Arch Linux

foobarch

Member

Registered: 2009-10-13

Posts: 66

Unable to use /dev/sdb

Hi.

I've connected an old 2,5" Thinkpad harddrive via a hama sata -> usb connector to my notebook. The device /dev/sdb appears, but I can't use it.

sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

Unable to read /dev/sdb

dmesg

usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 3
scsi5 : usb-storage 1-1:1.0
scsi 5:0:0:0: Direct-Access                                    PQ: 0 ANSI: 2 CCS
sd 5:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
sd 5:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk

In comparison: when I connect another usb stick it looks like this

usb 1-1: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 4
scsi6 : usb-storage 1-1:1.0
scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     A-JET    USB 2.0 0812     1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] 15937536 512-byte logical blocks: (8.16 GB/7.59 GiB)
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
 sdb: sdb1
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

What's the problem?

Thank you.

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

Try

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

foobarch

Member

Registered: 2009-10-13

Posts: 66

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

No output. Hmm, does this mean the MBR is fucked? What can I do about it?

hexanol

Member

From: Canaduh

Registered: 2009-08-04

Posts: 95

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

If you want to see your MBR, you can use a command such as 'sudo dd if=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1 status=noxfer | od -Ax -tx1z'.

You can recreate a new (DOS-type) partition table with tool like parted (and I guess, fdisk and the likes). Ask if you want more info, but I suspect this might be more of a general error, like problems accessing the disk.

foobarch

Member

Registered: 2009-10-13

Posts: 66

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

If you want to see your MBR, you can use a command such as 'sudo dd if=/dev/sdb bs=512 count=1 status=noxfer | od -Ax -tx1z'.

Already tried that. Doesn't work..

0+0 records in
0+0 records out
000000

[...] but I suspect this might be more of a general error, like problems accessing the disk.

Me too. Maybe it's just the poor "converter"..

JokerBoy

Member

From: România

Registered: 2009-09-24

Posts: 641

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

have you tried cfdisk -z /dev/sda?

from man cfdisk:
-z     Start  with  zeroed  partition  table.   This option is useful when you want to repartition your entire
              disk.  Note: this option does not zero the partition table on the disk; rather, it  simply  starts  the
              program without reading the existing partition table.

---

Arch64/DWM || My Dropbox referral link

foobarch

Member

Registered: 2009-10-13

Posts: 66

Re: Unable to use /dev/sdb

Didn't know the -z flag. Thanks.

FATAL ERROR: Cannot read disk drive

So, I guess it's the connector.