External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

Czar2025 · 2025-05-16 21:44:04

I'm facing a problem with my external HD. I wasn't able to delete files either through the terminal or through Arch's file manager.
I used commands in the terminal and it shows the following message:

sudo rm -r 'aaa':
rm: could not be removed 'aaa/aa_Direto da Roça/Christmas/1000_F_118496713_yEYuToU15N5gnN5kM8uLA08xZaAuLYe9.jpg': Read-only file system
...

- sudo umount /mnt/usb-TOSHIBA_External_USB_3.0_20131103003463F-0:0-part1:
umount: /mnt/usb-TOSHIBA_External_USB_3.0_20131103003463F-0:0-part1: dont mount.

- mount -t ntfs -o rw /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb-TOSHIBA_External_USB_3.0_20131103003463F-0:0-part1:
ntfs-3g: Failed to access volume '/dev/sdb1': Missing file or directory (non-existent)
ntfs-3g 2022.10.3 external FUSE 29 - Third Generation NTFS Driver
Configuration type 7, XATTRS are on, POSIX ACLS are on

Usage: ntfs-3g [-o option[,...]] <device|image_file> <mount_point>
Options: ro (read-only mount), windows_names, uid=, gid=,
umask=, fmask=, dmask=, streams_interface=.
Please see the details in the manual (type: man ntfs-3g).
Example: ntfs-3g /dev/sda1 /mnt/windows
Plugin path: /usr/lib/ntfs-3g
News, support and information: https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/

While researching, I used some commands through testdisk and, after that, the HD disappeared. It is no longer possible to see it mounted in the file manager.

HDD external no mount. Why? https://ibb.co/tPBZKMcY

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-24 21:51:41)

BG405 · 2025-05-17 19:30:17

NTFS … sounds like either corrupted filesystem (you need to use native MS tools to fix that, e.g. Hirens BootCD or from a Windows installation if you have one) … or maybe hardware failure.

Does it show up with e.g. lsusb, or any partitioning tools e.g. sudo fdisk -l?

Czar2025 · 2025-05-17 20:16:12

lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:07dc Intel Corp. Bluetooth wireless interface
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:571a Realtek Semiconductor Corp. HP Truevision HD
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0eef:a116 D-WAV Scientific Co., Ltd eGalaxTouch EXC7910-1040-10.01.01
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub
[czar@archhp ~]$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 001 Device 002: ID 046d:c52b Logitech, Inc. Unifying Receiver
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 8087:07dc Intel Corp. Bluetooth wireless interface
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bda:571a Realtek Semiconductor Corp. HP Truevision HD
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 0eef:a116 D-WAV Scientific Co., Ltd eGalaxTouch EXC7910-1040-10.01.01
Bus 001 Device 008: ID 0480:0200 Toshiba America Inc External Disk
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 8087:8000 Intel Corp. Integrated Rate Matching Hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0003 Linux Foundation 3.0 root hub

sudo fdisk -l
Disco /dev/sdb: 1,82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 setores
Modelo de disco: External USB 3.0
Unidades: setor de 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Tamanho de setor (lógico/físico): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Tamanho E/S (mínimo/ótimo): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Tipo de rótulo do disco: dos
Identificador do disco: 0x4320656e

Dispositivo Inicializar Início Fim Setores Tamanho Id Tipo
/dev/sdb1 1634738284 3549463005 1914724722 913G 74 desconhecida
/dev/sdb2 1929382413 3883035520 1953653108 931,6G 63 GNU HURD ou
/dev/sdb3 0 0 0 0B 0 Vazia
/dev/sdb4 26870154 26870584 431 215,5K 0 Vazia

I probably used testdisk incorrectly. After that, it no longer appears in the file manager.

TestDisk is a powerful open-source data recovery tool that can help repair corrupted partitions or recover lost partitions in Linux. It can scan for filesystems and restore the partition table based on the found data. To use TestDisk effectively, you'll need to identify the correct disk and then run a search to locate the lost or corrupted partition.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-17 20:19:37)

cryptearth · 2025-05-17 20:21:32

please use code tags for console output
also: as you don't have english locale: please prepend your commands with

LC_ALL=C

to enforce english outputs

Czar2025 · 2025-05-17 21:07:49

ok

Czar2025 · 2025-05-17 21:10:15

LC_ALL=C sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sdc: 1.82 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Disk model: External USB 3.0
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x4320656e

Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdc1 1634738284 3549463005 1914724722 913G 74 unknown
/dev/sdc2 1929382413 3883035520 1953653108 931.6G 63 GNU HURD or SysV
/dev/sdc3 0 0 0 0B 0 Empty
/dev/sdc4 26870154 26870584 431 215.5K 0 Empty

Partition table entries are not in disk order.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-17 21:16:13)

BG405 · 2025-05-17 22:49:24

So it does look like a corrupted NTFS partition, rather than hardware failure, at least.

