flaky usb behavior

[vinnywright]

keep in mind the difference between the 2 file systems , fat32 dose not use permissions so you would be able to use it as is and will work with windows computers , ext4 dose use permissions so root will own the drive until you make a directory(folder) on it that you own ,and windows will not see it unless support for it has been added .

VINNY

[vinnywright]

I've just thought of something. I tried two other USB sticks and they don't mount automatically either. Is it because I'm using btrfs on my HDD? The usb drives are not btrfs.

no you using BTRFS dose not affect this .

have you been to system settings>removable storage>removable devices and set automount ?

VINNY

[oldgeek]

Yes, it is set to automount. Won't do it though.

[jglen490]

When you insert the USB drive, what does dmesg show? Maybe something like this?

[26276.070819] usb 2-1: new SuperSpeed USB device number 2 using xhci_hcd
[26276.091636] usb 2-1: New USB device found, idVendor=0781, idProduct=5581
[26276.091642] usb 2-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[26276.091646] usb 2-1: Product: Ultra
[26276.091650] usb 2-1: Manufacturer: SanDisk
[26276.091653] usb 2-1: SerialNumber: 4C530001020310106373
[26276.208053] usb-storage 2-1:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[26276.208272] scsi host6: usb-storage 2-1:1.0
[26276.209640] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[26276.224749] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[26277.211664] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access     SanDisk  Ultra            1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[26277.212435] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0
[26277.216295] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] 30629376 512-byte logical blocks: (15.7 GB/14.6 GiB)
[26277.217072] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Write Protect is off
[26277.217076] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 00
[26277.217336] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[26277.222984]  sdc: sdc1 sdc2
[26277.223884] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdc] Attached SCSI removable disk

[Qqmike]

Hmmm. I just formatted a flash drive msdos, ext4, and it automounts, whether or not I set the automount in System Settings > Removable Storage > Removable Devices. I could then open it and read it, but could not write to it (say by moving a folder into it). For the latter, I changed permissions (actually ownership) and it works OK now.
FWIW, some Konsole output:

mike@mike-All-Series:~$ lsblk
NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda      8:0    0 465.8G  0 disk 
├─sda1   8:1    0   500M  0 part /boot/efi
├─sda2   8:2    0  39.1G  0 part /
├─sda3   8:3    0  97.7G  0 part /home
└─sda4   8:4    0  14.7G  0 part [SWAP]
sdb      8:16   1  14.7G  0 disk 
└─sdb1   8:17   1  14.7G  0 part /media/mike/[COLOR=#ff0000]4b02cf70-3f3b-4ad2-9421-c1ac76249b91[/COLOR]
sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom  
mike@mike-All-Series:~$ ls /media/mike
4b02cf70-3f3b-4ad2-9421-c1ac76249b91
mike@mike-All-Series:~$ ls -l /media/mike
total 4
[B][COLOR=#40e0d0]drwxr-xr-x[/COLOR][/B] 3 root root 4096 Sep  2 14:45 4b02cf70-3f3b-4ad2-9421-c1ac76249b91
mike@mike-All-Series:~$ [B]sudo chown[/B] -R -v mike:mike /media/mike
changed ownership of '/media/mike/4b02cf70-3f3b-4ad2-9421-c1ac76249b91/lost+found' from root:root to mike:mike
changed ownership of '/media/mike/4b02cf70-3f3b-4ad2-9421-c1ac76249b91' from root:root to mike:mike
changed ownership of '/media/mike' from root:root to mike:mike

We need to try to figure out the OP, as I think somehow it should be doable. I have also has naughty flash drives that seem resistant to anything you try to do with/to them, but usually could get them to work right.


