disk model: ST8000NM000A-2KE
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 5DE6EE99-750B-46CC-A327-B66555F516AF

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sdd1 34 32767 32734 16M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdd2 32768 15628050431 15628017664 7.3T Microsoft basic data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/sde: 7.28 TiB, 8001563221504 bytes, 15628053167 sectors
Disk model: Expansion Desk
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: D750D79E-2650-49EB-BA24-9D46F96B7154

Device Start End Sectors Size Type
/dev/sde1 34 262177 262144 128M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sde2 264192 15628052479 15627788288 7.3T Microsoft basic data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/loop8: 13.17 MiB, 13807616 bytes, 26968 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

​

Not sure what all the 'loop' ones are, but it's /dev/sde according to that. Yet Dolphin is puking errors trying to mount /dev/sde2 so I don't know. Kinda odd? How do I get access to my data on the external HDD?

[TinyTim]

Is it NTFS drive?

[claydoh]

NTFS can be fun when dual booting, though not necessarily from Linux. It may have had the "dirty' flag set for whatever reason when shutting down or unmounting, and Linux won't mount it until it is checked. The best place to do this is from Windows via a chkdsk.

Another thing is if you have Windows Fast Startup enabled, this can lock out hardware, including drives and networking devices while Windows in it its sort of hibernated state.

Loop devices are virtual instances, historically used for things like optical disks and ISO images, but here these are going to be Snap packages and their sandboxed setup.

[bengtang]

Check that BIOS Setup is set to use AHCI mode and not RAID for the SATA port for the internal drive.
If you have Windows, check that Fast Startup is disabled, in power button extra settings. Shut down Windows, do not sleep or hibernate.
You seem to have Windows installed on many drives. Check that all of your windows installations have fast startup disabled.
If external HDD is NTFS, use Windows to check it for errors - right click it in Windows explorer, select tools tab, check for errors.
If your windows is using bitlocker encryption on the drive, find out how to decript it and turn off bitlocker.

[claydoh]

Check that BIOS Setup is set to use AHCI mode and not RAID for the SATA port for the internal drive.

irrelevant, this is an external drive, and IS visible, just not mounting.

I have to unplug my external USB 3 Samsung 8tb HDD as the installer sees it as /dev/sda, not the drive that's actually internal and plugged into the first SATA port

Also (somewhat) irrelevant, since in Linux device "locations" (/dev/sdX or '/dev/nvmeXnX) are not permanent, often listed based on when the hardware loads/detects them, among other things. They do change, though it isn't a constant thing. This does mean it is better to look at labels and brand/model and sizes to select the correct drive when installing. Especially with multiple SATA and USB drives. NVME drives seem to stay more consistent.

This potential for variability is why system mounts set via the fstab during the installation process use UUIDs for mounting instead of the device name.