Portable HDD won't mount NTFS error

actinide · 12-28-2015, 01:26 PM

Hello, Can anybody help with fixing this problem. My Toshiba portable HDD gives
me this error mounting device - NTFS is either inconsistent or there is a hardware fault.

Thanks

yancek · 12-28-2015, 03:25 PM

Could you be more specific about how you get this error? Since you have posted this at at Linux forum, does that mean you get the error when trying to access the windows partition from some unknown Linux distribution? The error is most commonly see when failing to shut down windows fully before booting and trying to access the ntfs system from Linux. If that's the situation, shut windows down fully first and do not hibernate which is the default on windows 8 and newer. If not, more details.

actinide · 12-29-2015, 12:32 PM

Operating system is linux mint 17 64bit. My portable HDD is a 500GB Toshiba, NTFS filesystem.
The problem i'm having is that the portable hdd won't mount - tells me NTFS is corrupted or has
inconsistencies or hardware fault.

Any help would be appreciated.

Doug G · 12-29-2015, 12:40 PM

If you have access to a windows machine, you should probably run windows chkdsk on the drive.

suicidaleggroll · 12-29-2015, 12:41 PM

Plug it into a Windows system, mount it, then properly eject it before trying it again on Linux.

actinide · 12-29-2015, 12:58 PM

I don't have access to a windows system. If I do plug it into windows sys and nothing shows up. What
else can I do to fix it.

suicidaleggroll · 12-29-2015, 01:02 PM

If you don't have a Windows system, then why are you using NTFS? NTFS is a Windows filesystem, you shouldn't be using it with Linux unless absolutely necessary because of problems like this.

actinide · 12-29-2015, 01:16 PM

The filesystem is on the portable hdd. It was recommended for cross compatibility.

tredegar · 12-29-2015, 02:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by actinide

I don't have access to a windows system. If I do plug it into windows sys and nothing shows up. What
else can I do to fix it.

The filesystem, NTFS, is a MS windows system. If MS's windows can't handle it, I don't think linux will either.
You should try MS recovery tools on another MS computer.
Sorry for your loss.

yancek · 12-29-2015, 05:55 PM

The message in your original post about the filesystem (windows ntfs) being inconsistent is commonly seen when using a drive (internal or external) and not properly shutting down the ntfs system after the drive has been in use. This is the standard (hibernation) on windows 8 and later so it appears to be booting faster. If you use this drive on windows computers you need to be aware of this. There is nothing Linux can do about it.