Hi!

I am running raspbmc and wanted to make ext4 partition for my external hard drive. After making ext4 partition I used Paragon to write a bunch of files on the disk, but they didn't show up on either my raspberry or windows. I couldn't format the partition either and after screwing about some using ext2fsd I have reached point where I can't even plug it in my windows as it crashes and prompts to restart. Raspberry is just unable to access it. I ran dmesg and here are the results

pi@raspbmc:~$ dmesg
Booting Linux on physical CPU 0x0
Initializing cgroup subsys cpu
Linux version 3.12.31 (root@raspbmcbb-legacy) (gcc version 4.7.1 20120402 (prerelease) (crosstool-NG 1.15.2) ) #2 PREEMPT Wed Oct 29 09:24:56 UTC 2014
CPU: ARMv6-compatible processor [410fb767] revision 7 (ARMv7), cr=00c5387d
CPU: PIPT / VIPT nonaliasing data cache, VIPT nonaliasing instruction cache
Machine: BCM2708
Memory policy: ECC disabled, Data cache writeback
On node 0 totalpages: 98304
free_area_init_node: node 0, pgdat c05e23dc, node_mem_map c0637000
Normal zone: 768 pages used for memmap
Normal zone: 0 pages reserved
Normal zone: 98304 pages, LIFO batch:31
pcpu-alloc: s0 r0 d32768 u32768 alloc=1*32768
pcpu-alloc: [0] 0
Built 1 zonelists in Zone order, mobility grouping on. Total pages: 97536
Kernel command line: dma.dmachans=0x7f35 bcm2708_fb.fbwidth=1632 bcm2708_fb.fbheight=1018 bcm2708.boardrev=0xe bcm2708.serial=0x62ec6cf3 smsc95xx.macaddr=B8:27:EB:EC:6C:F3 bcm2708_fb.fbswap=1 sdhci-bcm2708.emmc_clock_freq=250000000 vc_mem.mem_base=0x1ec00000 vc_mem.mem_size=0x20000000 dwc_otg.lpm_enable=0 root=/dev/mmcblk0p6 rootfstype=ext4 noatime quiet rootwait loglevel=1 sdhci-bcm2708.enable_llm=1 dwc_otg.microframe_schedule=1 dwc_otg.fiq_fix_enable=0 dwc_otg.fiq_split_enable=0
PID hash table entries: 2048 (order: 1, 8192 bytes)
Dentry cache hash table entries: 65536 (order: 6, 262144 bytes)
Inode-cache hash table entries: 32768 (order: 5, 131072 bytes)
Memory: 383324K/393216K available (4971K kernel code, 218K rwdata, 604K rodata, 191K init, 333K bss, 9892K reserved)
Virtual kernel memory layout:
vector : 0xffff0000 - 0xffff1000 ( 4 kB)
fixmap : 0xfff00000 - 0xfffe0000 ( 896 kB)
vmalloc : 0xd8800000 - 0xff000000 ( 616 MB)
lowmem : 0xc0000000 - 0xd8000000 ( 384 MB)
modules : 0xbf000000 - 0xc0000000 ( 16 MB)
.text : 0xc0008000 - 0xc057a00c (5577 kB)
.init : 0xc057b000 - 0xc05aae9c ( 192 kB)
.data : 0xc05ac000 - 0xc05e2b20 ( 219 kB)
.bss : 0xc05e2b2c - 0xc06361e9 ( 334 kB)
Preemptible hierarchical RCU implementation.
NR_IRQS:394
sched_clock: 32 bits at 1000kHz, resolution 1000ns, wraps every 4294967ms
Switching to timer-based delay loop
Console: colour dummy device 80x30
console [tty0] enabled
Calibrating delay loop (skipped), value calculated using timer frequency.. 2.00 BogoMIPS (lpj=10000)
pid_max: default: 32768 minimum: 301
Mount-cache hash table entries: 512
Initializing cgroup subsys bfqio
CPU: Testing write buffer coherency: ok
Setting up static identity map for 0xc04e0e00 - 0xc04e0e5c
devtmpfs: initialized
VFP support v0.3: implementor 41 architecture 1 part 20 variant b rev 5
NET: Registered protocol family 16
DMA: preallocated 4096 KiB pool for atomic coherent allocations
cpuidle: using governor ladder
cpuidle: using governor menu
bcm2708.uart_clock = 0
mailbox: Broadcom VideoCore Mailbox driver
bcm2708_vcio: mailbox at f200b880
bcm_power: Broadcom power driver
bcm_power_open() -> 0
bcm_power_request(0, 8)
bcm_mailbox_read -> 00000080, 0
bcm_power_request -> 0
Serial: AMBA PL011 UART driver
dev:f1: ttyAMA0 at MMIO 0x20201000 (irq = 83, base_baud = 0) is a PL011 rev3
bio: create slab <bio-0> at 0
SCSI subsystem initialized
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbfs
usbcore: registered new interface driver hub
usbcore: registered new device driver usb
Switched to clocksource stc
FS-Cache: Loaded
CacheFiles: Loaded
NET: Registered protocol family 2
TCP established hash table entries: 4096 (order: 3, 32768 bytes)
TCP bind hash table entries: 4096 (order: 2, 16384 bytes)
TCP: Hash tables configured (established 4096 bind 4096)
TCP: reno registered
UDP hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
UDP-Lite hash table entries: 256 (order: 0, 4096 bytes)
NET: Registered protocol family 1
RPC: Registered named UNIX socket transport module.
RPC: Registered udp transport module.
RPC: Registered tcp transport module.
RPC: Registered tcp NFSv4.1 backchannel transport module.
bcm2708_dma: DMA manager at f2007000
