Score:0

Ubuntu

External SSD not mountable after connecting to windows

DevMan

4/26/24, 7:46 PM

I think I messed up really really bad and need help.

I had a laptop with an Ubuntu installation. My laptop's main board broke. I took out the M2 ssd where linux was installed and gave laptop for repair.

I put the ssd into an adapter and connected it via USB to the only available PC which was a windows 10 and tried to get the files out. I saw my files and thought ok it works.

Then I (as dumb as it sounds) went to bios and put boot order in the windows machine on usb to boot linux from the ssd.

After that my ssd isn't accessible anymore. Windows doesn't recognize it.

Then I found another PC with ubuntu installation on it. Connected the SSD over usb to it and it can be seen but it's not mountable and is not recognized by any tool.

It's not even detected by testdisk :

In the default Ubuntu Disks app it shows like this:

as you see it's not mountable and I have no options available.

Please somebody help me to fix this dumb mistake if there is any way at all.

If there is anybody kind enough to help me through a step by step chat or something like that, it would mean the world to me.

My main priority is to get my files and projects out. I don't care for the ubuntu installation since I probably have to buy a new laptop.

EDIT The Disks app also doesn't give me any option other than power off:

0 + 7

ssd

external-hdd

data-recovery

Nmath

4/26/24, 8:07 PM

"No Media" usually indicates that you're using an adapter or card reader. Don't use the adapter and connect the drive directly to your motherboard. Make sure it's powered, if required. Report back with the results.

DevMan

4/26/24, 8:09 PM

@Nmath thanks but I don't have any laptop which I could open now and put a M2 SSD to it.

Nmath

4/26/24, 8:16 PM

The only thing we can determine right now is that there isn't any hard drive recognized (unless it's one of those other volumes in the left column) So if the problem is with the adapter you're using, unfortunately you're probably not going to be able to make any further progress. Your hard drive has to be recognized in order to do anything with it in the OS. The only thing I would suggest is to make sure that there aren't storage controllers disabled in your motherboard firmware/BIOS, but since we can see the adapter, I'm going to say that's probably not the case.

Nmath

4/26/24, 8:19 PM

What isn't fully clear to me is how you connected the drive to a Windows PC. Windows can't read or write to Ubuntu partitions, so how did you see the files there? And do you not have access to that computer anymore? Also just an FYI, just because a hard drive contains an OS doesn't mean you can boot that OS from another computer. For disk rescue operations on a foreign disk, use a live session ("Try Ubuntu" from an Ubuntu installation USB)

DevMan

4/26/24, 8:26 PM

@Nmath I installed a software called "linux reader" which can read linux files in windows and you can copy the files to windows. But I didn't do this and tried to boot it with the ssd. And after that the "linux reader" couldn't even see the disk anymore let alone showing the files.

Nmath

4/26/24, 8:31 PM

Okay. Hmm. Well even doing that shouldn't destroy any data. I suggest using a live session of Ubuntu. This will eliminate the possibility that there's something on the Ubuntu installation that is preventing you from accessing the drive. If it still doesn't show up in a live session, the next step is to find a computer you can directly plug in the hard drive and try a live session again on that computer. Keep in mind also that working with a damaged drive, even powering it on, can reduce the chance that data can be recovered by a data recovery specialist ($$$). Hopefully you have good backups

pierrely

4/30/24, 1:40 AM

I'd use a 'live' clonezeilla bootup and see if it is recognised, then backup the drive, just in case and to save data, then you could at least restore to another drive (not likely if the drive is not recognised in the first place). wild guesswork on my part. and try another adapter.

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