HDD works on windows, not linux

resizingbroken · April 3, 2025, 3:57pm

Hey, I got a 3TB HDD. The guy I got it from uses debian and was able to mount it without any problems on his computer and servers, apparently without any special drivers. It’s a freecom HDD. It uses a external power source, so power over usb A is not an issue.

However, I wasn’t able to see it on my laptop with linux at all. As I have a dual boot, I also tried on windows, where it worked.

on windows:

I was able to easily find it in disk app, reformat it from ext4 to exfat and put a bunch of files on it. Still there after rebooting

on linux:

detects the device when plugging in. dmesg output:

[ 171.172468] usb-storage 4-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 171.173237] scsi host0: usb-storage 4-1:1.0
[ 176.723080] scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access WDC WD30 EFRX-68AX9N0 80.0 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
[ 176.724151] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Very big device. Trying to use READ CAPACITY(16).
[ 177.375637] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 5860533168 512-byte logical blocks: (3.00 TB/2.73 TiB)
[ 177.375962] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
[ 177.375966] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 17 00 00 08
[ 177.376256] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] No Caching mode page found
[ 177.376259] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 207.929464] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 238.647570] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 238.773795] sda: sda1
[ 238.774112] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk

takes a solid minute for fdisk -l to run:

Festplatte /dev/sda: 2.73 TiB, 3000592982016 Bytes, 5860533168 Sektoren
Festplattenmodell: EFRX-68AX9N0
Einheiten: Sektoren von 1 * 512 = 512 Bytes
Sektorgröße (logisch/physikalisch): 512 Bytes / 512 Bytes
E/A-Größe (minimal/optimal): 512 Bytes / 512 Bytes
Festplattenbezeichnungstyp: gpt
Festplattenbezeichner: 26A24D29-29CB-41DD-A0A8-40E53C943AC8

Gerät Anfang Ende Sektoren Größe Typ
/dev/sda1 2048 5860532223 5860530176 2.7T Microsoft Basisdaten

gparted and other disk utilities hang up until I unplug the HDD
trying to mount /dev/sda1 gets stuck indefinitely, and it prints this again and again in dmesg:

[ 269.373253] I/O error, dev sda, sector 5860532432 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 300.084550] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 300.096043] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[ 300.096051] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 01 5d 50 9f e0 00 00 00 08 00 00
[ 300.096053] I/O error, dev sda, sector 5860532192 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 330.805622] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 330.817279] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[ 330.817305] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 01 5d 50 9f d0 00 00 00 08 00 00
[ 330.817308] I/O error, dev sda, sector 5860532176 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 361.525696] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 361.537990] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[ 361.537998] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 18 00 00 00 00 08 00 00
[ 361.538001] I/O error, dev sda, sector 6144 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 392.240417] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 422.963723] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 422.975246] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[ 422.975259] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 0c 00 00 00 00 08 00 00
[ 422.975262] I/O error, dev sda, sector 3072 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 453.679122] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 484.398375] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd
[ 484.409785] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_TIME_OUT driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=30s
[ 484.409794] sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] tag#0 CDB: Read(16) 88 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 08 10 00 00 00 08 00 00
[ 484.409796] I/O error, dev sda, sector 2064 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 515.121480] usb 4-1: reset SuperSpeed USB device number 4 using xhci_hcd

what can I do?

resizingbroken · April 3, 2025, 4:05pm

sudo smartctl -a - /dev/sda:

/dev/sdb: Unknown USB bridge [0x07ab:0xfc72 (0x001)]
Please specify device type with the -d option.

sudo smartctl -a -d sat /dev/sda:

smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.13.8-arch1-1] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

=== START OF INFORMATION SECTION ===
Model Family:     Western Digital Red
Device Model:     WDC WD30EFRX-68AX9N0
Serial Number:    WD-WMC1T0882617
LU WWN Device Id: 5 0014ee 65831eed4
Firmware Version: 80.00A80
User Capacity:    3’000’592’982’016 bytes [3.00 TB]
Sector Sizes:     512 bytes logical, 4096 bytes physical
Device is:        In smartctl database 7.3/5528
ATA Version is:   ACS-2 (minor revision not indicated)
SATA Version is:  SATA 3.0, 6.0 Gb/s (current: 3.0 Gb/s)
Local Time is:    Thu Apr  3 18:02:49 2025 CEST
SMART support is: Available - device has SMART capability.
SMART support is: Enabled

=== START OF READ SMART DATA SECTION ===
SMART Status not supported: Incomplete response, ATA output registers missing
SMART overall-health self-assessment test result: PASSED
Warning: This result is based on an Attribute check.

