Won't detect Seagate 2 TB USB 3.0 external drive

Question

So first I googled this question and I came up with this Ubuntu Forums thread.

I did the things that the thread said to do like typing:

• lsusb

• sudo fdisk -l

Then I unplugged my device and plugged it back in and typed in:

dmesg | tail

like the thread said to do. Which gave me this:

kiet@Kiet:~$ lsusb
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 008 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bda:0151 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. Mass Storage Device (Multicard Reader)
Bus 002 Device 004: ID 05e3:0608 Genesys Logic, Inc. USB-2.0 4-Port HUB
Bus 008 Device 002: ID 046d:c52e Logitech, Inc. 
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 17a0:0001 Samson Technologies Corp. C01U condenser microphone
Bus 002 Device 006: ID 04b8:085c Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus SX125
Bus 002 Device 009: ID 0bc2:50a1 Seagate RSS LLC 
kiet@Kiet:~$ sudo fdisk -l
[sudo] password for kiet: 

Disk /dev/sda: 750.2 GB, 750156374016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91201 cylinders, total 1465149168 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000c8ff6

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        2048      206847      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2          206848  1429260287   714526720    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda3      1429262334  1465147391    17942529    5  Extended
/dev/sda5      1429262336  1465147391    17942528   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sdb: 200.0 GB, 200049647616 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 24321 cylinders, total 390721968 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000c6c5e

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1            2048   195311615    97654784    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2       195313662   390721535    97703937    5  Extended
/dev/sdb5       195313664   378140671    91413504   83  Linux
/dev/sdb6       378142720   390721535     6289408   82  Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sde: 15.7 GB, 15707668480 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1909 cylinders, total 30679040 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sde1            8192    30679039    15335424    c  W95 FAT32 (LBA)

Disk /dev/sdg: 2000.4 GB, 2000398933504 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 243201 cylinders, total 3907029167 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4188663d

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdg1              63  3907024127  1953512032+   7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
kiet@Kiet:~$ dmesg | tail
[21617.753058] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Write Protect is off
[21617.753063] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[21617.754194] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] No Caching mode page present
[21617.754197] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
[21617.756441] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] No Caching mode page present
[21617.756445] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
[21617.776958]  sdg: sdg1
[21617.779443] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] No Caching mode page present
[21617.779448] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Assuming drive cache: write through
[21617.779451] sd 8:0:0:0: [sdg] Attached SCSI disk

Afterwards I typed in:

sudo mkdir /media/drive

and I tried mounting the drive to that directory:

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdg1 /media/drive

but instead I got this:

kiet@Kiet:~$ sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdg1 /media/drive
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdg1,
       missing codepage or helper program, or other error
       In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
       dmesg | tail  or so

kiet@Kiet:~$ 

So can anyone help me?

Solution 1

It is possible that your disk is using a different disk format than what is expected and you need to use the correct mount options.

You can try typing : "fdisk -l /dev/sdg" to see if you are correctly mounting the device. In the last column it should show a label "System" and that indicates what type of filesystem it is.

Ubuntu should not have any issues mounting HPFS/NTFS/exFAT, FAT or EXT{1,2,3} out of the box.

What does it show for System on /dev/sdg1?

Solution 2

I believe it a kernel bug. You can try an older kernel and it would work. Also if you connect it to a USB2.0 port it works. Atleast did for me though you would obviously get much slower speeds!