Member Avatar for stupendousomega

I'm running Arch Linux on my computer and I found a Toshiba External SuperMulti Drive. Model: PA37610-1DV2

I plug it in and it doesn't work. Doesn't even detect it. The reason I'm using it is it's faster than my internal drive and my internal drive doesn't burn dual-layer. So... Any ideas to get this to work?

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Dani AI

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Building on and , here is a compact diagnostic checklist and concrete commands to determine whether the external drive failure is a kernel/driver, udev, or hardware/power problem. The steps are ordered so problems that are easiest to spot come first.

Useful commands to run while plugging the drive in (watch kernel/udev output and get IDs):

# watch kernel messages as the device is plugged
sudo dmesg -w

# systemd systems:
sudo journalctl -kf

# list USB devices and copy the vendor:product ID
lsusb

# watch udev events while plugging
sudo udevadm monitor --udev --property

# check modules and try to load storage drivers if absent
lsmod | egrep 'usb_storage|sg|sr_mod|uas|scsi'
sudo modprobe usb_storage
sudo modprobe sg
sudo modprobe sr_mod

# check for block/cdrom device nodes
ls -l /dev/sr* /dev/cdrom

How to read the results and follow-up actions:

  • If lsusb shows the device (an ID like 1234:abcd) but dmesg shows no SCSI/sr device creation, the USB device enumerates but the storage driver didn’t bind. Loading the modules above or adding the vendor/product to the usb-storage driver can help:
    echo 'vvvv pppp' | sudo tee /sys/bus/usb/drivers/usb-storage/new_id

    (replace vvvv/pppp with the four‑hex-digit vendor and product from lsusb).

  • If nothing appears in dmesg or lsusb when plugging in, the problem is almost always power/cable/hardware (port vs cable vs enclosure). Try a different host port (prefer motherboard rear ports) or a powered hub/adapter.
  • If a device node like /dev/sr0 appears but burning tools fail, check ownership/permissions of the node and that the burning software targets the correct device.

If the above still fails, testing the drive briefly from a current live Linux image will separate a hardware issue from a kernel/driver regression.

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Member Avatar for rubberman

USB or eSata? In any case, this device should be supported. What version of Arch are you running? What kernel?

Member Avatar for JasonHippy

One thing springs immediately to mind. It's a bit of an off-chance, but it may apply to your situation.

If your DVD drive is USB and is powered completely by the USB port; (i.e. there's no external PSU required to power the drive.) You may need to ensure that it's plugged directly into one of the main USB ports on your PC rather than plugging into one of those composite hubs that expands a single USB port to provide three or four ports.

The only reason I mention this is because I have an external hard-drive which is powered solely by the USB (and it supports USB 1 and 2). And OK, it's NOT a DVD drive, but this could still apply! Anyway, for some reason it was not identified by any OS when it was plugged into my PC. The power LED on the drive was coming on, which made me think that everything was OK, but it just wouldn't spin up properly and was never detected by Windows XP, Ubuntu or Fedora.

I later discovered the problem was because I was plugging the drive into a USB expansion port on my USB keyboard. Plugging directly into one of the main USB ports on my PC fixed the problem entirely.

For some reason it seems that the drive wasn't getting enough juice from the port on the keyboard. And I knew there was nothing wrong with the port on the keyboard because USB memory sticks, joypads and other such devices worked flawlessly when plugged into that same port. I also tried plugging the drive into a different USB expansion hub and had the same problems. For whatever reason, the external drive simply would not work unless it was plugged into one of the main USB ports on the PC itself!

So on the very specific off-chance that your external DVD drive is powered via USB and you're also plugging it into a composite USB hub/device; Plugging the drive directly into one of the main USB ports on your PC might solve your problem!

Member Avatar for stupendousomega

It's USB and it is isn't being plugged into a hub. Kernal version 2.6.38-ARCH

Member Avatar for rubberman

Given the power requirements for DVD drives, especially burners, I would think it had an external power adapter to plug into a wall socket or power strip. If you are trying to power it directly from USB, then that may simply mean that there is insufficient power available for the drive to initialize and link to the system.

Member Avatar for stupendousomega

It DOES have two plugs for USB... I didn't try using both of them because I had it running on another computer with just one. I'll give it a shot when I get home.

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