General SMART Values:
Offline data collection status:  (0x00)	Offline data collection activity
					was never started.
					Auto Offline Data Collection: Disabled.
Self-test execution status:      (   0)	The previous self-test routine completed
					without error or no self-test has ever
					been run.
Total time to complete Offline
data collection: 		(41640) seconds.
Offline data collection
capabilities: 			 (0x7b) SMART execute Offline immediate.
					Auto Offline data collection on/off support.
					Suspend Offline collection upon new
					command.
					Offline surface scan supported.
					Self-test supported.
					Conveyance Self-test supported.
					Selective Self-test supported.
SMART capabilities:            (0x0003)	Saves SMART data before entering
					power-saving mode.
					Supports SMART auto save timer.
Error logging capability:        (0x01)	Error logging supported.
					General Purpose Logging supported.
Short self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   2) minutes.
Extended self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 ( 418) minutes.
Conveyance self-test routine
recommended polling time: 	 (   5) minutes.
SCT capabilities: 	       (0x70bd)	SCT Status supported.
					SCT Error Recovery Control supported.
					SCT Feature Control supported.
					SCT Data Table supported.

SMART Attributes Data Structure revision number: 16
Vendor Specific SMART Attributes with Thresholds:
ID# ATTRIBUTE_NAME          FLAG     VALUE WORST THRESH TYPE      UPDATED  WHEN_FAILED RAW_VALUE
  1 Raw_Read_Error_Rate     0x002f   100   253   051    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  3 Spin_Up_Time            0x0027   183   180   021    Pre-fail  Always       -       5833
  4 Start_Stop_Count        0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       29
  5 Reallocated_Sector_Ct   0x0033   200   200   140    Pre-fail  Always       -       0
  7 Seek_Error_Rate         0x002e   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
  9 Power_On_Hours          0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       1
 10 Spin_Retry_Count        0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 11 Calibration_Retry_Count 0x0032   100   253   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
 12 Power_Cycle_Count       0x0032   100   100   000    Old_age   Always       -       10
192 Power-Off_Retract_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       5
193 Load_Cycle_Count        0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       23
194 Temperature_Celsius     0x0022   123   118   000    Old_age   Always       -       27
196 Reallocated_Event_Count 0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
197 Current_Pending_Sector  0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
198 Offline_Uncorrectable   0x0030   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0
199 UDMA_CRC_Error_Count    0x0032   200   200   000    Old_age   Always       -       0
200 Multi_Zone_Error_Rate   0x0008   100   253   000    Old_age   Offline      -       0

SMART Error Log Version: 1
No Errors Logged

SMART Self-test log structure revision number 1
No self-tests have been logged.  [To run self-tests, use: smartctl -t]

SMART Selective self-test log data structure revision number 1
 SPAN  MIN_LBA  MAX_LBA  CURRENT_TEST_STATUS
    1        0        0  Not_testing
    2        0        0  Not_testing
    3        0        0  Not_testing
    4        0        0  Not_testing
    5        0        0  Not_testing
Selective self-test flags (0x0):
  After scanning selected spans, do NOT read-scan remainder of disk.
If Selective self-test is pending on power-up, resume after 0 minute delay.

The above only provides legacy SMART information - try 'smartctl -x' for more

Bink · April 3, 2025, 10:01pm

On your laptop, do you have different USB ports you can try? Some may use a different controller, which can be important.

resizingbroken · April 3, 2025, 10:21pm

I’ve tried with different USB A ports, same result. I can’t change them from 3.0 to 2.0 in bios, I checked.

I also have a USB C port. I’ll try that as soon as I get my hands on a corresponding cable

Bink · April 3, 2025, 10:22pm

That’d be worth a go, if it’s possible

ricklinux · April 4, 2025, 12:12am

It looks like a usb to SATA bridge error.

gladykov · April 5, 2025, 3:41pm

Some trouble shooting I would do:

Is your BIOS up to date?
I remember Windows formating my exfat disk wrong. I had to format on Linux, to be able to use in both systems. But I understand you cannot format it in Linux
Humm. OK, check the theory of the seller, run Debian Live ISO and see if it mounts
If not - can you try other computer with Debian Live ISO?
If not - I would consider returning the disk as faulty
You use GPT? Blind shot as last resort, but maybe using MBR would help?

Also, yes, using different USB cable can help, cleaning USB ports on disk / PC can help and different port can help.