bcm2708_gpio: bcm2708_gpio_probe c05b8210
vc-mem: phys_addr:0x00000000 mem_base=0x1ec00000 mem_size:0x20000000(512 MiB)
VFS: Disk quotas dquot_6.5.2
Dquot-cache hash table entries: 1024 (order 0, 4096 bytes)
FS-Cache: Netfs 'nfs' registered for caching
NFS: Registering the id_resolver key type
Key type id_resolver registered
Key type id_legacy registered
msgmni has been set to 748
Key type asymmetric registered
Block layer SCSI generic (bsg) driver version 0.4 loaded (major 252)
io scheduler noop registered
io scheduler deadline registered
io scheduler cfq registered
io scheduler bfq registered (default)
BFQ I/O-scheduler version: v7r4
BCM2708FB: allocated DMA memory 57960000
BCM2708FB: allocated DMA channel 0 @ f2007000
Console: switching to colour frame buffer device 204x63
uart-pl011 dev:f1: no DMA platform data
brd: module loaded
loop: module loaded
vchiq: vchiq_init_state: slot_zero = 0xd8804000, is_master = 0
bcm2708_spi bcm2708_spi.0: master is unqueued, this is deprecated
bcm2708_spi bcm2708_spi.0: SPI Controller at 0x20204000 (irq 80)
usbcore: registered new interface driver ax88179_178a
usbcore: registered new interface driver smsc95xx
usbcore: registered new interface driver cdc_ncm
dwc_otg: version 3.00a 10-AUG-2012 (platform bus)
Core Release: 2.80a
Setting default values for core params
Finished setting default values for core params
Using Buffer DMA mode
Periodic Transfer Interrupt Enhancement - disabled
Multiprocessor Interrupt Enhancement - disabled
OTG VER PARAM: 0, OTG VER FLAG: 0
Dedicated Tx FIFOs mode
WARN::dwc_otg_hcd_init:1042: FIQ DMA bounce buffers: virt = 0xd8c27000 dma = 0x579b4000 len=9024
FIQ FSM acceleration enabled for :
Non-periodic Split Transactions
Periodic Split Transactions
High-Speed Isochronous Endpoints
dwc_otg: Microframe scheduler enabled
WARN::hcd_init:473: FIQ at 0xc038239c
WARN::hcd_init:474: FIQ ASM at 0xc0382650 length 36
WARN::hcd_init:500: MPHI regs_base at 0xd8c1c000
dwc_otg bcm2708_usb: DWC OTG Controller
dwc_otg bcm2708_usb: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1
dwc_otg bcm2708_usb: irq 32, io mem 0x00000000
Init: Port Power? op_state=1
Init: Power Port (0)
usb usb1: New USB device found, idVendor=1d6b, idProduct=0002
usb usb1: New USB device strings: Mfr=3, Product=2, SerialNumber=1
usb usb1: Product: DWC OTG Controller
usb usb1: Manufacturer: Linux 3.12.31 dwc_otg_hcd
usb usb1: SerialNumber: bcm2708_usb
hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-0:1.0: 1 port detected
dwc_otg: FIQ enabled
dwc_otg: NAK holdoff enabled
dwc_otg: FIQ split-transaction FSM enabled
Module dwc_common_port init
usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
mousedev: PS/2 mouse device common for all mice
i2c /dev entries driver
device-mapper: uevent: version 1.0.3
device-mapper: ioctl: 4.26.0-ioctl (2013-08-15) initialised: dm-devel@redhat.com
bcm2835-cpufreq: min=850000 max=850000 cur=850000
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor ondemand
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor ondemand
sdhci: Secure Digital Host Controller Interface driver
sdhci: Copyright(c) Pierre Ossman
mmc-bcm2835: Unable to initialise DMA channels. Falling back to PIO
Load BCM2835 MMC driver
sdhci-pltfm: SDHCI platform and OF driver helper
usbcore: registered new interface driver usbhid
usbhid: USB HID core driver
zram: Created 1 device(s) ...
TCP: westwood registered
Initializing XFRM netlink socket
NET: Registered protocol family 17
Key type dns_resolver registered
drivers/rtc/hctosys.c: unable to open rtc device (rtc0)
Waiting for root device /dev/mmcblk0p6...
mmc0: host does not support reading read-only switch. assuming write-enable.
mmc0: new high speed SDHC card at address 0001
mmcblk0: mmc0:0001 SD8GB 7.20 GiB
mmcblk0: p1 p2 < p5 p6 > p3
Indeed it is in host mode hprt0 = 00021501
usb 1-1: new high-speed USB device number 2 using dwc_otg
Indeed it is in host mode hprt0 = 00001101
usb 1-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=9512
usb 1-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
hub 1-1:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-1:1.0: 3 ports detected
usb 1-1.1: new high-speed USB device number 3 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.1: New USB device found, idVendor=0424, idProduct=ec00
usb 1-1.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=0, SerialNumber=0
smsc95xx v1.0.4
smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: register 'smsc95xx' at usb-bcm2708_usb-1.1, smsc95xx USB 2.0 Ethernet, b8:27:eb:ec:6c:f3
usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=04e8, idProduct=61b3
usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 1-1.2: Product: Samsung M3 Portable
usb 1-1.2: Manufacturer: Samsung M3 Portable
usb 1-1.2: SerialNumber: 0F7A7DEC09000017
usb-storage 1-1.2:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
scsi0 : usb-storage 1-1.2:1.0
usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 5 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=05e3, idProduct=0608
usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-1.3: Product: USB2.0 Hub
hub 1-1.3:1.0: USB hub found
hub 1-1.3:1.0: 4 ports detected
usb 1-1.3.3: new high-speed USB device number 6 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=0bda, idProduct=8179
usb 1-1.3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
usb 1-1.3.3: Product: 802.11n NIC
usb 1-1.3.3: Manufacturer: Realtek
usb 1-1.3.3: SerialNumber: 00E04C0001
usb 1-1.3.4: new full-speed USB device number 7 using dwc_otg
usb 1-1.3.4: New USB device found, idVendor=046d, idProduct=c534
usb 1-1.3.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=0
usb 1-1.3.4: Product: USB Receiver
usb 1-1.3.4: Manufacturer: Logitech
input: Logitech USB Receiver as /devices/platform/bcm2708_usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.4/1-1.3.4:1.0/input/input0
hid-generic 0003:046D:C534.0001: input: USB HID v1.11 Keyboard [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-bcm2708_usb-1.3.4/input0
input: Logitech USB Receiver as /devices/platform/bcm2708_usb/usb1/1-1/1-1.3/1-1.3.4/1-1.3.4:1.1/input/input1
hid-generic 0003:046D:C534.0002: input,hiddev0: USB HID v1.11 Mouse [Logitech USB Receiver] on usb-bcm2708_usb-1.3.4/input1
scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access Samsung M3 Portable 1301 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Spinning up disk...
EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): recovery complete
EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
VFS: Mounted root (ext4 filesystem) on device 179:6.
devtmpfs: mounted
...ready
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 976773168 512-byte logical blocks: (500 GB/465 GiB)
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 33 00 00 08
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
sda: sda1 sda2
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
Freeing unused kernel memory: 188K (c057b000 - c05aa000)
udevd[87]: starting version 175
bcm2708_i2c_init_pinmode(1,2)
bcm2708_i2c_init_pinmode(1,3)
bcm2708_i2c bcm2708_i2c.1: BSC1 Controller at 0x20804000 (irq 79) (baudrate 100000)
r8188eu: module is from the staging directory, the quality is unknown, you have been warned.
Chip Version Info: CHIP_8188E_Normal_Chip_TSMC_D_CUT_1T1R_RomVer(0)
usbcore: registered new interface driver r8188eu
pcm512x 1-004d: Failed to reset device: -5
pcm512x: probe of 1-004d failed with error -5
pcm512x 1-004c: Failed to reset device: -5
pcm512x: probe of 1-004c failed with error -5
EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p6): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
FAT-fs (mmcblk0p5): Volume was not properly unmounted. Some data may be corrupt. Please run fsck.
EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 122096390 exceeds size of device (256 blocks)
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor performance
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor performance
ip_tables: (C) 2000-2006 Netfilter Core Team
nf_conntrack version 0.5.0 (5992 buckets, 23968 max)
Console: switching to colour dummy device 80x30
NET: Registered protocol family 10
smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0 eth0: hardware isn't capable of remote wakeup
IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): eth0: link is not ready
MAC Address = c4:6e:1f:13:59:86
IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_UP): wlan2: link is not ready
R8188EU: ERROR assoc success
IPv6: ADDRCONF(NETDEV_CHANGE): wlan2: link becomes ready
fuse init (API version 7.22)
FAT-fs (mmcblk0p1): Volume was not properly unmounted. Some data may be corrupt. Please run fsck.
EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p3): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor ondemand
bcm2835-cpufreq: switching to governor ondemand
bcm2708 watchdog, heartbeat=10 sec (nowayout=0)
EXT4-fs (sda1): bad geometry: block count 122096390 exceeds size of device (256 blocks)

