Linux External HD

[billbenson]

I'm having trouble finding a USB Linux external HD that the pc will recognize. I have a lot of movies I don't want to loose and the files are big, so an online service won't work for those. It would be really cool if the external drive would recognize files on windows as well, but I have no idea how that would work.

Any Linux users have any recommendations?

[vangogh]

Are you sure it's the hard drive and not the file system? I think NFTS works with both Linux and Windows. It's native to Windows and then you could use NFTS-3g to read from the system on Linux. At least that's what I'm seeing when I search online. If all your files are under 4GB each, you can try setting up the hard drive with FAT32, which both Linux and Windows should also be able to read/write to the system.

[Harold Mansfield]

External hard drives are not OS specific. They can be formatted to work on any OS.

I run Plex on a WD EX2 NAS for my media and I can access and play it all from different platforms.. XBOX, Roku, Kindle, and Android Phone. Yes, it works with Linux:
https://plex.tv/downloads

Both WD and Plex have apps for remote access. For me Plex is spotty when it comes to remote access, but I can always access my content via the WD MyCloud apps.

If you're looking for a hardware solution, I'm pretty sure Linux isn't the problem that's holding you back.

[Freelancier]

I would have guessed maybe there was an issue with the USB driver/hardware. Are you sure it's 3.0 and not 2.0 on the particular port you're connecting to? Some systems have a combination of 3.0 and 2.0 ports.

[billbenson]

3 different computers and multiple hard drives. And this has happened over the years, it's not something that happened just recently. I actually think it's a driver issue.

Linux can be picky hardware wise. And my skills in it aren't as good as other languages although I haven't used windows in years. I'm pretty committed to it though. I have 3 computers running it. If I need windows, my wife has a windows laptop.

I just thought someone might know of a plug and play external HD for Linux.

I do have an IT friend who can fix it, but he stays really busy and I want to get my movies backed up.

[Harold Mansfield]

I just thought someone might know of a plug and play external HD for Linux.



What are you looking for? Just an external drive and that's it? Then yes you may have issues because they are usually formatted for use with Windows or iOS. For instance the WD 1TB external drive doesn't work with Unix/Linux. Who makes the drive that you already have in your computer? Check there first since you're already using Linux on their drive.

If you're looking for NAS (Network Attached Storage) many of the major brands have Linux support, but from what I hear and see on the discussion forums, WD's linux support isn't the best.

Since you're talking about media files, the formats are generally universally the same. If your Linux machines are on a network with the Windows computer, can't you just set up what you need on Windows and still access the files from your Linux machines?

Also, are you just looking to store files, or are you looking for a media center to access and play them somewhere besides your computer?

[Freelancier]

Internal drives have different drivers than external ones, so just because an internal drive works on Linux doesn't mean the external version will also work.

Could also be something as crazy as plugging a USB 2.0 device into the same controller causing it to drop into USB 2.0 mode and not recognizing a 3.0 disk.

You probably do need your sysadmin friend for this.

[billbenson]

I took a Linux SATA drive I have and put it in an external HD box I bought from Tiger. It is supposed to support Win and Apple. My friend told me that it should work. It's USB3 and backward compatible to USB2. So the disk is formatted for Linux.

I wanted to get my work files on a new laptop I bought. I ended up putting them on an unused website I have via FTP and downloading them to the new laptop. That worked, but those files were pretty small.

I want to get my video files over to the laptop, and that method won't work because of file size.

I also just plain want an external HD or two for backup.

[Harold Mansfield]

Internal drives have different drivers than external ones, so just because an internal drive works on Linux doesn't mean the external version will also work.


I was suggesting to use the same brand and search out Linux compatible storage within that brand.


I took a Linux SATA drive I have and put it in an external HD box I bought from Tiger. It is supposed to support Win and Apple. My friend told me that it should work. It's USB3 and backward compatible to USB2. So the disk is formatted for Linux.
.

I'm confused here. It's a Linux drive that supports Windows and iOS?


Could also be something as crazy as plugging a USB 2.0 device into the same controller causing it to drop into USB 2.0 mode and not recognizing a 3.0 disk.

That doesn't sound right. The difference between USB 2.0 and 3.0 is about transfer speeds. Not OS formatting. I don't use Linux, but I've never heard anyone mention that specific thing before.

Honestly I'm just using the same logic as using devices and storage for other OS's like Windows, Chrome and Android. Even when I've plugged in drives that were formatted for something else, the new OS asks if I want to reformat it, erasing the data that's on it.

Does this help?
Reformatting external USB hard drive for Linux (http://www.quentinhuys.com/extharddrive.html)

Or This?
external hard drive - "plug and play" hdd (Arch linux) - Super User (http://superuser.com/questions/468381/plug-and-play-hdd-arch-linux)

[Brian Altenhofel]

There should be no issues hardware-wise. The issue is formatting. To be readable on both Windows and Linux, a partition needs to be NTFS formatted. I've used dozens of external HDDs (mostly WD, but occasionally Seagate) over the last few years, and the only two problems I've had is the compatibility mode lock issue referred to by Freelancier and new drives with an unreadable default filesystem. Most file managers will only show partitions that are readable and ignore devices with no readable partitions. You may have to use another utility to partition and format the device.

[Brian Altenhofel]

Just noticed the post mentioning it's a SATA drive put into an external box. That's a completely different variable in the equation because those boxes emulate buss controllers to make the translation. If you use a box with an eSATA connection (if your computer has an eSATA port) that eliminates that variable.

[billbenson]

The sata enclosure I bought has a USB output. I did some searching last night and GParted appears to be a pretty powerful program that can be used to recognize the external drive. It's already installed on the computer.

In any case, I'm going to wait until I can get with my friend as he knows how to use GParted or may have some other solution.

[billbenson]

Had a working lunch with my friend. I brought with me two external USB drives. One was the sata drive I put in a case I bought and the other one was a 'passport' (the little one powered off a USB port) which had always been intermittent .

He didn't get the enclosure with the sata drive to work. He took it home to play with. Remember the problem was not recognizing the external drive, not reading data off of it.

So we tried the Passport. It didn't work either. Then we tried a different USB port and it worked. Again, the Passport is powered by the USB.

I came to find out that USB ports have a hierarchy. The primary one will source more power than the others. I never knew that. The USB port I was using on my desktop must have been farther down the food chain.

I talked to another friend today who had some USB powered device. He had the same issue. One USB port didn't work, another one did.

Interesting...

[Harold Mansfield]

That is interesting. So is the hierarchy thing specific to how Linux works? And is it only when configuring and recognizing drives?
Also, did you end up getting it to work?

[billbenson]

No, its the computer hardware / motherboard. Maybe a USB plug in board would work better, but all of my computers including my laptop have 4 USB ports on the motherboard.

Yes, I have it working with the passport.