Trouble mounting external WD elements hard drive

[AshMcConnell]

Hi Folks,

I'm a bit of a linux novice. I have an external 1 TByte Western Digital elements hard drive. It isn't appearing in /dev/ like my usb stick does.

My setup: -

- Powered USB hub to power the hard drive (2 Amp)
- USB hub connected to the Pi
- Pi separately powered by a micro usb + usb plug (1 Amp)

if I use dmesg it shows that it has recognised the drive but timed out: -

Code: Select all

[   16.562849] usb 1-1.2: new high speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
[   16.703572] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
[   16.720865] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   16.738899] usb 1-1.2: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[   16.768427] hub 1-1.2:1.0: USB hub found
[   16.805453] hub 1-1.2:1.0: 4 ports detected
[   17.102722] usb 1-1.2.1: new high speed USB device number 5 using dwc_otg
[   17.243323] usb 1-1.2.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
[   17.272502] usb 1-1.2.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[   17.298929] usb 1-1.2.1: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[   17.329198] hub 1-1.2.1:1.0: USB hub found
[   17.362869] hub 1-1.2.1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[   17.672725] usb 1-1.2.1.4: new high speed USB device number 6 using dwc_otg
[   17.794020] usb 1-1.2.1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=1058, idProduct=1042
[   17.822586] usb 1-1.2.1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=5
[   17.870440] usb 1-1.2.1.4: Product: Elements 1042
[   17.892525] usb 1-1.2.1.4: Manufacturer: Western Digital
[   17.912515] usb 1-1.2.1.4: SerialNumber: 57584E314335324E35313833
[   17.958952] scsi0 : usb-storage 1-1.2.1.4:1.0
[   18.993652] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     WD       Elements 1042    1007 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[   19.039430] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Spinning up disk....
[   20.626139] smsc95xx 1-1.1:1.0: eth0: link up, 100Mbps, full-duplex, lpa 0x45E1
[   21.072509] ....
[   24.865578] Adding 102396k swap on /var/swap.  Priority:-1 extents:1 across:102396k SS
[   25.112454] ....................
[   45.181074] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p3): mounting ext3 file system using the ext4 subsystem
[   45.197326] EXT4-fs (mmcblk0p3): mounted filesystem with ordered data mode. Opts: (null)
[   45.312770] .....................
[  245.537937] sd 0:0:0:0: timing out command, waited 180s
[  425.551141] sd 0:0:0:0: timing out command, waited 180s

Any ideas what I could try?

All the best,
Ash

[elatllat]

Might help if you plugged in the drive after boot and posted an unabridged dmesg.

like in the related post:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=% ... g%2FphpBB3

[RaTTuS]

unplug HD
sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get upgrade -y
reboot
tail -f /var log syslog
unplug mouse and keyboard
plug in HD
what is reported

[AshMcConnell]

Thanks guys, I'll do this when I get home from work and report back!

Thanks
Ash

[AshMcConnell]

Hi Rattus,

Now it doesn't mention the HD at all, just detects the hub

Code: Select all

Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.856359] usb 1-1.2: new high-speed USB device number 4 using dwc_otg
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.957272] usb 1-1.2: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.957309] usb 1-1.2: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.957328] usb 1-1.2: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.962081] hub 1-1.2:1.0: USB hub found
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  425.962431] hub 1-1.2:1.0: 4 ports detected
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.236301] usb 1-1.2.1: new high-speed USB device number 5 using dwc_otg
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.337564] usb 1-1.2.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.337598] usb 1-1.2.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.337616] usb 1-1.2.1: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.342102] hub 1-1.2.1:1.0: USB hub found
Sep 19 21:22:46 raspberrypi kernel: [  426.342486] hub 1-1.2.1:1.0: 4 ports detected

Any ideas what could be wrong?