What I'd suggest is to clone the entire disk to another, assuming you have one, or at least the affected partition(s), then do the repairs on that, rather than risking further damage.

dd

— used with care — should achieve the copy, or some decent cloning tool.

I also note that in one report it shows as sdbX and the next, sdcX (3 in this case); this is not unusual, so check first.

Don't try to write anything else to the affected disk!

Last edited by BG405 (2025-05-17 22:55:34)

Czar2025 · 2025-05-17 23:20:59

I can't view files after using testdisk tool

BG405 · 2025-05-18 01:18:46

You won't be able to see any files. This is because Linux tools like ntfs-3g are sort-of "reverse-engineered";and don't have all the proprietary stuff necessary to fix a broken Windows NT file system.

A damaged NTFS partition should not be even attempted to be mounted in Linux. Try chkdsk from a Windows environment or rescue disk, as mentioned above.

I suspect TestDisk itself may have exacerbated the damage, due to the "foreign" filesystem.

seth · 2025-05-18 06:34:14

Is this even the correct disk?
There're to ~1TB partitions, first one untyped, second one as GNU/Hurd and then two junk partitions? Is that supposed to be the case (at least the partition count)?

file -s /dev/sdc1 # correct the disk letter, seems incrementing?

If you've shredded the partition table (eg. by allowing testdisk to reconstruct one and didn't pay any attention whether that's a sane layout) and nothing else, restoring the previous partition table will likely fix this, but at this point I'd very much stress

BG405 wrote:

What I'd suggest is to clone the entire disk to another, assuming you have one, or at least the affected partition(s), then do the repairs on that, rather than risking further damage.

- once you've substantially fudged the disk layout or filesystem, every step now has great potential to make things worse, esp. if you don't really know what you did and whether it can be undone and how.

Czar2025 · 2025-05-18 12:05:10

I'm thinking about reinstalling Windows to use a more specific program like Easus Partition Master. What do you think?

seth · 2025-05-18 15:08:01

I'm thinking I've no idea what I think until you address the partitioning situation and what you've actually done to end up with this.
I also thinkg that

seth wrote:

once you've substantially fudged the disk layout or filesystem, every step now has great potential to make things worse, esp. if you don't really know what you did and whether it can be undone and how

so whatever tool you might use on windows or not, if you don't

BG405 wrote:

clone the entire disk to another, assuming you have one, or at least the affected partition(s), then do the repairs on that, rather than risking further damage

you'll end up hating yourself.

Czar2025 · 2025-05-18 15:15:04

I have no other alternative than to try... I already have the "no"

Thanks friend.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-18 15:21:11)

seth · 2025-05-18 15:58:44

Make a backup of the disk before you're experimenting with it!

What about the partition layout? Has that funky stuff been there before or is it a consequence of your testdisk experiments?

Czar2025 · 2025-05-18 16:45:10

seth wrote:

Make a backup of the disk before you're experimenting with it!

It is not possible to see files on it after using testdisk

seth wrote:

What about the partition layout? Has that funky stuff been there before or is it a consequence of your testdisk experiments?

consequence of your testdisk experiments.

Testdisk was analyzing the cylinder and in the middle of the process I accidentally touched the USB cable and turned it off external HD. After that, it was no longer possible to see the files in the manager and change sdb to sbc.

Right now I'm using testdisk again and waiting for the result.

https://ibb.co/5hV6q1tq

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-18 17:14:09)

seth · 2025-05-18 16:49:36

You're supposed to make a backup of the *disk* - not any files.
https://man.archlinux.org/man/dd.1

So the layout didn't look like that and there likely was just a single partiton, not those overlapping ones and the partition probably started at sector 2048 and not 1634738284 ?
Restore that originaly partition table and see what happens.
Make a backup of the disk first!

Czar2025 · 2025-05-18 16:57:58

seth wrote:

You're supposed to make a backup of the *disk* - not any files.
https://man.archlinux.org/man/dd.1

ok

seth wrote:

So the layout didn't look like that and there likely was just a single partiton, not those overlapping ones and the partition probably started at sector 2048 and not 1634738284 ?
Restore that originaly partition table and see what happens.
Make a backup of the disk first!

