External HD Mount Failure

Support and Help
1

Ubuntu Support Template

Ubuntu Version:

24.04 LTS 64-bit

Desktop Environment (if applicable):
GNOME v46

Problem Description:
External HD fails to mount after several years of mounting without any problem. Error message screenshot below.

Relevant System Information:

Style Note notebook NLxxPUx
RAM 16GiB
Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5 - 1235Ux12
HD 500.1 GiB
Firmware 1.07.09
Linux kernel version 6.14.0-37-generic

External HD

WDC My Passport Ultra SSD
1TB
NFTS file system

Screenshots or Error Messages:

thumbnail
thumbnail1080Ă—810 136 KB

What I’ve Tried:

System reboot
Checking external HD by mounting to Android tablet shows no hardware or software errors.

:mag: Please check if similar issues have already been reported and resolved.

This external HD has mounted/worked for a number of years and this is at least the second laptop and second LTS version. It was working normally - last activity was moving an mp4 file from one folder to another, both on the drive. Five minutes later, on attempting to save a document from the laptop to another folder on the HD, the error message occurred.

I can see on this post that a similar error message occurred:

but the background circumstances seem different ? I’m also not seeking automount, just the ability to mount the HD by using the GUI.

Although I have been a user of the previous Ubuntu Forums, this is my first use of the Discourse facility - so please excuse me if I inadvertently make protocoll errors.

Although a user of Ubuntu since 2009, I’m no terminal command line ninja - but well capable of using it on a basis of accurately typing in commands given in advice, even if I don’t understand the whys and wherefores of what I’m doing !

Very grateful for any advice please.

2

Can you still access the drive and copy data off of it? Do you have a backup of that storage device somewhere. Just checking, if not, I think that would be the first order of business if you can still access it.

That message means there is a problem, it could be any of those. A little concerning that you could access it in performing an internal copy on the drive, and then a few minutes later you get this message while performing another access. Especially on a laptop that you have had no issues with it before.

These portable usb, pre-packaged type drives are not reliable for long term storage. I’ve had several Passports go in the recycle, eventually.

If you can access the drive and then rsync all the data off it, or GUI copy the data to your laptop or some other device would be the place to start I think, that is if no backup already.

3

NTFS is a Microsoft proprietary filesystem and it is expedient to use Windows tools to repair Windows filesystems.
Do you have access to a Windows 11 PC to run the chkdsk utility?

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4

Thank you for your reply.

While I obviously can’t access the drive using my laptop, I can access it (read only) from my Android tablet. I do have cloud backup of some key documents, but the vast majority of the data (work related reference material - I’m a self-employed boat builder) is not backed up. I’ll try backing up to the cloud using the tablet; I don’t think that the tablet itself has enough free storage space to hold it itself.

5

Moving a folder/file on the drive to another location on that same drive is totally different than writing from one drive to another which have different filesystems. As pointed out above, you have a foreign (non-Linux) filesystem so if there are problems with the filesystem (ntfs) you must have a windows OS available to repair it.

Common problems are not safely unmounting or removing the device or if you do have a Windows OS you use to access the filesystem, leaving the OS hibernated which will prevent access from a Linux system.

If you do not have a Windows OS installed, you should be able to download some type of recovery disk to use.

1 Like
6

Thank you for your reply.
As far as I can tell, accessing the drive via an Android tablet, there is nothing wrong with the file system - all folders and their contents are accessible, albeit read-only.

I don’t have access to a Windows 11 PC, sadly. I do still have my last Windows laptop - running XP which I need to run the software for managing the electronic ignition on my Land Rover. The fact that it’s Windows XP tells you how long ago it was since I last used Windows regularly !

7

Thank you for your reply.

As I’ve tried to explain, I’ve had entirely successful read/write access to this HD - using ubuntu only - for several years and about 12 months on the current laptop.

I don’t have a Windows OS installed on this laptop; it was purchased as as ubunto-only. The previous laptop did have a Windows OS installed originally but that was removed once ubuntu had been installed.

This is what is puzzling me - why would a setup that had been working well for a long time suddenly stop working ? Has there been a recent update to 24.04 LTS (my updates are setup to run automatically) that might be causing this ?

8

It’s been a long time since XP reached End of Life but it should still have a chkdsk utility?
It may help you?

Is it essential for you to use NTFS as a storage filesystem if you are not a regular Windows user?

9

Best to only use NTFS if you use Windows. It needs chkdsk or defrag periodically which can only be done from Windows. You may need to download a Windows repair/recovery or full install to make repairs. Full install in live mode can be used without product key.

What NTFS driver are you using?

There now are 3 Linux NTFS drivers. Some reported issues, not sure if user or actual software. And it may matter what kernel you use.

Some history
NTFS original read only version, and now name of newest NTFSPLUS driver just issues as patch to kernel, so not yet really available.
NTFS3 Merged two years ago with Linux 5.15 (22.04) with the “NTFS3” driver developed by Paragon Software
NTFS-3G used for years

Have seen some posts where users switched NTFS drivers.
New NTFSplus says ntfs3 has issues
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-NTFSPLUS-NTFS-Driver


echo 'blacklist ntfs3' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/disable-ntfs3.conf

Jan 2024 use ntfs-3g not ntfs3 if older kernel
https://www.heiko-sieger.info/does-the-linux-ntfs3-driver-corrupt-directories/
Kernel driver NTFS3 replacing NTFS-3G as fuse or user space driver.
New NTFS driver was named NTFSPLUS, based on & updated old NTFS
https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-NTFS-v3-Patches

https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-6.9-Dropping-Old-NTFS

Many years ago I had issues with a NTFS partition. Chkdsk from XP did not fix it, but I had a Windows 7 repair flash drive (no Windows 7 install) and that chkdsk did work.
First thing you should try is repairs from Windows. You can experiment with the different Linux drivers, but no guarantees. Newest NTFS not yet in most distributions.

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10

Why things that had been working for years break?

11

The problem is that you are using a foreign filesystem and in all likelihood, it was corrupted and that is why it is read only. Reasons for file corruption are discussed at the Microsoft site at the link below. I

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/2475785/chkdisk-type-of-file-system-is-ntfs-the-volume-is

Windows being closed source and proprietary, it is difficult to repair it from outside and Microsoft has frequently threatened other businesses who try to write software that would make things easier for users, neosmart being a company that readily comes to mind. You may be able to download some windows repair tool and write it to a usb and boot to repair. That would be the first step and if you get it resolved, don’t use ntfs if you don’t have a windows OS available.

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