External Hard Drive Slow to Open, Media Buffering when Played

[StaticL]

My Info

Kubuntu 14.04 64 bit
KDE 4.13.3
Grub Version: 0.97-29ubuntu66
No Other Operating Systems Installed


Type Desktop
CPU CPU op-mode(s): 32-bit, 64-bit
Byte Order: Little Endian
CPU(s): 2
On-line CPU(s) list: 0,1
Thread(s) per core: 1
Core(s) per socket: 2
Socket(s): 1
NUMA node(s): 1
Vendor ID: GenuineIntel
CPU family: 6
Model: 15
Stepping: 11
CPU MHz: 2992.528
BogoMIPS: 5985.05
Virtualization: VT-x
L1d cache: 32K
L1i cache: 32K
L2 cache: 4096K
NUMA node0 CPU(s): 0,1


GPU
Sapphire Radeon HD 5450 1 GB DDR3 HDMI/DVI-I/VGA PCI-Express Graphics Card
RAM 3 GB

1 hard drive 80gb
1 external hard dive 1 TB
1 dvd burner

I am pretty new to using Linux so I really don't have the right terms to use please forgive me
when accessing my external drive the folders are slow to load video's buffer for about every 10 seconds when played
to the point that it's noticeable and annoying when I hover over a folder or anything in the external drive I get a spinning icon
as if it's taking time to find the media, is there something I can do to change this behavior?

Thanks

[oshunluvr]

You didn't give any info about the external hard drive that I can see. Like; how is it connected, how is it mounted, what filesystem is on it, etc.

[StaticL]

You didn't give any info about the external hard drive that I can see. Like; how is it connected, how is it mounted, what filesystem is on it, etc.

I have it set to mount automatically in the system setting its connected via usb not sure how to tell what file system though I'm assuming it's NTFS but I may be wrong though is there a way to find this in the terminal?

[oshunluvr]

Yes. Type this:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null -o list

[StaticL]

Yes. Type this:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null -o list

Ok it says NTFS but it says it not mounted how is the proper way to mount?

[oshunluvr]

The "proper" way depends on how you're going to use it. If you want to be able to unplug it and take it with you, you'll want to use the device notifier or automount. The usual location for mounting removable media is /media/<your username>/<device label>.

I always recommend use a filesystem label because it helps keep your devices straight in your head.

However, your issue is speed so lets do a test. I'm going to assume your drive is sdb. Do this in a terminal:

sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdb

and post the results

[oshunluvr]

For comparison, my USB connected external drive, unmounted reports:

/dev/sdh:
Timing cached reads: 8510 MB in 2.00 seconds = 4257.18 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 90 MB in 3.04 seconds = 29.65 MB/sec

[StaticL]

The "proper" way depends on how you're going to use it. If you want to be able to unplug it and take it with you, you'll want to use the device notifier or automount. The usual location for mounting removable media is /media/<your username>/<device label>.

I always recommend use a filesystem label because it helps keep your devices straight in your head.

However, your issue is speed so lets do a test. I'm going to assume your drive is sdb. Do this in a terminal:

sudo hdparm -tT /dev/sdb

and post the results

Ok here is results

/dev/sdb:
Timing cached reads: 8556 MB in 2.00 seconds = 4280.83 MB/sec
Timing buffered disk reads: 2 MB in 4.55 seconds = 450.54 kB/sec

[oshunluvr]

Wow, yeah that's slow. What's the specs on the device/drive?

[StaticL]

Wow, yeah that's slow. What's the specs on the device/drive?

I don't know where to look for that but it's a seagate 1 tb drive maybe couple years old should I consider replacement?

[oshunluvr]

Maybe, but first do

lsusb

and post the results. If you can figure which line refers to the drive, just that line is fine, otherwise post them all. I could be the filesystem is in need of a cleanup. How full is the drive?

[StaticL]

Maybe, but first do

lsusb

and post the results. If you can figure which line refers to the drive, just that line is fine, otherwise post them all. I could be the filesystem is in need of a cleanup. How full is the drive?

Here is the readout

lsusb
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 007 Device 002: ID 413c:2105 Dell Computer Corp. Model L100 Keyboard
Bus 007 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 006 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 046d:081b Logitech, Inc. Webcam C310
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 0bc2:a0a1 Seagate RSS LLC
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:c016 Logitech, Inc. Optical Wheel Mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

I'm not sure how to see how full it is but I know its not yet half full

I found how to find the amount of space used here it is
/dev/sdb1 932G 386G 547G 42% /media/lisa/Seagate1

[oshunluvr]

So your device is a "Backup Plus Desktop USB 3.0"

Shouldn't need replacing unless it's failing. Is your data backed up somewhere?

If you're not using this drive with windows, I'd reformat it to ext2 or 4 or even jfs. However, the drive speed test shows the problem doesn't lie with the filesystem.

Things that could cause the slowdown: bad cable, bad or not well supported USB port, low power, very large file sizes.

It should still be under warranty, Seagate usually gives 3 yrs. Does it make excessive noise? If you have smart tools installed (you should), run this:

sudo smartctl -H /dev/sdb


I would also test it on another computer, test it using a different USB port, and test it using a different USB cable. Also, check your power supply output voltage (got a voltage tester anywhere?).

[oshunluvr]

Oh and BTW the terminal command to see your drive sizes (for mounted devices only) is:

df -h

[StaticL]

So your device is a "Backup Plus Desktop USB 3.0"

Shouldn't need replacing unless it's failing. Is your data backed up somewhere?

If you're not using this drive with windows, I'd reformat it to ext2 or 4 or even jfs. However, the drive speed test shows the problem doesn't lie with the filesystem.

Things that could cause the slowdown: bad cable, bad or not well supported USB port, low power, very large file sizes.

It should still be under warranty, Seagate usually gives 3 yrs. Does it make excessive noise? If you have smart tools installed (you should), run this:

sudo smartctl -H /dev/sdb


I would also test it on another computer, test it using a different USB port, and test it using a different USB cable. Also, check your power supply output voltage (got a voltage tester anywhere?).

Yes I think that's the Make have to look at the box that's down the basement though

I'm not currently using it in Windows I have 3 machines all Linux but I never know if I may need to use it on a Windows Machine

I don't believe I have excessive sized files maybe some Movies hardly watch them though don't know if that matters, I will try to switch to a port
in the back its on a front port right now I wouldn't know how to tell if the cable is bad, pretty sure the PSU is 450watts the machine is a refurbished Dell
It doesn't make any noise as far as I can tell, I can try on my Ubuntu setup, and no I don't have access to a voltage tester.

I will try testing it from a port on the back of the machine 1st.

If you could tell me how to mount it properly maybe that would help?