Inconsistent Detection of External SSD | Linux Mint Community🍵 | Page 1

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 1:52 AM

#

Steps to Reproduce:

Boot / Wake
See External SSD Missing from /media

Expected Behavior:
The drive to consistently be mounted.

Actual Behavior:
The drive is, more often than not, nonexistent to Linux. Not in Nemo, Disks, or GParted.

Additional Information:
I have an external Samsung T7 SSD. After upgrading to Linux Mint 22, it no longer mounts or is even visible. It doesn't show up in Disks or gparted. Sometimes when I boot into Mint 22, I'll get the CTRL-C to skip filesystem checks message. When I hit ESC to see what's going on, I get the screenshot. Interestingly, after I took the screenshot, when I got into the desktop environment, I had the SSD just fine.

From what I've gathered, some of this has to do with too much power draw to USB, but it worked prior to Linux Mint 22. I tried doing the below based on some forum posts, but it didn't help (and I'm not entirely sure how to undo it or if I need to).

echo Y | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/old_scheme_first

I also have a Blue Yeti Nano microphone that used to have problems with pulseaudio and kinda sometimes has problems with pipewire now. I used to run pulseaudio -k when it would act up and now, with pipewire, I run systemctl --user restart with a bunch of stuff. Not sure if maybe that's causing issues with USB? I'm trying my darndest to stick with Linux Mint, but I'm not sure how to fix these issues. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 1:59 AM

#

try using a type A port in the host to run the drive

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:00 AM

#

I have tried both a USB-C and a USB-A

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:00 AM

#

is it set to automount on boot (this is a thing the user would explicitly have set up)

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:01 AM

#

It used to automount before I upgraded to Linux Mint 22. Now, when it works, it automounts, yes.

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:01 AM

#

let's have a look at the settings. Is it showing up now in the Disks app?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:02 AM

#

it is not

#

Sorry, it IS after the latest boot

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:02 AM

#

ok disconnect the cable listen for a sound

#

oh

#

well show a screenshot of it selected in gnome-disks

#

and hit the play button under it

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:04 AM

#

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:04 AM

#

alright.

#

well exFAT looks to be a decent choice

#

if u click the gear, then "Mount options", what shows?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:06 AM

#

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:07 AM

#

ok close that don't change anything

#

the way things are, it should always appear as a removable device on the left side of ur file manager

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:08 AM

#

Yes, it is in Nemo right now

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:08 AM

#

is it on a laptop or tower?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:08 AM

#

Tower

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:09 AM

#

see if there are any USB ports that indicate "charge" (possibly orange) or similar clue

#

then safely eject the drive, plug to that port, then try a suspend the system test.

#

or u may have good use out of a powered USB hub.

#

see now how it goes anyway

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:12 AM

#

The mobo doesn't have any USB ports like that. I can look into a powered USB hub, but I'm still perplexed why it worked just fine on Mint 21 but not 22

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:13 AM

#

also check in the Preferences> Sound module.. the event sounds tab, to ensure device connected and device disconnected sound events play.

#

and ensure system sounds volume slider is up high enough. then u will know if funny random disconnects are happening, and when

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:14 AM

#

Right now, I don't have sound at all. This upgrade has broken numerous things. I can't connect bluetooth. I tried restarting pipewire. Blueman says no audio endpoints registered. It's been quite a headache.

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:15 AM

#

you don't have a simple 3.5mm to amplified desktop speakers thing to test with?

#

that is usually the most robust output mode

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:16 AM

#

I don't have speakers but I'll find some wired headphones. Going to restart without the microphone plugged in. BRB

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:16 AM

#

alright

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:18 AM

#

It's definitely the microphone

#

The message to CTRL-C to skip filesystem checks showed up for about two seconds

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:18 AM

#

ok so now u did a full reboot

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:18 AM

#

Didn't even get a chance to hit ESC before getting propmted to sign in

#

I did a restart and sound works

#

and the SSD is there

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:19 AM

#

alright, ensure those event sounds are on for the usb events

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:19 AM

#

#

and i can hear them

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:19 AM

#

so how many drives or volumes are in play in ur current linux install?

#

not counting EFI partition

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:20 AM

#

... a few 😄

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:20 AM

#

what u can do is check fstab file, in normal user mode so u cant mess it up

#

go to /etc in ur file manager, and find the fstab file and open it normally with enter

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:22 AM

#

I have five drives currently. three internal SSDs, one internal NVMe, one external SSD

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:22 AM

#

the only volume needing a fsck check at bootup is the one mounted at / (the linux OS) it will show a "1" in the last column of its line in the file

#

others may also include a fsck so their pass number will be 2, 3, etc in sequence only if they're of ext4 type

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:24 AM

#

So, what are we checking for?

#

it looks like there are six entries

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:25 AM

#

are any of the ones in the file besides the root one "EXT4" type?

#

make sure to maximize the window for easy reading and width

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:27 AM

#

Oh, yes. Besides the external in exFAT, I have three drives in EXT4, and one in NTFS (my original Windows drive from before the Linux switch)

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:28 AM

#

ok

#

so u probably see a pass value of 1, 2, and 3 presumably each on separate lines and pertaining to the ext4 ones

#

anyway it doesnt matter really

#

as long as ur external one isn't referenced in there it's besides the point

#

close the file and sleep the system.

