My External HDD - after last update

bearhntr

Member
Sep 9, 2022
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Atlanta, GA USA
I have an external 240GB HDD that I plug in to my PVE 8.2.2 box when I need to make backups of VMs - otherwise it sits in a drawer. I have been using this for months, and had no problems.

Today I plugged it in - and it is not seen.

Normally, I can plug it in, see the light come on and flash a few times. I can then go to PVE GUI >> Choose HOST >> DISKS and it will show there - and Mounted. I can then do backups as normal.

I have tried everything. I removed the BACKUPS folder under DataCenter and I cannot re-create it - as the disk does not show. From the SHELL -- it is the when I do lsusb:

1718904180019.png

but lsblk does not show it at all:

1718904220590.png

The 1GB drives are used when I launch the TrueNAS VM. There are 2 HDDs (sdh and sdg - sdg is the system drive, and sdh is just storage for ISOs, etc.).

If I plug the drive to my Windows machine -- it does not show it, because it is GPT (EXT4) - but if I launch Disk Genius...it shows it and I can see the partition and the files.

1718904655026.png



How do I get this working without formatting this thing?
 
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I don't see a 240GB disk anywhere in what you pasted. And we have no idea how old the disk is, it probably died.

That said, it's not a great idea to rely on a single point of failure for backups - especially a USB disk.

I would recommend you look into a data recovery service if what's on it is important, but be prepared to spend $$$$.

Also recommend you look into a NAS with 2-disk redundancy for future backups, or build a proxmox backup server with e.g. a 6-disk RAIDZ2.
 
He wrote the disk is recognized on another computer running Windows.

I guess you already tried another USB port? And 240GB sounds more like a SSD than a HDD? Or is it actually a HDD?
 
I don't see a 240GB disk anywhere in what you pasted. And we have no idea how old the disk is, it probably died.

That said, it's not a great idea to rely on a single point of failure for backups - especially a USB disk.

I would recommend you look into a data recovery service if what's on it is important, but be prepared to spend $$$$.

Also recommend you look into a NAS with 2-disk redundancy for future backups, or build a proxmox backup server with e.g. a 6-disk RAIDZ2.
Thanks for your reply. The point I made is that it IS NOT showing - but when plug into a Windows computer - I see it and I can see the files.

I do not have a single point of failure - I have a NAS as well. This is just a simple PVE Lab setup where I test things for work.

I was able to get the disk to work - it is a SATA M.2 drive. I removed it from the adapter and reseated it - I was able to get the files (back-up) off the drive.
 
He wrote the disk is recognized on another computer running Windows.

I guess you already tried another USB port? And 240GB sounds more like a SSD than a HDD? Or is it actually a HDD?
I did - I tried all 6 ports (the 4xUSB2.0 and 2xUSB3.0) - It lit up every time and the LSUSB would show it - just not the 'drive'.

I got it fixed -- I took the M.2 SATA drive out of the adapter and re-seated it. I was able to access the files I needed again.
 
All file management is done via CLI. You could use the "mount" and "cp" or "mv" commands to copy files. Same as with every linux.
 
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All file management is done via CLI. You could use the "mount" and "cp" or "mv" commands to copy files. Same as with every linux.
Not a big LINUX guy - I will see if I can figure it out. My fear is that either (a) the USB adapter device is dying or (b) the M.2 SATA is dying.

I wanna put them onto anther drive - or perhaps move them to my NAS.