PCLinuxOS not recognizing externals

[Lt Dan]

I have two external hard drives that I use for storage. I just setup PCLinuxOS on my laptop and got all the updates and it's working great. One problem so far that is probably simple but I can't seem to make sense of it. When I set it up I had left one of my external drive plugged into the usb port and it is recognized no matter which port I plug it into. The other hard drive was not plugged in and when I did it won't mount it. I'm having the same problem with a flash drive. Any advice as to how to make this adjustment?

[Lt Dan]

Well, I've not gotten any replys yet but I think I may have stumbled on to something about the above issue. I went to a cold boot and restart with the flash already plugged into the usb port and was then able to mount it from within Linux. This may or may not be the way I'll need to do it with the other external. I've not had any reason to shut down yet.

So, does anyone know if externals are all plug and play in Linux or only the ones that are pyhsically connected at the time of boot up?

[falko]

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

if externals are all plug and play in Linux

Usually yes, also on PCLinuxOS. Did you check your logs for errors?

[Lt Dan]

I did check the other external and still no access although Linux does know the drive is there as I went into the control center under hardware and found it, but was not able to mount the drive. It kind of hinted that I needed to format the drive when I tried to set it up that way. It is a FAT32 external HDD and Linux has no problem mounting the 250GB drive just the Seagate 500GB.

What I've done is gone into Windows and transferred the files I want Linux to access onto the 250 and the back up files programs etc, that windows uses over to the 500. This still will leaves me having to transfer files back and forth, as the 500 is where I stored all of my downloaded movies and TV shows I'd saved over the last couple years. Mplayer displays them every bit as good as WMP did with a lot less bells and whistles. There is just not room enough on the 250GB to store them all. I've also made a directory in windows to place some of them, as I can access that drive just fine. All my flashdrives are now working too. so it just seems to be that one drive.

I can't dump windows entirely as I need the compatibility of PowerPoint for some things I do. If every one used OO.org we'd be set. I could dump windows entirely.

[falko]

Did you safely remove that drive from Windows? Take a look here: http://www.howtoforge.com/ntfs_3g_ma...2007_spring_p3

[Lt Dan]

I've been scratching me head over this for a while now and the problem seems that no matter what I do, I can't get Linux to mount that drive. I thought it was a problem with Linux, but I happened to think it might be with the file structure on the drive itself. At some point in the past, I think I formated the drive, thus erasing the autorun file. I had no problems in windows, I think because it is a FAT32 drive, but in Linux, I'm thinking the drive needs that file. It seems to be the only reason I can think of why Linux won't mount it and windows does.

Actually I needed more storage space anyway, so I bought a terabite external drive and have transferred my movies, TV shows and all my data files onto it. This worked out just fine as Linux does recognize the TB drive. So, I think I need to somehow locate an autorun file for the Seagate and copy it onto the drive through windows. I'm not sure if that will solve my issue or not, but it is worth a try. Thoughts?

[falko]

Have you tried to repair the drive as shown in the link I posted?