Removed bad hard drive from computer, now flash drive won't mount.

checkmate3001 · 08-14-2008, 01:13 AM

I think my subject says it all.

I had 3 hd in a RAID1 array. I removed a failing drive and now my flash drive won't mount. I suspect it is related to the fact that now my flash drive gets /dev/sdc (before it was /dev/sdd).

Any ideas on how to make the flash drive mount all they time - even if I remove a drive? Is there a way to specify what /dev/sdX the usb ports can have? Is there a way to set aside a /dev/sdX to not allow my flash drive to get this?

jschiwal · 08-14-2008, 01:48 AM

Remove or uncomment incorrect info in /etc/fstab. You have a number of distro's in your profile, so I'm not sure which one this is.

With SuSE, if you have an entry for the device in /etc/fstab, then Hal won't mount it. For removable devices, if you want to have an /etc/fstab entry instead, use either "LABEL=" or "UUID=" instead for removable devices. Then if it is assigned a different device node, it will still mount. Be sure to use the "noauto" option. If you use the "user" or "users" option together with the "uid=" and "gid=" options then you wouldn't need to su to root to mount it and you could have it mounted in ~/.profile. Then it would be mounted when you log in.

I think your main problem is the /dev/sdc exists in /etc/fstab and the info is incorrect.

Monitor /var/log/messages with "sudo -f /var/log/messages" and plug in the device. There may be a reason given why it wasn't auto-mounted.

checkmate3001 · 08-14-2008, 08:17 AM

Thank you for the reply jschiwal!

I checked my /etc/fstab and was surprised to not find /dev/sdc. Here is my fstab:

Code:

proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/md0        /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/md2        /home           ext3    defaults        0       2
/dev/md1        /var            ext3    defaults        0       2
/dev/md3        none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/hda        /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto     0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0
/dev/sdd1       /media/usb0     auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0
/dev/sdf1       /media/usb1     auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0

I am going to try out using the "LABEL=" or "UUID=" and I'll post back with my results.

P.S. This is happening with my debian system, however, the solution should be the same I suspect.

checkmate3001 · 08-14-2008, 09:12 AM

I'm having difficulty finding the uuid of the usb flash drive. I'm used to seeing a directory under /dev/disk called by-uuid. But for some reason (probably just the way it is with debian) there is no "by-uuid" directory.

How would I find out what the flash drive's uuid is?

This is my /var/log/messages:

Code:

/# tail -f /var/log/messages
Aug 14 07:00:49 intranet kernel: usb 3-3: USB disconnect, address 11
Aug 14 07:00:53 intranet kernel: usb 3-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 12
Aug 14 07:00:53 intranet kernel: usb 3-3: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Aug 14 07:00:53 intranet kernel: scsi14 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: scsi scan: INQUIRY result too short (5), using 36
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: scsi 14:0:0:0: Direct-Access                                    PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] Sector size 0 reported, assuming 512.
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] 1 512-byte hardware sectors (0 MB)
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] Sector size 0 reported, assuming 512.
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] 1 512-byte hardware sectors (0 MB)
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel:  sdc: sdc1
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel:  sdc: p1 exceeds device capacity
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sd 14:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI disk
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: attempt to access beyond end of device
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sdc: rw=0, want=3968904, limit=1
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: __ratelimit: 70 messages suppressed
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: attempt to access beyond end of device
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sdc: rw=0, want=3968904, limit=1
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: attempt to access beyond end of device
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sdc: rw=0, want=3969024, limit=1
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: attempt to access beyond end of device
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: sdc: rw=0, want=3969024, limit=1
Aug 14 07:00:58 intranet kernel: attempt to access beyond end of device

The errors continue on for quite a while. I believe my RAID is to blame. If I had to guess I would assume that it is trying to add /dev/sdc to the array but obviously the flash drive is not big enough.

I would like to get rid of these error messages, but perhaps this is the way mdadm is once it is told that there should be 3 drives there and one is missing.