Thanks!
Ash

[AshMcConnell]

*Update*

When I disconnected it from one USB socket and stuck it in the other it did find the disk, but timed out when spinning it up: -

Code: Select all

[  801.727402] usb 1-1.2: USB disconnect, device number 4
[  801.727432] usb 1-1.2.1: USB disconnect, device number 5
[  804.263625] usb 1-1.3: new high-speed USB device number 7 using dwc_otg
[  804.364738] usb 1-1.3: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
[  804.364772] usb 1-1.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[  804.364789] usb 1-1.3: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[  804.368766] hub 1-1.3:1.0: USB hub found
[  804.369152] hub 1-1.3:1.0: 4 ports detected
[  804.643681] usb 1-1.3.1: new high-speed USB device number 8 using dwc_otg
[  804.744671] usb 1-1.3.1: New USB device found, idVendor=1a40, idProduct=0101
[  804.744704] usb 1-1.3.1: New USB device strings: Mfr=0, Product=1, SerialNumber=0
[  804.744722] usb 1-1.3.1: Product: USB 2.0 Hub
[  804.748772] hub 1-1.3.1:1.0: USB hub found
[  804.749065] hub 1-1.3.1:1.0: 4 ports detected
[  805.023859] usb 1-1.3.1.4: new high-speed USB device number 9 using dwc_otg
[  805.125710] usb 1-1.3.1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=1058, idProduct=1042
[  805.125741] usb 1-1.3.1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=5
[  805.125759] usb 1-1.3.1.4: Product: Elements 1042
[  805.125772] usb 1-1.3.1.4: Manufacturer: Western Digital
[  805.125786] usb 1-1.3.1.4: SerialNumber: 57584E314335324E35313833
[  805.140941] scsi0 : usb-storage 1-1.3.1.4:1.0
[  806.134876] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     WD       Elements 1042    1007 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[  806.141854] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Spinning up disk.....
[  988.178212] sd 0:0:0:0: timing out command, waited 180s

[amyren]

It shouldnt take more than 180s to spin up a disk.
I asume you have tested the drive in another computer?

I have an external WD 500GB 2.5" myself and it works ok when connected to my powered usb hub.
Note that I did open my hub and cut the powerwire (red) for the usb connector that connects to the Pi, to make sure the hub power didnt interfere with the power on the Pi.

What happens if you have the usb hub powered up and the drive connected before switching on the Pi?
(then the drive should have sufficent time spin up before the Pi is booting)

If there is nothing on the disk you could try formatting it again, or try with a smaller partition.

[AshMcConnell]

Hi Amyren,

Thanks for your help.

When I boot the pi with the hd connected it hangs for a long time and times out like before.

I disconnected the red wire in the cable from the usb hub to the pi. Now it doesn't seem to find the HD at all, just the hub. A flash drive connected to the same usb hub does however appear in /dev as sda1 and is automounted. I can see it's contents and it looks fine.

I'm not sure what the problem is. The drive works fine on my windows machine, I don't have linux installed on a desktop at home, but I'll try it in work tomorrow if I get a chance.

How do you have your drive formatted?

Thanks again,
All the best,
Ash

[RaTTuS]

it will be a power problem
you can probably ignore the back power issue tbh
you ned to supply more umph to get it to run I think

[AshMcConnell]

it will be a power problem
you can probably ignore the back power issue tbh
you ned to supply more umph to get it to run I think

Do you think it's the Pi that is underpowered or the HD. Any suggestions on what PSU to get?

Thanks for your help!
Ash

[toxibunny]

Just to add my little 2 cents - I tried to run mine through my USB fuse-modded Pi, and it doesn't even get as far as yours. It lights up, spins a bit, and beeps. then it spins a bit more and beeps. rinse and repeat. Mine's *definitely* a power issue. I have a couple of spare USB wires I could hack up to inject power, but I'm not really up to that at the moment. Anyway, there it is...

[RaTTuS]

quick reply
you will need to run the HD though a powered hub
this will have to have enough juice to power the HD and anything else you need
power the RPi from the HUB as well as the HD
you are looking for 2A minimum
and good leads [especially if you are going for turbo mode]
so get a USB hub with 3A supply [or better]
I'm having fun [read as not fun] trying to get a SSD working with the RPi with no USB hub - I'm getting creative with electronics but I think I need to get a proper PSU and set things up as they should be

[AshMcConnell]

I am using a powered 2A hub for the HD already. It was a cheapie, perhaps they are being a bit generous with their 2A description

I'll see if I can borrow a couple of powered hubs and see which one works, then buy it.

Thanks
Ash

[RaTTuS]

measuring the power from TP1 / TP2
other posts on his issue have been resolved by getting a decent power supply on the hub [and RPi]
[I'm not at my desk right now so this is done via mobile so cannot do proper searches and things]

one thing to try is if your using a y cable
put the data end in the RPI and the power end in a computer USB
if the RPi can see it then it's deffo a power issue on the hub

I'll be back in the office later today so may be able to check up on this

...