Member Avatar for johnnybgoode

Under XP all works. I made a directory /media/LaCie and tried to mount as:

mount -t ntfs /dev/sde /media/LaCie

But I get the error mess. "Can't find Superblock". What can have gone wrong?

  • 3 Contributors
  • 4 Replies
  • 124 Views
  • 1 Day Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by johnnybgoode

Dani AI

Generated

Short summary and a few practical diagnostics and fixes that complement the replies from and and the final note by .

The symptom described (attempting to mount NTFS and no usable partition device appearing) is a common side effect when an external 2.5" drive does not get enough USB current to spin up. If the drive or its USB-to-SATA bridge never finishes initialization the kernel will not expose partition nodes, and mount attempts can produce misleading filesystem errors. The USB bus power limits are documented in USB specifications and background material (see Universal Serial Bus (USB) on Wikipedia).

Quick diagnostics to run before changing hardware:

lsusb
lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,LABEL
sudo blkid
sudo fdisk -l
udevadm monitor --udev
  • lsusb checks whether the device is visible on the USB bus.
  • lsblk shows block devices and partitions.
  • blkid / fdisk -l show partition types and UUIDs when present.
  • udevadm monitor lets you watch kernel uevents while plugging the drive in.

Fixes and best practices:

  • Use a powered USB hub or the drive's external power supply so the disk can spin up reliably. A simple unpowered hub sometimes helps if it forces better contact, but a powered hub or the drive's own adapter is the correct solution for sustained use.
  • Try a different cable/port and avoid long or thin cables that can drop voltage.
  • For NTFS access, install an up-to-date NTFS driver (for example ntfs-3g) if read/write support is needed; see Debian ntfs-3g documentation.
  • If the filesystem looks damaged after a failed mount, run Windows chkdsk on the drive before trusting it.

These checks explain why the mount error can be a red herring and give a short, reliable workflow to confirm enumeration vs filesystem problems.

Recommended Answers

All 4 Replies

Member Avatar for techniner

Try:

mount -t ntfs /dev/sde1 /media/LaCie
Member Avatar for John A

What you were essentially trying to do was mount the entire hard disk device onto your filesystem ( /dev/sde ). What you actually want to mount is the partition that contains your data -- this is most likely /dev/sde1 , as pointed out by techniner.

Member Avatar for johnnybgoode

Here 's what I get:

[john@localhost ~]$ su
Password:
[root@localhost john]# mount -t ntfs /dev/sde /media/LaCie
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sde,
missing codepage or other error
(could this be the IDE device where you in fact use
ide-scsi so that sr0 or sda or so is needed?)
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so

When I change to sde1 I got this:

[root@localhost john]# mount -t ntfs /dev/sde1 /media/LaCie
mount: special device /dev/sde1 does not exist

Other ideas ??

Member Avatar for johnnybgoode

Problem solved!

It was the USB port who couldn't deliver enough current for the drive to work. I installed a simple usb hub and the problem was solved.

Thanks for your quick reactions on my help call.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.