Btw, also fwiw, I'm using some stuff from my Command how-to, Part 2, on mounting and permissions:
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/showth...l=1#post115124
...
...
-- Ownership & permissions: the rules
-- chown & chmod: Setting ownership & permissions; diagnosing &fixing problems
-- Mounting filesystems /media, /etc/fstab, mount -a, /etc/mtab
-- Mounting in an emergency: Using a Kubuntu Live CD
-- Flash drive problems: mounting, ownership, permissions, unmounting

[oldgeek]

Here are what I think are the pertinent lines referring to the USB using dmesg:

175.031048] usb 2-1.4: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
[ 175.140998] usb 2-1.4: New USB device found, idVendor=0781, idProduct=5567
[ 175.141002] usb 2-1.4: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[ 175.141006] usb 2-1.4: Product: Cruzer Blade
[ 175.141009] usb 2-1.4: Manufacturer: SanDisk
[ 175.141012] usb 2-1.4: SerialNumber: 4C530001201124110182
[ 175.215868] usb-storage 2-1.4:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 175.216053] scsi host4: usb-storage 2-1.4:1.0
[ 175.216216] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[ 175.223377] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[ 176.228679] scsi 4:0:0:0: Direct-Access SanDisk Cruzer Blade 1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
[ 176.229422] sd 4:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[ 176.229945] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] 30595072 512-byte logical blocks: (15.7 GB/14.6 GiB)
[ 176.231799] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 176.231805] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 00
[ 176.232789] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
[ 176.241597] sdb: sdb1
[ 176.246659] sd 4:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

These lines were at the end of the output. I'm worried now that I can't automatically mount any of my USB sticks. The problem does not appear to be in the devices themselves.

[Qqmike]

system settings>removable storage>removable devices and set automount

Maybe do that again, this time re-boot the computer and then see if it works?

[oldgeek]

No change. I tried all my usb drives--which used to mount automatically--and now they don't. I checked with Lubuntu 18.04, and the new drive mounted correctly (on another computer). So instead of faulty usb drives, the problem is somewhere else, and my usb's are useless.

[Qqmike]

I don't have any specifics in mind at this second, just wondering if there are any settings in your BIOS-Firmware that could affect this (USB recognition). Dropping this WAG on the run here for now.

[oldgeek]

Thanks for all your help so far.

[Snowhog]

If you have not yet tried, create a new user, then logout and reboot (rebooting actually isn't necessary, but it ensures a 'clean slate' at startup) and log in with the new user. Then attach one of the questioned USB sticks and see if normal expected behavior is achieved. IF it is, the issue is somewhere in your main users profile; something that helps narrow down the search for a fix.

[Qqmike]

And let's double check that Settings menu Vinny pointed out. I have:

Checked: Enable auto mounting of removable media

Unchecked: Only auto mount rem media that has been manually mounted before

Checked: Mount all removable media at login

Checked: Automatically mount removable media when attached

[oldgeek]

My settings are as you put down. I tried the new user route, but that didn't work either. HOWEVER, just to try something else I left one drive in (the first one I originally worked on) and plugged in another, and then another, until I had checked all my usb drives, and they all opened right! Except for the one I first plugged in, of course. I tried plugging another one in first, and couldn't open it, but did manage to automatically mount all the others. As I said, flaky behavior. So there's a workaround if necessary. But I don't know why the first one I plug in won't automount, although it does let all the others automount if I leave it in.
Another question on other users. I create a new one, and now I want to get rid of it. I clicked on the new one, pressed the minus sign below the box, and it warned me it was in use and erasing it might mess things up!

So I obviously didn't. What do I do?

[Qqmike]

HOWEVER, just to try something else I left one drive in (the first one I originally worked on) and plugged in another, and then another, until I had checked all my usb drives, and they all opened right! Except for the one I first plugged in, of course.

And what would happen if you do all that again, and the first won't open right, and then you unplug that first one and re-insert it after a few seconds ... wondering if that first one will then open correctly.

It sounds like your USB ports are working. I did check my (ASUS) BIOS-firmware, and it is possible to enable-disable each USB port individually; or to enable them all at once.

[Qqmike]

Idea for trying to diagnose this: Use dmesg again: right after plugging in the first flash drive; and right after plugging in the second flash drive.