Trying to access external HDD - "I/O error (remote)"
 

Hi!
I'm trying to access an external harddrive, which shows up in Linux (Knoppix & Suse), but upon trying to access the files I get this error message with an "I/O error (remote)" or something like that. Any ideas?
Thanks!

Have you used the "mount" command to mount the drive? If so, what was the form of that command?
jdk

I think it was something like mnt /dev/sda1 /media/sda1 - as root. I have to say though, it should work without commands, because the harddrive showed up in the file browser and should be mounted automatically.

Member Response
 

Hi,
Correct command for that device as root would be;You can do a 'man mount' to see options.

Yes, and then I get that "Remote I/O error" message. Same thing with the GUI version (by clicking on "mount"). I wonder what this means!

That the external disk damaged? Either physically or the file system. Are you able to check that on another system?
jdk

I'm afraid not, as Windows treats the external hard-drive as an unformatted drive. I would tend to think there's more you can get out of your hard-drive than a mere error message, even if it's broken?

Remote I/O error is an NFS error. Is the ext. drive directly connected to the Linux box, or is it attached to another machine? If you know a little about Linux, you can install "strace" and do

su -c 'strace mount /dev/sda1 /media/sda1'

and just read the end of the stack trace. Sometimes you can find at least some clue to where the error is actually coming from, or what specifically is causing it. I have faith in you. Just do your best, and if you're like me, say a prayer, "Pleeeease let this thing mount!"