Back to the uuid issue:
Here is what I find in /dev/disk:

Code:

/# tree /dev/disk
|-- by-id
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008 -> ../../sda
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008-part1 -> ../../sda1
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008-part2 -> ../../sda2
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008-part5 -> ../../sda5
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008-part6 -> ../../sda6
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98033008-part7 -> ../../sda7
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522 -> ../../sdb
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522-part1 -> ../../sdb1
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522-part2 -> ../../sdb2
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522-part5 -> ../../sdb5
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522-part6 -> ../../sdb6
|   |-- ata-WDC_WD1600AAJS-0-WD-WCAP98511522-part7 -> ../../sdb7
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008 -> ../../sda
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008-part1 -> ../../sda1
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008-part2 -> ../../sda2
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008-part5 -> ../../sda5
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008-part6 -> ../../sda6
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98033008-part7 -> ../../sda7
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522 -> ../../sdb
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522-part1 -> ../../sdb1
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522-part2 -> ../../sdb2
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522-part5 -> ../../sdb5
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522-part6 -> ../../sdb6
|   |-- scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AAJS-_WD-WCAP98511522-part7 -> ../../sdb7
|   |-- usb-JetFlash_Mass_Storage_Device_9T7DRWJG5UXH -> ../../sdc
|   `-- usb-JetFlash_Mass_Storage_Device_9T7DRWJG5UXH-part1 -> ../../sdc1
`-- by-path
    |-- pci-0000:00:02.1-ide-0:0 -> ../../hda
    |-- pci-0000:00:03.2-usb-0:3:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0 -> ../../sdc
    |-- pci-0000:00:03.2-usb-0:3:1.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part1 -> ../../sdc1
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0 -> ../../sda
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part1 -> ../../sda1
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part2 -> ../../sda2
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part5 -> ../../sda5
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part6 -> ../../sda6
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-0:0:0:0-part7 -> ../../sda7
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0 -> ../../sdb
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0-part1 -> ../../sdb1
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0-part2 -> ../../sdb2
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0-part5 -> ../../sdb5
    |-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0-part6 -> ../../sdb6
    `-- pci-0000:01:0e.0-scsi-2:0:0:0-part7 -> ../../sdb7

None of those look like a uuid to me. I'm stuck... any advice?

yancek · 08-14-2008, 10:30 AM

In terminal type "blkid", should show uuid for all partitions.

checkmate3001 · 08-14-2008, 11:29 PM

Now that is a handy command! I have got to remember that one.

Unfortunately... with the flash drive plugged in (it should be /dev/sdc)...

Code:

~# blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="3c9a917a-ffbb-48ec-ba0b-f89291076914" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: UUID="61f2cff8-87f2-4738-9d2f-f246f302f95d" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda6: UUID="df6ce63b-4c87-4bba-8f00-5b9ab2d91d15" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda7: TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="3c9a917a-ffbb-48ec-ba0b-f89291076914" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb5: UUID="61f2cff8-87f2-4738-9d2f-f246f302f95d" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb6: UUID="df6ce63b-4c87-4bba-8f00-5b9ab2d91d15" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb7: TYPE="swap"
/dev/md3: TYPE="swap"
/dev/md0: UUID="3c9a917a-ffbb-48ec-ba0b-f89291076914" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/md1: UUID="61f2cff8-87f2-4738-9d2f-f246f302f95d" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/md2: UUID="df6ce63b-4c87-4bba-8f00-5b9ab2d91d15" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"

That's all I get.

I'm gonna mess with mdadm. I blame it. I think I'm going to have to convince it that there isn't a spare drive. I'll just add it back later... we'll see what happens.

checkmate3001 · 08-15-2008, 12:03 AM

I wanted to thank you guys for all your advice. I must admit I learned some things. So that's always good.

It turned out the whole problem was ibtk (idiot behind the keyboard). I compiled my own kernel about a week or so ago and had no problem using a card reader so far. But then I bought a flash drive and that was a no go.

I (on a whim) booted up the original kernel just a few minutes ago and the flash drive worked like a charm. I'm going to take another look at what I did wrong with the kernel compile and will hopefully post what change makes it work (or not work).

Thank you everyone for your time.