Ok, friend. I will research how to restore the partition table and post it here. I'll just wait for the testdisk process to finish

P.S.: this external HD was used in Windows to save my files, videos, photos, etc. Now I decided to use only Arch Linux and abandon Microsoft but never.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-18 17:19:36)

Czar2025 · 2025-05-19 01:18:15

I'm trying to burn the Windows 10 .iso file to a USB flash drive to try to fix the external HD, but dd command not able to generate a bootable USB flash drive (?). I also tried using balena etcher.

To dd, used the command:

dd if=windows10.iso of=/dev/sdb bs=512k status=progress; sync

The message it displays is "no bootable device -- insert boot disk".

I've already entered the BIOS and activated legacy. The USB flash drive is displayed at startup.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-19 01:28:28)

BG405 · 2025-05-19 03:00:04

I don't think dd will work for recent Windows .ISOs so maybe you could try Ventoy.

You install that to your USB storage device e.g. flash stick — and then simply copy the relevant .ISO image(s) to it; you can add as many as will fit in the storage space and you get a choice of which to boot from upon startup, as they are automatically detected and presented in the Ventoy boot menu.

This should work with Windows .ISO images too, but from what I've read recently, these are rather fussy about the install medium creation method. In other words, for whatever reason, a simple "dd" won't work. This is likely down to the attempts by Mi¢ro$haft™ to make Windows installation and boot methods "secure".

You are better off using one of the utilities on e.g. Hirens, as I already mentioned. A "live" Windows session is probably also OK, if you can get one of those to work. Or a friend's machine. I think some of these "rescue utility" disk images include tools for partition table repair; it's been a long time. I also had a bootable CD with Easeus Partition Master on it. Don't know if that might be useful.

NOTE: I have not used Windows in anger for nearly a decade, so I am rather out of the loop regarding their recent shenanigans. I have a couple of VMs for curiosity purposes; that's all.

—

I must repeat this warning to all potential readers:

Corrupted disk with important data on it?
DO NOT WRITE ANY NEW DATA TO IT.
Period.
Clone it, work on the clone to repair damage.

seth · 2025-05-19 05:55:26

I will research how to restore the partition table and post it here

If you know what the table looked liked you can just use fdisk or cfdisk

I'll just wait for the testdisk process to finish

What did you do there and what was the result?

Czar2025 · 2025-05-19 12:20:17

BG405 wrote:

DO NOT WRITE ANY NEW DATA TO IT.
Period.
Clone it, work on the clone to repair damage.

I used VENTOY, but during installation, Windows did not detect the computer's SSD.
Apparently I will have to burn the .iso using RUFUS from the Windows system on another computer.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-19 12:21:10)

Czar2025 · 2025-05-19 12:24:17

seth wrote:

What did you do there and what was the result?

Option to analyze all partitions EFI GPT. Testdisk unable to recover.

It is currently analyzing Intel/PC partitions.

Last edited by Czar2025 (2025-05-19 12:34:01)

Czar2025 · 2025-05-20 14:27:53

Hello friends. I am back with good news.

I managed to recover the partition by reinstalling Windows and recovering the partition using EaseUS Partition Master.
After recovering the partition, the external hard drive was readable by Windows and all my files appeared again.

I saved all the files to an SSD, reinstalled Arch Linux and converted the external hard drive to ext4.

My sincere thanks.

seth · 2025-05-20 15:04:56

\o/
Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

Czar2025 · 2025-05-20 20:14:05

seth wrote:

\o/
Please always remember to mark resolved threads by editing your initial posts subject - so others will know that there's no task left, but maybe a solution to find.
Thanks.

ok!

Arch Linux

#1 2025-05-16 21:44:04

External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#2 2025-05-17 19:30:17

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#3 2025-05-17 20:16:12

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#4 2025-05-17 20:21:32

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#5 2025-05-17 21:07:49

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#6 2025-05-17 21:10:15

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#7 2025-05-17 22:49:24

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#8 2025-05-17 23:20:59

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#9 2025-05-18 01:18:46

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#10 2025-05-18 06:34:14

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#11 2025-05-18 12:05:10

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#12 2025-05-18 15:08:01

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#13 2025-05-18 15:15:04

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#14 2025-05-18 15:58:44

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#15 2025-05-18 16:45:10

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#16 2025-05-18 16:49:36

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#17 2025-05-18 16:57:58

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#18 2025-05-19 01:18:15

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#19 2025-05-19 03:00:04

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#20 2025-05-19 05:55:26

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#21 2025-05-19 12:20:17

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#22 2025-05-19 12:24:17

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#23 2025-05-20 14:27:53

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#24 2025-05-20 15:04:56

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

#25 2025-05-20 20:14:05

Re: External HD doesn't show files... - SOLVED

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