EX HHD stopped being found

General Discussion
41

i am just backing up onto my linux machine the one hdd that it can see. then ill reformat

42

Ok, so as per my answer to Mint 21 vs 22 making a difference, it is possible one version has the NTFS kernel driver installed and one does not, which might be a reason for the two to give different results.

If this is the case;

  • Using an NTFS (windows) driver on Linux is a BAD idea. Whereas DOS is relatively safe, as I recall, until relatively recently the general recommendation for NTFS was to use it in “read only” mode due to potential write compatibility issues.
  • On the flip-side, it should read on a Windows system

You might want to check on the problem systems whether the NTFS kernel driver is loaded, probably something like;

lsmod | grep ntfs3
43

ive just rannthe ntfs thing

it came back with
ntfs 348160 0

44

Yup, so it’s loaded …

45

so does that mean it should be able to read the hdd

46

it means the driver not being loaded isn’t the reason you’re having problems.

47

that sounds like the hdd is duf… but im using one of them now on my 21 machine that wouldnt work on my 22 machine, why is that

48

Ok, I’m assuming you did the ntfs driver check on the 22 machine, so as above, based on the information provided, the possibilities would include;

  • Issue with the USB controller, port or cable on the 22 machine
  • End-of-life HDD which works intermittently
  • No NTFS driver on the 22 machine (which you have now excluded)
  • Possible hardware compatibility issue between the USB controller on the 22 machine and the USB drive
  • Possible issue with spin-up time for the HDD which might cause the system to time-out waiting for spin-up thus causing a mount failure. Spin up time can vary, which makes this a popular issue for intermittent behaviour

You could have two different issues which might explain why you’re getting different results for the two drives. The more machines you test on the narrower the set of possibilities.