Usb Hard drive not recongize since 11.0.4

There have been many posts on hard disk errors mostly those formatted NTFS (windows) system. True enough the chkdsk program in windows will fix the errors but is less than quick and a real PIA to use. I have found a much more simple and reliable way to correct NTFS hard drive errors found in LE.

From a windows system: file explorer, right click the disk to repair, select properties, tools, Check for errors button. It will then ask if you wish to repair. Takes under 30 secs and has worked every time for me.

Quote from astroboye

I re open here coz my hard drive is not recognize each time I restart or when I send files from my pc thru network.

The hard drive is no longer available from Libreelec . there is only a message when I unplugeed it.

I try check disk, restart but nothing works.

Hi, two things what you could try it.

1. If that external HDD got enoungh power. If powered from RPi USB port, you should try it with an powered USB hub.

2. Linux + NTFS = trouble. So, every each time when the HDD isn't properly shut down (or insufficient power?), you will need to remove it and go to a Win PC to "repair" it... Maybe once a week... maybe every day... Or, you can change to EXT4 partition and that "reapair" will be resolved automatically by linux. For linux-windows compatibility, you can try the EXFAT format too, maybe a bit less "smart" in the case of error handling.

As sort of a curiosity thing I reformatted one of my 2 -4TB NTFS hard drives to EXT4 several months ago. Just a few days ago the NTFS drive would no show mounting in LE. No upgrades nothing just normal read/write use and the drives have their own power source. This my X86 system with stable power. I've also noticed using windows sometimes completely random usb thumb drives will generate an error when plugged in. Windows reports it needs to scan and/or repair. It's a windows filesystem quirky condition with no reason and very irritating. I vote to dump the NTFS filesystem when using LE and stick to EXT4 as it seems rock solid. The Windows filesystem scheme is old outdated and downright clunky IMHO.

I have very similar problem with my RPi5 and an external 3.5" HDD. Sometimes it just stops to be mounted by LE. I need to fix erros on windows. This time however it took many attempts to even scan the disk. Can someone please have a look at s.m.a.r.t. data and let me know if the HDD is dying? Those numbers always have me confused, but when I see 200 000 000 read errors, I start panicking.

Kind regards

Marcin

I have had very good results by simply accessing the said drive in Windows and using file explorer right click on Properties then select Tools then click on "Check". So far every time I've used this method it has been successful. Worth a try. I might also mention that since I reformatted my second 4TB drive EXT4 no issues at all.

Quote from Marcin

Can someone please have a look at s.m.a.r.t. data and let me know if the HDD is dying?

Looks like so far it's not so bad but you should always have your critical data backed up...

See this link and the wikipedia link mentioned there for details:

How Do I interpret HDD S.M.A.R.T Results?

My laptop has recently started to become a bit unreliable, and for some reason I started to suspect that my HDD was starting to fail. After a bit of hunting on…

askubuntu.com

Reddirt thanks, I know how to run checkdisk on windows. The problem is to find out why those errors occur in the first place, as they may be a sign of HDD failing. I have my HDD together with RPi, behind a cabinet under the tv. It is a pain to remove it and is not a solution in the long run. I need this to be reliable and maintenance free.

ghtester thank you for checking this, and also for the link.

Kind regards

Marcin

I can appreciate your issues as a many of us had the same problems. Backups are always the best plan to preserve valuable data but in your case if you wish the best current solution I would reformat to EXT4. As I mentioned I have two 4TB drives identical data in both. One formatted NTFS and the other EXT4. Twice in 6 months the NTFS drive has presented the same issues you mentioned and the EXT4 formatted drive has been rock solid. Both are used exclusively with LE. This issue has been around for some time and I know the Devs are looking at it but still presents itself occasionally. Your physical drive is probably not the culprit here.

I need this drive to be also compatible with windows in case my RPi / LE fails.

Well I'd say you don't have many choices.

This problem was not occuring when I was still using Odroid C2 with the same HDD and older version of LE, so maybe there's something there.

Quote from Marcin

I need this drive to be also compatible with windows in case my RPi / LE fails.

"IF" your RPi will die (RPi's never dies ), you can boot your PC from a USB stick and live-linux (any kind of Ubuntu) and save your data from the EXT4 formatted disk. That's isn't a real problem. If you have linux (LE) and want stability use a linux partition.

Quote from Marcin

This problem was not occuring when I was still using Odroid C2 with the same HDD and older version of LE, so maybe there's something there.

Nobody said isn't exist support for NTFS at all under linux. Just not guaranteed. Sometimes it's weak, sometimes enough (or it looks like enough for you).