External usb disk doesn't mount

[Antony]

Hi, I am trying to mount my hard drive with USB 2.5 Hard Drive Enclosure and dose nothing and outputs errors to dmesg. Kubuntu 22.04.2
This HDD works correctly when it is in laptop. I successfully installed Kubuntu without any errors. It mounts correctly with Ubuntu 22.04.2, Arch on same laptop same setup. Also I am able to mount it entering Kubuntu recovery root console.
But when I try to connect it in normal mode with Desktop environment running I get following in dmesg:
[ 67.366176] usb 3-5: new high-speed USB device number 7 using xhci_hcd
[ 67.518988] usb 3-5: New USB device found, idVendor=14cd, idProduct=6116, bcdDevice= 1.50
[ 67.518990] usb 3-5: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=3, SerialNumber=2
[ 67.518990] usb 3-5: Product: USB 2.0 SATA BRIDGE
[ 67.518991] usb 3-5: Manufacturer: Super Top
[ 67.518992] usb 3-5: SerialNumber: M6116018VE15
[ 67.520680] usb-storage 3-5:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[ 67.521098] scsi host1: usb-storage 3-5:1.0
[ 68.530635] scsi 1:0:0:0: Direct-Access TOSHIBA MK6459GSXP PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
[ 68.530738] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1 type 0
[ 68.531463] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] 1250263728 512-byte logical blocks: (640 GB/596 GiB)
[ 68.531659] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[ 68.531660] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
[ 68.531830] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[ 68.531833] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[ 68.586729] sdb: sdb1 sdb2 sdb3 sdb4
[ 68.586924] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
[ 92.447078] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=22s
[ 92.447081] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[ 92.447083] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Add. Sense: Invalid command operation code
[ 92.447084] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 32 14 18 00 00 00 08 00
[ 92.447085] critical target error, dev sdb, sector 840177664 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 103.614516] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=11s
[ 103.614518] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[ 103.614520] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Add. Sense: Invalid command operation code
[ 103.614521] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 4a 85 82 a0 00 00 08 00
[ 103.614522] critical target error, dev sdb, sector 1250263712 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 114.781762] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=11s
[ 114.781765] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[ 114.781766] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Add. Sense: Invalid command operation code
[ 114.781768] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 32 14 18 00 00 00 08 00
[ 114.781769] critical target error, dev sdb, sector 840177664 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x0 phys_seg 1 prio class 0
[ 114.781773] Buffer I/O error on dev sdb2, logical block 0, async page read
[ 125.948894] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 FAILED Result: hostbyte=DID_OK driverbyte=DRIVER_OK cmd_age=11s
[ 125.948898] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Sense Key : Illegal Request [current]
[ 125.948899] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 Add. Sense: Invalid command operation code
[ 125.948900] sd 1:0:0:0: [sdb] tag#0 CDB: Read(10) 28 00 32 94 18 00 00 00 08 00
[ 125.948901] critical target error, dev sdb, sector 848566272 op 0x0:(READ) flags 0x80700 phys_seg 1 prio class 0

[Antony]

I did some more experiments. It is not working on any Plasma. KDE Neon Kubuntu 22.10.
Also my "egestar usb 2.0 external enclosure" stops working if I call smartctl -a /dev/sdc command.
So I think Plasma (or Dolphin) calls some SMART command before mounting. Gnome and other don't do this. Do what you ask for, just mount.
If I insert HDD to other case (asus) it woks correctly and also is able to response to smartctl.
Yes, I will buy new modern case. But it will be good to know how to disable this extra SMART calls from Plasma. Or may be there is a way temporary disable any actions on usb storage connection. So I will be able to mount it manually without SMART command calls.

[claydoh]

The messaging you see in the terminal has nothing to do with the desktop GUI at all -- it is the same exact Ubuntu 22.04 system, with the same exact smartctl system in use.

Have you actually used smartctl to verify that there is something wrong with that drive?
That sort of error usually indicates a severe problem with the drive.
I am not sure that these errors are from Smart to begin with.

Maybe your install is corrupt, or even have a bad USB cable or USB port? (easy to rule out)
Again, Kubuntu and Ubuntu 22.04 are quite literally 100% identical under the GUI skin.
Dolphin only sees what the OS is telling it.

KDE Neon Kubuntu 22.10

This is physically impossible. Neon is only Ubuntu 22.04, not 22.10. Same as your Kubuntu install -- maybe a bug specific to 22.04? What Ubuntu version did you use?

You can test if it is smart actually being an issue but stopping/restarting the service:

sudo systemctl stop smartmontools
# plug in the drive and check dmesg

To start:
sudo systemctl start smartmontools

to restart
sudo systemctl restart smartmontools

Also my "egestar usb 2.0 external enclosure" stops working if I call smartctl -a /dev/sdc command.

This happens in every OS/distro?
Have you checked dmesg in these as well?

Are you sure your drive is healthy?

[Schwarzer Kater]

You mentioned Gnome. Did you install Gnome and KDE Plasma on top of each other in the same installation or were those two seperate installations?

[jlittle]

I suggest thinking about the cable, and the port it is connected to.

Enclosures often use a "USB 3 micro B" (weirdly two lobed), or a "USB 3 type B" (weirdly double stacked); in these cases the cable came with the enclosure. But it might use type C, and type C cables are not created equal.

Many laptops have different ports; on the laptop I'm typing this there's USB 2 and 3 ports, and they're all black. With a strong light held at the right angle and visual aids I can see the symbols near the ports slightly differ. Use a type C or USB 3 type A if you can.