[SOLVED] External hard drive not detected in debian 12 live environment

ApproximateIdentity · 07-17-2023, 03:01 AM

Hello,

I have a new external hard drive "Western Digital My Passport Ultra" that doesn't seem to detect in any way when I plug it into a live debian 12 environment. If I run `journalctl -f` or `lsusb` or `lssci` or really anything else I can think of I can't find any evidence that the system itself is detecting the drive at any level.

I currently have popOS on the laptop (the point of the live CD is to install debian 12 instead) which does just automatically detect it, mount it, etc. I can't seem to figure out what is different between the systems. I feel like there must be some kernel module or custom software or something which I might need to manually install in the debian version of the kernel, but I can't figure it out. Is anyone here more familiar with this sort of stuff that can help point me in the right direction?

Here is some info about the popOS system:

Code:

$ lsb_release -a
No LSB modules are available.
Distributor ID:	Pop
Description:	Pop!_OS 21.10
Release:	21.10
Codename:	impish
$ uname -r
5.17.15-76051715-generic

Here are some kernel logs when plugging in the drive to the popOS system:

Code:

Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=1058, idProduct=260d, bcdDevice=20.07 Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=3, SerialNumber=1
Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: Product: My Passport 260D
Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: Manufacturer: Western Digital
Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb 2-1: SerialNumber: 57584332443433414C4A5244 Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os kernel: scsi host1: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os mtp-probe[2753]: checking bus 2, device 2: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0d.0/usb2/2-1" Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os mtp-probe[2753]: bus: 2, device: 2 was not an MTP device Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os mtp-probe[2757]: checking bus 2, device 2: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:0d.0/usb2/2-1" Jul 15 13:39:25 pop-os mtp-probe[2757]: bus: 2, device: 2 was not an MTP device Jul 15 13:39:26 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access WD My Passport 260D 2007 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6 Jul 15 13:39:26 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:1: Enclosure WD SES Device 2007 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
Jul 15 13:39:26 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
Jul 15 13:39:26 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 13
Jul 15 13:39:26 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Spinning up disk...
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: .....ready
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Very big device. Trying to use READ CAPACITY(16). Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 9767475200 512-byte logical blocks: (5.00 TB/4.55 TiB)
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 4096-byte physical blocks
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 3f 00 10 00
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel:  sdb: sdb1
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:1: Wrong diagnostic page; asked for 1 got 8 Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:1: Failed to get diagnostic page 0x1
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: scsi 1:0:0:1: Failed to bind enclosure -19
Jul 15 13:39:31 pop-os kernel: ses 1:0:0:1: Attached Enclosure device
Jul 15 13:39:32 pop-os kernel: EXT4-fs (sdb1): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Quota mode: none.

Does anyone here know a good place to start to debug this? Thanks for any help!

Cheers,
Thomas

fatmac · 07-17-2023, 05:25 AM

After plugging it in, run...

Code:

sudo dmesg|tail

to find out what the system has designated it, /dev/sd?

Then try to mount it - it may be a filesystem that Debian doesn't support out of the box, in which case, you would need to download & install the necessary drivers, (which would only be temporary, as would be lost on a reboot of a 'live' system.)

pan64 · 07-17-2023, 05:35 AM

probably this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1098...not-recognized
or this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/5906.../539185#539185

ApproximateIdentity · 07-17-2023, 09:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fatmac

After plugging it in, run...

Code:

sudo dmesg|tail

to find out what the system has designated it, /dev/sd?

Then try to mount it - it may be a filesystem that Debian doesn't support out of the box, in which case, you would need to download & install the necessary drivers, (which would only be temporary, as would be lost on a reboot of a 'live' system.)

Well that is the weird part because _nothing_ is printed in the live system at all. I can't find any log showing up in dmesg, journalctl or anywhere else.

ApproximateIdentity · 07-17-2023, 10:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pan64

probably this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/1098...not-recognized
or this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/5906.../539185#539185

Thanks so much your first link did the trick! More specifically, the answer here: https://askubuntu.com/a/1439675

This harddrive comes with a usb-c cable as well as a small adapater usb-c -> usb-a. My laptop has a usb-c port and two usb-a ports. If I put the live usb drive into one of the usb-a ports, then I can plug in the hard drive into the other usb-a port. But I can't come up with any other configuration that will work. So basically anyone in my position could basically play musical chairs will all possibilities until they figure out something that works.

I have no idea why this is happening, but it at least gives me something that I can work with. Thanks for the help!

pan64 · 07-17-2023, 11:57 AM

glad to help you.
In that case you might want to mark the thread solved.
Also if you wish to say thanks just click on yes.