Unable to mount external drive

[NewToLinux]

An external USB hard drive has been used for a number of years to regularly
archive data on a Linux Debian system. The latest attempt to archive data
gave the following error :-

mount /media/backup
mount : can't find UUID=0688802088800FFB

Why does this error occur and how is it fixed ?

Thanks.

[arzgi]

Open terminal, and try

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lsblk --fs

Check UUIDs.

[NewToLinux]

The hard drive wss inserted into another USB port to see whether the first port was faulty.

A card reader had to be removed from its USB port so that the external hard drive could be inserted into that port.

An attempt was then made to mount the hard drive, but the
following happened :-

# mount /media/backup
Failed to write lock '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Error opening '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Failed to mount '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable

The hard drive was then put back into its original USB port.

The card reader was reinserted into its USB port and an
attempt
was made to mount the card reader but nothing at all happened - there was no message at all.

Can anyone please help to sort this out.

Thanks.

[reinob]

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# mount /media/backup

Post your /etc/fstab. At least the line relating to /media/backup.

[cds60601]

The hard drive wss inserted into another USB port to see whether the first port was faulty.

A card reader had to be removed from its USB port so that the external hard drive could be inserted into that port.

An attempt was then made to mount the hard drive, but the
following happened :-

# mount /media/backup
Failed to write lock '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Error opening '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Failed to mount '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable

The hard drive was then put back into its original USB port.

The card reader was reinserted into its USB port and an
attempt
was made to mount the card reader but nothing at all happened - there was no message at all.

Can anyone please help to sort this out.

Thanks.

Not that it might matter but, I always umount a device before removing it. Perhaps a left-over from the Windows days.
If your /etc/fstab/ is using UUID opposed to the /dev name, and the media was not reformatted, this shouldn't be an a thing.

In any event, is this the complete UUID? Seems a bit incomplete to me.

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sudo blkid

Then compare it to what you have in /etc/fstab

I tend to use PARTUUID over UUID as it references the partition opposed to the filesystem.

As a reminder, even under a Windows system just unplugging the USB device without properly unmounting it can sometimes throw it into this type of state until a reboot.
Depending on your setup (more pointedly, a desktop environment) there is a reason that graphical file managers have that unmount/eject feature added.

[cuckooflew]

Not that it might matter but, I always umount a device before removing it.

It does matter, the usb devices should be properly removed, either with the GUI or terminal.

Definitely , unplugging a usb drive without 'umount' (unmounting, or eject) first can render the device unmountable, or un usable , I have 1 that was bricked because it was not properly unmounted.
See 'man umount' .
It is one of those things that sometimes it does not seem to harm the device, so to many people develope a bad habit of just unplugging them, and then they do not understand why their old worn out device does not work any more. Sometimes they can be recovered, I have 1 out of many that never was recoverable,
This includes "card readers",

A card reader had to be removed from its USB port

More so if there were any cards also connected....maybe a complete shutdown, and then boot again,

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Failed to write lock '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Error opening '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable
Failed to mount '/dev/sde1': Resource temporarily unavailable 

Seems to me like it (the PC) still thinks something is connected, or in other words , when the card reader was unplugged, it left it in a "confused" state. Any way, maybe I am just a 65 year "old fart", and have no clue as to what I am saying,...in a nut shell, after I bricked a couple of usb devices, I finally figured out why .

[arzgi]

In any event, is this the complete UUID? Seems a bit incomplete to me.

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sudo blkid

From man blkid

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It  is  recommended  to use lsblk(8) command to get information about block devices, or lsblk --fs to
       get an overview of filesystems, or findmnt(8) to search in already mounted filesystems.

[cds60601]

In any event, is this the complete UUID? Seems a bit incomplete to me.

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sudo blkid

From man blkid

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It  is  recommended  to use lsblk(8) command to get information about block devices, or lsblk --fs to
       get an overview of filesystems, or findmnt(8) to search in already mounted filesystems.

Both good commands to know however, I find blkid more useful in my situation. Do either of the mentioned commands produce the PARTUUID that I use?
If they do not, and if users are using PARTUUID, then it seems that blkid would be an appropriate command to use for that information.

Example - blkid:

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/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Work" UUID="2b08fbd5-3cc0-4935-b231-14627d8e4fa6" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="fe623df2-01"
/dev/sda1: UUID="36E2-6072" BLOCK_SIZE="512" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="1aa92be8-f74d-4fdc-80f5-e98d34ffdb73"
/dev/sda2: UUID="b4030573-f79c-44c7-b6cd-62358309ec4b" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="20e14548-f503-4dee-a38b-c2a9a382977f"
/dev/sda3: UUID="30af28ce-618b-42bc-8d94-368fc0e1f2f9" TYPE="swap" PARTUUID="9d010633-0cc9-40c3-9d7f-5b23a008557b"
/dev/sdc1: LABEL="xa" UUID="eb8e4717-be0f-4368-8a2f-2da4c6480800" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="cde4cc28-3921-49b3-9457-3fafc63264a3"
/dev/sdd1: LABEL="xb" UUID="ca893a2d-2b91-483b-8579-c4cab2b41c08" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="2cae27e8-d2ee-4288-8957-e92319499543"

Opposed to: lsblk --fs

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NAME   FSTYPE FSVER LABEL UUID                                 FSAVAIL FSUSE% MOUNTPOINT
sda                                                                           
├─sda1 vfat   FAT32       36E2-6072                             505.6M     1% /boot/efi
├─sda2 ext4   1.0         b4030573-f79c-44c7-b6cd-62358309ec4b  843.5G     1% /
└─sda3 swap   1           30af28ce-618b-42bc-8d94-368fc0e1f2f9                [SWAP]
sdb                                                                           
└─sdb1 ext4   1.0   Work  2b08fbd5-3cc0-4935-b231-14627d8e4fa6  783.4G     9% /mnt/work
sdc                                                                           
└─sdc1 ext4   1.0   xa    eb8e4717-be0f-4368-8a2f-2da4c6480800  757.5G    12% /mnt/xa
sdd                                                                           
└─sdd1 ext4   1.0   xb    ca893a2d-2b91-483b-8579-c4cab2b41c08  757.5G    12% /mnt/xb

[sunrat]

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lsblk -o +UUID,PARTUUID

I like lsblk as it can show a lot of info when run by user, whereas blkid requires root privileges.

[cds60601]

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lsblk -o +UUID,PARTUUID

I like lsblk as it can show a lot of info when run by user, whereas blkid requires root privileges.

Actually - so do I

[NewToLinux]

Please see thread 'problem with USB 3 port' in Hardware forum, which gives information about further developments.

[cuckooflew]

Bah, I just read this in another thread,http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=146688 What is going on here ?
Maybe read this: Forum guidelines. Please read before first post!

Before you start using Debian User Forums, please observe the following guidelines:

Do not cross post. Posting the same topic in more than one category only creates confusion and makes it hard to keep track on the various replies. Double posts will be locked.
Be descriptive. Use a meaningful headline and try to make your question as clear as

[cuckooflew]

What thread are you talking about ? Was it this one ?http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php? ... 33#p725114