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How to recognize external hard drive (USB ports)?

in flag

My freshly bought external hard drive is not recognized by my Ubuntu 18.04.5 laptop by any USB port. The ports work fine, however (they accept external mouse and keyboard).

I am no Linux wizard, so any help would be appreciated!

edit:

With respect to USB ports: Output of lsusb enter image description here

Not sure why it shows 3 USB ports, the laptop only has 2...

External drive does not have its own power, but it is powered on when I connect it (i.e. light is glowing).

edit2: Output of Disks app, the external drive is shown there. enter image description here

edit3: after installing exFAT via "sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils" (note that people had difficulties installing it at the link given in the comments, so I can't be sure whether it worked properly), rebooting, and re-connecting the drive, nothing has changed in the Disks window. When clicking on the wheels, I can choose between "Format Partition", "Edit Partition", "Resize", "Create Partition Image", "Restore Partition Image", "Benchmark Partition"

This is the drive: Amazon.co.uk It does not say anything of the necessity to have certain types of USB ports, so I would be surprised if power was an issue.

guiverc avatar
cn flag
Your issue maybe hardware related; ie. USB keyboards & mouse are low-powered devices; USB *external* hard drives are not & may require more power than your USB port is capable of providing; esp. if it's a recent drive. If your hardware is old (USB 2.0 or older) it may not provide sufficient power to power a USB device if it requires USB 3.0 - which is not a OS issue; but hardware limitation. Your details have not ruled out these issues; and 18.04.5 (*ignoring your typo*) is outdated so upgrade asap - https://fridge.ubuntu.com/2021/09/17/ubuntu-18-04-6-lts-released/
guiverc avatar
cn flag
If your external drive is USB3.0 and has it's own power source (ie. *isn't relying on the PC for power*) a modern USB 3.0 drive should work on an older PC with USB 2.0; it'll just work at a slower speed.
SchroedingersLion avatar
in flag
I do seem to have USB3 ports (edited question).
ar flag
Open the app called "Disks" and see if the external hard drive is visible there. If it is visible on the left panel of Disks, then select it on the left panel and take a screenshot and update your question with the screenshot of the app.
SchroedingersLion avatar
in flag
updated. it is shown in the app, but not on the left-hand side bar of the files manager. no idea how I can open the drive and transfer files.
ar flag
The drive came formatted exFAT. Support for exFAT may not be installed by default. Search this site for installing exFAT support and install the necessary program.
ar flag
Does this answer your question? [Ubuntu 18.04 does not mount 2TB exFat drive even after installing exfat-fuse exfat-utils](https://askubuntu.com/questions/1057423/ubuntu-18-04-does-not-mount-2tb-exfat-drive-even-after-installing-exfat-fuse-exf)
SchroedingersLion avatar
in flag
No, didn't work. I installed via "sudo apt-get install exfat-fuse exfat-utils" but nothing has changed.
ar flag
You may have to reboot and remove and reinsert the drive. Open "Disks" again and see if there are any changes on the right (main) panel when you select the external disk. What do you see if you click on the "Gear" icon below the big red bar in Disks?
heynnema avatar
ru flag
The 2.1TB disk should be formatted in GPT, not MBR, and it should use an external AC power supply, or it'll probably need a POWERED USB hub.
ar flag
@heynnema Most external USB hard drives come with MBRs from the factory, I think. I have two 2 TB USBs. low power supply may be a concern.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
@user68186 Yes, correct, up to 2TB, which is the partition size limit for the old "msdos" partitioning. GPT or, rarely, multiple partitions elsewhere.
SchroedingersLion avatar
in flag
@user68186 I edited with that I see in Disks after exFAT installation and reboot.
ar flag
I am out of ideas. Try to use it ina different computer, friend's, school, office, etc. to rule out the possibility that the disk is a dud.
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