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Old 04-26-2016, 03:34 PM   #16
Celtic Yokel
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Location: Knighton, Powys, Mid Wales
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Again, my thanks to everyone that's replied to my question.

Code:
elizabeth@elizabeth-R520-R522-R620 ~ $ sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt
[sudo] password for elizabeth: 
mount: special device /dev/sdb1 does not exist
Code:
elizabeth@elizabeth-R520-R522-R620 ~ $ dmesg | tail
[ 1774.344932] EXT4-fs (sdb): unable to read superblock
[ 1774.384750] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb]  
[ 1774.384758] Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_SENSE
[ 1774.384762] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb]  
[ 1774.384766] Sense Key : Aborted Command [current] 
[ 1774.384772] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb]  
[ 1774.384777] Add. Sense: No additional sense information
[ 1774.384781] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] CDB: 
[ 1774.384784] Read(10): 28 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 01 00
[ 1774.384827] FAT-fs (sdb): unable to read boot sector
I've been using the external hdd since before I started using Linux Mint, and thought that it was NTFS, but until now I've never had any difficulty accessing any files in either Linux or Windows. I also think that I didn't partition the hdd.

I also ran TestDisk on the hdd which told me the following:
Code:
Disk /dev/sdb - 1000 GB / 931 GiB - CHS 953837 64 32, sector size=512
I didn't run a full length disk scan, but ran it for 4 hours with no result other than 'read error at ...'
 
Old 04-26-2016, 03:45 PM   #17
Emerson
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The errors you are getting lead to following conclusion. It was partitioned (I guess Windows even cannot read a hard drive if it is not partitioned). The partition table has been damaged. What else is damaged we do not know yet. Restoring the partition table is relatively easy with testdisk utility. When partition table is successfully restored we can look further and see whether data on sdb1 is still intact. But restore the partition table first.
 
Old 04-27-2016, 04:16 PM   #18
Celtic Yokel
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Thanks, Emerson, I'll try to work out how to do that.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 09:18 AM   #19
Celtic Yokel
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I've been trying to restore the partition table using TestDisk, but it seems to be taking a tremendous time to scan the disk. What would be a reasonable time to scan a 1gb external disk? I left it scanning overnight, and after 12 hours it had read 10% of the disk. I didn't expect it to happen in five minutes, but five days seems extreme.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 09:33 AM   #20
Emerson
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I'd stop that and run
Code:
smartctl -t long /dev/sdb
hopefully this enclosure allows smartctl, some don't. After the test finishes we will know whether the drive is bad or not.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 09:56 AM   #21
Celtic Yokel
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Code:
elizabeth@elizabeth-R520-R522-R620 ~ $ smartctl -t long /dev/sdb
The program 'smartctl' is currently not installed. You can install it by typing:
sudo apt-get install smartmontools
elizabeth@elizabeth-R520-R522-R620 ~ $ sudo apt-get install smartmontools
[sudo] password for elizabeth: 
E: Could not get lock /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (11: Resource temporarily unavailable)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), is another process using it?
The answer to the last question is 'not that I know of'; I've only got the terminal and LQ open.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 10:16 AM   #22
BW-userx
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did you try rebooting your system to reset everything?
it's just an option...

Last edited by BW-userx; 04-30-2016 at 10:25 AM.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 10:53 AM   #23
Celtic Yokel
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I'd set an update that had stalled, so that's sorted, and the smartmontools are now installed.

Code:
elizabeth@elizabeth-R520-R522-R620 ~ $ smartctl -t long /dev/sdb
smartctl 6.2 2013-07-26 r3841 [i686-linux-3.16.0-38-generic] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-13, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

/dev/sdb: Unknown USB bridge [0x1058:0x0810 (0x1049)]
Please specify device type with the -d option.

Use smartctl -h to get a usage summary
I've been trying to enter the -d option but cannot find a one-word device type that is accepted. Any suggestions, please?
 
Old 04-30-2016, 11:15 AM   #24
Emerson
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You happen to have one of those USB to SATA interfaces that do not give full access. To check this drive out you need to take it out from enclosure and hook it up to a SATA controller.
 
Old 04-30-2016, 01:31 PM   #25
BW-userx
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What I got 2 WD passports I just read that eSATA thing,not full access, that it just what it is suppose to do. it is just another type of port to connect HDD's faster throughput then USB 2.0. I pluged my 3TB WD passport into my eSATA Port (Usally use my 3.0 port) and it works fine.

2. you need a special plug type to use eSATA. So mine is actually plugged into it but it is them eSATA/USB ports. just the same eSATA is not suppose to limit any access to a drive.
 
Old 05-06-2016, 02:54 PM   #26
Celtic Yokel
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Hello, everyone. I have an e-sata port on my laptop, so I've plugged the Passport into that, but it's not accessing any files. I took the disk out of the enclosure, but it has one of the connections that won't take a sata connector. Is it time to admit defeat?
 
Old 05-06-2016, 04:50 PM   #27
Emerson
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Hard drives start developing bad sectors for different reasons, but in most cases it is caused by a physical shock. In your case you want to know whether there is any useful life left in this drive. Probably not. Is it worth to invest more time in this and try to figure it out? Well, it is up to you. You could walk into a repair shop and have them to hook up the drive to a desktop computer and run tests on it. You could buy a USB to SATA adapter that gives you full access to the drive so you can run tests in your own.
 
Old 05-07-2016, 10:07 AM   #28
Celtic Yokel
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Thanks, Emerson, to you and everyone else that's tried to help me with this problem. I'm now waiting for a usb to sata adapter, which I'll have a try with when it arrives. I'll continue to fiddle about with the hdd before I finally give-up. If it's unsuccessful I'll see if I can re-format it and re-partition it.
Thank you all for your advice and suggestions. It's been frustrating to lose the files that were on the hdd, but fortunately not critical, and it's been a very useful and interesting exercise following your instructions for the terminal.
 
Old 05-07-2016, 10:20 AM   #29
Emerson
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This is what a healthy drive looks like, smartctl output.
Code:
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   200   200   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
Code:
SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
Num  Test_Description    Status                  Remaining  LifeTime(hours)  LBA_of_first_error
# 1  Extended offline    Completed without error       00%     23054         -
In case your reallocated count is high, there are pending sectors and the test exits before completion your drive is dying, no format will fix it.
 
  


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