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:30 AM

#

OK. I do think the quick and easy solution right now is to unplug the microphone when I sleep/shutdown, and plug it in when I'm safely in the desktop environment. It seems to be causing the USB power issues more than the drive

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:31 AM

#

then wait 15 seconds and reawaken it. and see if the drive's there in file manager, the external USB one

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:31 AM

#

OK, going to do that with the microphone unplugged. BRB

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:32 AM

#

wild guess is you'll here the mount event sound when u reawaken it

#

*hear

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:33 AM

#

it is NOT mounted

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:34 AM

#

ok but was it even mounted the first time before sleeping?

#

it may just be present then and now

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:34 AM

#

yes, it was

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:34 AM

#

mkay.

#

that may be a nemo setting to look into

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:35 AM

#

it doesn't even show up in Disks

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:35 AM

#

something about mount devices on discovery

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:35 AM

#

or in gparted

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:35 AM

#

oh right now it isnt

#

so it needs a hard usb bus reset (un/replug

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:36 AM

#

unplugged and replugged the external drive and it is not showing up

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:36 AM

#

give it like 15 seconds

#

i've seen sometimes things take long

#

also press fit the cord at both ends.. never know

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:38 AM

#

nothing

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:38 AM

#

ok

#

test the same exact port with a normal usb thumb drive

#

same experiment

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:39 AM

#

i unfortunately do not have a USB-C thumb drive

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:39 AM

#

ah

#

to me it just seems that drive's being finnicky

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:40 AM

#

it started with the 22 upgrade though. it was fine before

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:40 AM

#

mhm

#

well if it's truly something deep in the OS itself, i have no idea on a fix

#

i'd try the USB A port, same experiment. and using same port and 2 drives (the other being a common thumb drive)

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:41 AM

#

i just got my USB-A thumb drive. i will plug it in now

#

no sound, not detected

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:42 AM

#

does it show in DISKS?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:43 AM

#

no

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:43 AM

#

ah ok, narrowing it down

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:43 AM

#

hold on

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:43 AM

#

so it's likely not the cable or external SSD

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:46 AM

#

so it might be USB C/3.1 that's the issue

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:46 AM

#

do u have a blue usb A female port?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:47 AM

#

i have two black, two blue, and one cyan

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:47 AM

#

if so, that may be ur best choice for the drive

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:47 AM

#

when i plugged the thumb drive into the cyan, it was not in Disks

#

when i plugged it into black, it was in Disks

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:48 AM

#

black n blue is Usb 2 and 3x respectively

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:48 AM

#

righto, but the cyan is 3.1, right?

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:48 AM

#

idk cyan. might be superspeed+ or with sleep charging

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:48 AM

#

aaah, ok. so i just tried standard 3.0 and it showed up in disks

#

going to try SSD now

#

and it was detected

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:51 AM

#

Teal USB Port Meaning

The teal USB port is also known as the USB 3.1 Gen 1 or SuperSpeed+ (SS+) USB. Released in 2013, it supports up to 10 Gbps data transfer speed, which is twice as fast as USB 3.0. The color is similar to USB 3.0, but it will appear as slightly more green-toned than the classic blue of 3.0. This is the easiest way to differentiate USB 3.0 vs 3.1 ports.

It is backward-compatible and can be used with devices that only support USB 3.0, 2.0, or 1.X. Additionally, it supports duplex communication, meaning data can be transferred in both directions simultaneously.

#

technically, this port should work with any drive, and fall back to the lowest speed rating applicable to device

#

but, just stick with blue

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:52 AM

#

Seems that way!

#

Between sticking with blue and keeping that microphone unplugged for boot/wake for now, hopefully that'll resolve some of the issues I had. Thank you for your time!! I appreciate the help so much!

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:54 AM

#

oh glad to dive in with u on it

#

ur mic could do just fine on usb 2 ports btw

#

if they're not already both used for mouse and keybd

#

or add either a powered or a passive hub for them

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:56 AM

#

yea, that's something i will look into.

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:56 AM

#

make a new ticket for the sound/BT thing. some other nerds might know for it

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:57 AM

#

i'm going to gather more info on that, see if the microphone unplugging resolves it regularly. if not, i'll post

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 2:57 AM

#

also did u test the external SSD now on usb A, blue port for sleep/revival performance?

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 2:58 AM

#

not yet

#

i'll do that now

#

mounted on wake!

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 3:01 AM

#

also, word of advice: if it's ur backup drive keep it disconnected most of the time, reason is if there was a high voltage surge, u wouldnt want ur back up drive fried along with the rest.

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 3:03 AM

#

for sure. i usually only have it connected on weekends.

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 3:03 AM

#

same reasoning prevents total ransomware takeover

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 3:04 AM

#

Do we know if this issue with 3.1/SS+ is a my machine thing or a Linux thing?

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 3:04 AM

#

i can only guess

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 3:04 AM

#

totally. just curious

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 3:05 AM

#

in time with kernel updates, u may test again

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 3:05 AM

#

Yea, I was really just surprised that it seems to have regressed with the 22 upgrade

rare monolith Nov 28, 2024, 3:05 AM

#

as the kernel is the direct software in charge of the hardware/mobo thru the UEFI BIOS

winged scaffold Nov 28, 2024, 3:06 AM

#

Understood! Thank you again for your time and help!!

#Inconsistent Detection of External SSD