External hard drives no longer mount

jaba1337 · December 7, 2017 at 3:33 AM

Having trouble with two external USB hard drives. Both are formatted NTFS GPT. Both of these drives used to work fine with my setup (asus chromebox running 8.2.1). They are directly connected to the rear USB ports. I recently had them connected to my windows pc for a bit to move some files around. Now that the drives are connected to the chromebox again, they no longer mount. I have tried safely removing from windows, disabling the fast startup power option, even dismounting with the diskpart utility.

When I try to mount it I get:

Code

LibreELEC:~ # mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb2 /var/media
mount: mounting /dev/sdb2 on /var/media failed: No such device

Here's the output of blkid, sdb2 and sdc1 are the drives.

Code

LibreELEC:~ # blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="System" UUID="58F5-65E2" TYPE="vfat" PARTLABEL="primary" PARTUUID="84674f76-b1c3-447a-b850-b169feeaf835"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="Storage" UUID="5e3e178b-9301-4d87-aa20-fb9f0753b5e8" TYPE="ext4" PARTLABEL="primary" PARTUUID="124f1675-8044-4ea4-938b-661e05f580a6"
/dev/sdb2: LABEL="Zoltan" UUID="9AAA1647AA161FF5" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="Basic data partition" PARTUUID="e559037d-372d-46fc-b12d-60d34749aef0"
/dev/loop0: TYPE="squashfs"
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="continuumtransfunctioner" UUID="BE761A60761A19AB" TYPE="ntfs" PARTLABEL="easystore" PARTUUID="695d4e48-d138-49d9-bb23-8ee926808983"
/dev/sdb1: PARTLABEL="Microsoft reserved partition" PARTUUID="73bb2259-f3df-4103-94cb-4748d55a2fc7"

And the output of mount

Code

LibreELEC:~ # mount
devtmpfs on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,relatime,size=914440k,nr_inodes=228610,mode=755)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,relatime)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,relatime)
/dev/sda1 on /flash type vfat (ro,noatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda2 on /storage type ext4 (rw,noatime,data=ordered)
/dev/loop0 on / type squashfs (ro,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,mode=755)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,release_agent=/usr/lib/systemd/systemd-cgroups-agent,name=systemd)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,relatime)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,relatime)
tmpfs on /var type tmpfs (rw,relatime)
tmpfs on /tmp type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)

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and dmesg

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Also noticed that if I unplug the drive from the chromebox while libreelec/kodi is running, a popup notification shows saying the drive was removed.

Any ideas? Thanks

jaba1337 · December 11, 2017 at 2:18 AM

Anybody?

**chewitt** · December 11, 2017 at 7:37 AM Official Post

chkdsk.exe on Win, then safe disconnect

jaba1337 · December 11, 2017 at 4:54 PM

Quote from chewitt

chkdsk.exe on Win, then safe disconnect

Just gave that a try, still same as before

jaba1337 · December 11, 2017 at 5:45 PM

Thinking it is related to this Windows 10 Fall Creators Update Breaks NTFS 64K Allocation Size Disks - Microsoft Community

Both of my drives are 64k cluster as well. I will try to get access to a windows 7 pc later and run chkdsk on there to see if that fixes it. Otherwise I'll just reformat as ext4 I guess.

Edit: just ran chkdsk and safely removed on my laptop running Windows 10 non-creators version and that fixed the issue. This is definitely a problem with windows 10 creators update. Seems like just connecting any NTFS drive (maybe only with 64k cluster size) to a creators update PC "breaks" the drive for any 3rd party ntfs systems.

**chewitt** · December 12, 2017 at 4:48 AM Official Post

We'll add it to the growing list of Win10 pains. Good to hear chkdsk.exe is still 'the' solution of NTFS things

beredim · June 16, 2018 at 1:05 AM

Sorry for reviving this old thread, but it seems to me that:

a. This problem still persists & I think I'm facing the same issue. NTFS disks without errors from fully updated Windows 10 system that fail to mount on LibreELEC

b. Windows 7 installation base is constantly decreasing (and I do not have access to a Windows 7 system atm, only fully updated Windows 10 systems)
c. There seems to be a bugfix available for this exact issue at Bug 1527231 – Linux cannot mount NTFS filesystem from Windows 10 creators update 1709

If (c) indeed corresponds with the issue described, I'll be happy to test a build (if someone can port the fix).

**chewitt** · June 16, 2018 at 6:42 AM Official Post

Attachment #1370318 for bug #1527231 is the proposed patch. What image do you need for testing?

ping milhouse

beredim · June 16, 2018 at 11:35 AM

I am using LibreELEC 8.2.5 - Generic x86_64

**milhouse** · June 16, 2018 at 3:35 PM

Quote from chewitt

Attachment #1370318 for bug #1527231 is the proposed patch. What image do you need for testing?

ping milhouse

I'll push a PR to master and include it in my nightly builds, but don't merge it until we get some feedback...

beredim · June 16, 2018 at 5:05 PM

Quote from milhouse

I'll push a PR to master and include it in my nightly builds, but don't merge it until we get some feedback...