Is it completely dead or do I have a chance of recovering it. Thanks in advance.

HI and welcome to LQ.

Get yourself GParted and reformat your external disk with that. Or use any rescue CD or USB stick and use cfdisk then mkfs.

Are you running raspbmc on a Raspberry Pi? If so what sort of power supply are you using for the Pi? The Pi 2 has to have at least a 2 amp supply, I would recommend a 3 amp supply if you are using external HDD's unless they are also externally powered. What I'm getting at is that if the HDD's are not getting a sufficient power supply to them then this may be why you have a corrupted file system. Other than this I wonder if your corrupted HDD is starting to die

2 members found this post helpful.

I agree with "kevanf1"
- 3amp power supply

I purchased a new ext. HDD when I thought the old HDD was dead ... I was wrong, problem was insufficient power/grunt.
-OR- as kevanf1 said ... your HDD might be dying.

If the external drive is usable by other computers, this would help diagnosis. Windows has great trouble read-write on ext-4. Has anyone solved this?
Another way is to have the external drive in any NTFS partition ( Windows of several Versions, or Linux). My external drives are compressed- NTFS on my non- electronic, spinning hard-disks. Normal un-compressed NTFS partitions are ok too. All my Linux operating systems are usually ok with this.
If you need ext partition, try Ext 3 or Ext2. These are ok with Windows? I've yet to test this fully.
Can you read-write the external drive using a self-launching Linux USB stick? Try putting Xubuntu 14.04, 32 bit, onto the USB stick with Unetbootin. Unetbootin can be used by both Linux, Windows & Mac operating systems.

im not sure i understand the question but

linux will read and write external ntfs formated drives (and lots of FAT varieties)

windows doesnt like ext-4

ntfs only works to 2TB without some sorta 3rd party drivers
this lesson was partially learned trying to save a 2.5G file to a 16Gb thumb drive FATex Fat32
i have an apple ibook os9.?.? the big thumb drives come in exFat or fat32
they work fine that way... but wont take over a 2G file
the ntfs takes a big file on windows or linux but apple (os9) didnt see ntfs

the older macclassic os6? will take the 1 mb or 2 mb floppys the new ones only see 720k or 1.44mb but the older ones are fine with ibm floppys
all the floppys for years didnt come with apple format

the newer lisa (3.5" floppy) will only take 720K ibm or 1M apple floppy


that being said the "most" 2.5 are like 1/2Amp 5v and work directly from USB power

external 3.5 drives/docks come with 120Vac power/adapter should run ok for years

my raspberry and arduino are fine with sd or sdHC never thought of thumb drive with the usbb i/o

Looks like a corrupt mbr. If this disk is not visible to any O/S you will need to repartition/reformat it.
If your partitioner can't see it, try putting a new mbr onto it.
Worse case, use dd to blank out the mbr & restart from there.