Ubuntu
util-linux package

can't mount my external HD ext4

Asked by Koen

hi.

i got an external-hardisk(dev = sdb, label = BackupDisk) formatted as ext4 i use with backintime for backup-purposes.

i had an unclean shutdown recently. ( ubuntu hanged on shutdown, needed to unplug it from power )

now, the external harddisk is present in nautilus ( EVEN when it is not plugged in ) and when i try to click(mount) it i get the error "an operation is already pending" or nothing at all,

when i try to check it using gparted it says that the device is busy.

here some terminal-output:
koen@koen-desktop:~$ mount
/dev/sda4 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /lib/init/rw type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
/dev/sda2 on /windows type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)
/dev/sda6 on /home type ext4 (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/koen/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=koen)

koen@koen-desktop:~$ tree /dev/disk/
/dev/disk/
|-- by-id
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF -> ../../sda
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part1 -> ../../sda1
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part2 -> ../../sda2
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part3 -> ../../sda3
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part4 -> ../../sda4
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part5 -> ../../sda5
| |-- ata-ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part6 -> ../../sda6
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF -> ../../sda
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part1 -> ../../sda1
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part2 -> ../../sda2
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part3 -> ../../sda3
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part4 -> ../../sda4
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part5 -> ../../sda5
| |-- scsi-SATA_ST3320620AS_9QF54PZF-part6 -> ../../sda6
| |-- usb-WDC_WD32_00AAJB-00TYA0_D-0:0 -> ../../sdb
| `-- usb-WDC_WD32_00AAJB-00TYA0_D-0:0-part1 -> ../../sdb1
|-- by-label
| |-- BackupDisk -> ../../sdb1
| `-- System\x20Reserved -> ../../sda1
|-- by-path
| |-- pci-0000:00:1d.7-usb-0:4:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0 -> ../../sdb
| |-- pci-0000:00:1d.7-usb-0:4:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part1 -> ../../sdb1
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0 -> ../../sda
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part1 -> ../../sda1
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part2 -> ../../sda2
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part3 -> ../../sda3
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part4 -> ../../sda4
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part5 -> ../../sda5
| |-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-0:0:0:0-part6 -> ../../sda6
| `-- pci-0000:00:1f.2-scsi-1:0:0:0 -> ../../sr0
`-- by-uuid
    |-- 30f10720-0d77-4053-a426-44bced16d025 -> ../../sdb1
    |-- 7f041bb4-fd52-41eb-ae20-1cbcfb732370 -> ../../sda4
    |-- A278614E786121F1 -> ../../sda2
    |-- abbfa8e5-8405-4fc6-9af0-55271d0e019d -> ../../sda6
    `-- F04045F04045BDDA -> ../../sda1

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Sam_
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Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#1

You say your external disk is sdb. It should be sdg. Can you confirm this data ?
Could you also post the result of command:
   sudo parted -l
where "-l" is lower case "-L".

Revision history for this message
Best Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#2

> It should be sdg

Why? My external is also sdb1 and sdb5.

> unclean shutdown

Koen,
due to the unclean shutdown the external might didn't get savely unmounted.
Please try harddrive manager in system administration.
Search in the left tree menu for the hd and click on it.
Now at the right hand side it should display the details of the hd.

The third line from bottom up on left side (below graphic partiton table) may show it is mounted.
If it is unmount.
Then next, right above the graphic partiton table you should see something like 'remove disk savely'.
Click on that.

Then turn off the external hd or unplug whatever architecture you use.
Then plugin or turn it on again and test if it mounts now correctly.
http://www.webupd8.org/2009/08/how-to-install-palimpsest-disk-utility.html

If it still doesn't mount correctly we need to proceed via terminal and use mount from there.
We need:
sudo fdisk -l
sudo blkid

## where l is lower case of L

We need to verify if UUID is still the same, not corrupted and compare fstab, fdisk and blkid.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Mount
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fstab
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DrivesAndPartitions

Revision history for this message
delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#3

@Sam
Internal disks are numbered since sda or hda.
External disks on USB are numbered since sdg.
For eSATA, I don't know.
So there is something strange seeing an external disk enumerated as "sdb".
What type of external drive did you have ?

Revision history for this message
Koen (gorgabal) said : 		#4

Thanks Sam, that solved my question.

Revision history for this message
Sam_ (and-sam) said : 		#5

delance,
SCSI drives (which incl. hd connected via usb or firewire) can be anything starting with sd...
-quote on-
For SCSI devices the labels are /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, /dev/sdc, /dev/sdd, /dev/sde, /dev/sdf, /dev/sdg, /dev/sdh and /dev/sdi (since a SCSI chain can contain up to nine devices). Other types of drive, such as USB, SATA, etc. are mapped to these SCSI devices by Linux. Therefore SATA and USB drives are labelled as /dev/sdX where X is a letter, starting at "a".
-quote off-
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Mount
(german)
http://wiki.ubuntuusers.de/Datentr%C3%A4ger#Wie-heissen-die-Datentraeger

e.g. my external hd is sdbX, my USB-stick is sdcX.