Would that be at http://milhouse.libreelec.tv/builds/master/generic/ ???

**chewitt** · June 16, 2018 at 11:14 PM Official Post

Yes, but you need the Jun 16 build

**sky42** · June 17, 2018 at 9:54 AM

I am just preparing a new test of my community build 8.2.5 and will try to include this fix later today.

**sky42** · June 17, 2018 at 12:46 PM

I build a 8.2.5 with the fix.

8.2.5-6.42.3-201806171607-4.17.2 in Generic_testing here HiDrive

- backported ntfs-3g_ntfsprogs: fix mount problem caused by Windows 10 Creators Update by MilhouseVH · Pull Request #2777 · LibreELEC/LibreELEC.tv · GitHub

Complete release post LE 8.2.5 with UHD 630 / Coffee Lake / Gemini Lake support and luks, lvm2, dm-raid

beredim · June 17, 2018 at 4:28 PM

Big thanks to everyone for their help.

Unfortunately, it seems my problems may be different than what I thought.

I tried both the builds provided, and also a Fedora 28 live CD.

In all three I failed to mount my NTFS drives.

So I can't really comment on the fix (maybe it works, maybe it doesn't, maybe it solves some problems and causes others), but it would seem something else is wrong with my NTFS drive.

If anyone has any more pointers on how to research my problem I would appreciate it. What I have until now:

- External enclosure with 4TB NTFS drive

- Windows 10 Home fully updated

- Fast boot is disabled, and powercfg /h is set to off

- Windows 10 sees the drive perfectly well, chkdsk reports no errors

- fdisk -l claims "The primary GPT table is corrupt, but the backup appears OK, so that will be used."

Quote

The primary GPT table is corrupt, but the backup appears OK, so that will be used.

Disk /dev/sdc: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors

Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 33553920 bytes

Disklabel type: gpt

Disk identifier: D9B9BC97-97EF-4761-9CAE-5B20FE4359CC

Device Start End Sectors Size Type

/dev/sdc1 34 32767 32734 16M Microsoft reserved

/dev/sdc2 32768 7814033407 7814000640 3.7T Microsoft basic data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.

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- gdisk output

Quote

[root@localhost liveuser]# gdisk

GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.3

Type device filename, or press <Enter> to exit: /dev/sdc

Caution! After loading partitions, the CRC doesn't check out!

Warning! Main partition table CRC mismatch! Loaded backup partition table

instead of main partition table!

Warning! One or more CRCs don't match. You should repair the disk!

Partition table scan:

MBR: protective

BSD: not present

APM: not present

GPT: damaged

****************************************************************************

Caution: Found protective or hybrid MBR and corrupt GPT. Using GPT, but disk

verification and recovery are STRONGLY recommended.

****************************************************************************

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**chewitt** · June 18, 2018 at 3:57 AM Official Post

Windows and Linux have fundamentally different approaches to drive mounting. Windows wants to ensure you can access your data so as long as there is 'a' valid disk scheme somewhere on the disk it will mount. Linux values integrity and will refuse to mount when issues are found.

If you have other storage devices; move the data off (via Win) and reformat the drive, copy the data back. Test for a while. If all is good it was nothing to worry about. If you see further issues it may be a physical issue with the drive and it's time for a replacement.

**Klojum** · June 18, 2018 at 10:50 AM Official Post

My 0.02 cents...

(If possible) Copy all data to a safe location, format the drive to EXT4, copy back the data, and stick to Linux on your (HT)PC.

Sometimes a new approach is quicker/safer than keep looking for the culprit in the first place.

beredim · June 18, 2018 at 11:27 AM

Actually it was hardware problems (combined with my lack on experience on EXT4) that led me back to NTFS after a catastrophic loss of data that even PhotoRec couldn't save in the end. (about 8TB worth).

So now I'm trying to move whatever else I have on EXT4, back to NTFS, so that I can more easily work with them on Windows in case of problems.

In the end, after a lot of trial and error, I managed to create new NTFS partitions (using GParted) that mount fine both on LibreELEC and Windows 10.

Something in my setup, causes Windows 10 created GPT/NTFS partitions to be problematic on linux.

Again, thanks to everyone for their help.

Regarding the actual fix/patch discussed earlier, as I said, I can't offer any advice because it would appear my problems originate elsewhere. Unless someone can verify the fix actually works (or at least doesn't introduce new issues) I would advice against merging it.