eSATA removable drive

John Austin ja at jaa.org.uk
Tue Apr 6 22:03:19 UTC 2010


On Tue, 2010-04-06 at 17:08 -0400, D. Hugh Redelmeier wrote:
> | From: John Austin <ja at jaa.org.uk>
> 
> | Hi
> | 
> | I have used hotplug hard drives for some time but never used eject
> 
> What do you do to safely remove the disk?  Surely unmount and swapoff,
> as applicable, but how do you tell the system that the actual drive is
> going away?

As long as you umount all the partitions on the drive first all is well 

> 
> That's what I use "eject" for in several cases (USB mass storage, CD,
> DVD).  I figure that it should work for eSATA.  As I mentioned, I get
> the message:
>     eject: device "/dev/sdi" doesn't have a removable or hotpluggable flag
> 
> | Try to sort it out as root and then move on to a normal user
> 
> Good advice.  I am using root for now.
> 
> | What does mount show when the disk is plugged in?
> | It should be showing /dev/sdix I believe not /dev/sdi
> 
> That is the case: x is the number of the partition.
> 
> Mount works.  The drive works.  It's the unplugging that I'm feeling
> nervous about.

Should not be a problem, I believe udev/hal detect the drive is
connected or disconnected and create/remove the /dev/sdi /dev/sdi1 ...
entries.

Try running
watch "ls -l /dev/sd*"
when plugging in and removing the esata plug

You can also watch "tail -n30 /var/log/messages"
This is what I see when plugging in

Apr  6 22:43:16 localhost kernel: ata1: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0
SErr 0x4050000 action 0xe frozen
Apr  6 22:43:16 localhost kernel: ata1: irq_stat 0x00400040, connection
status changed
Apr  6 22:43:16 localhost kernel: ata1: SError: { PHYRdyChg CommWake
DevExch }
Apr  6 22:43:16 localhost kernel: ata1: hard resetting link
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1: SATA link up 3.0 Gbps (SStatus
123 SControl 300)
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1.00: ATA-8: THROTTLE, 081016, max
UDMA/100
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1.00: 63078400 sectors, multi 0:
LBA
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1.00: applying bridge limits
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1.00: configured for UDMA/100
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: ata1: EH complete
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access     ATA
THROTTLE         0810 PQ: 0 ANSI: 5
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg1
type 0
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] 63078400 512-byte
logical blocks: (32.2 GB/30.0 GiB)
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] Write cache:
disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sdb: sdb1
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI disk
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: kjournald starting.  Commit interval 5
seconds
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: EXT3 FS on sdb1, internal journal
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost kernel: EXT3-fs: mounted filesystem with
ordered data mode.
Apr  6 22:43:17 localhost hald: mounted /dev/sdb1 on behalf of uid 202
############################################################################
When unmounting using pcmanfm
Apr  6 22:45:03 localhost hald: unmounted /dev/sdb1 from
'/media/throttle' on behalf of uid 202
Apr  6 22:45:04 localhost gnome-keyring-daemon[6366]: removing removable
location: /media/throttle
Apr  6 22:45:04 localhost gnome-keyring-daemon[6366]: no volume
registered at: /media/throttle
############################################################################
When unplugging throttle
Apr  6 22:46:15 localhost kernel: ata1: exception Emask 0x10 SAct 0x0
SErr 0x10000 action 0xe frozen
Apr  6 22:46:15 localhost kernel: ata1: irq_stat 0x00400000, PHY RDY
changed
Apr  6 22:46:15 localhost kernel: ata1: SError: { PHYRdyChg }
Apr  6 22:46:15 localhost kernel: ata1: hard resetting link
Apr  6 22:46:16 localhost kernel: ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 0
SControl 300)
Apr  6 22:46:21 localhost kernel: ata1: hard resetting link
Apr  6 22:46:21 localhost kernel: ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 0
SControl 300)
Apr  6 22:46:21 localhost kernel: ata1: limiting SATA link speed to 1.5
Gbps
Apr  6 22:46:26 localhost kernel: ata1: hard resetting link
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: ata1: SATA link down (SStatus 0
SControl 310)
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: ata1.00: disabled
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: ata1: EH complete
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: ata1.00: detaching (SCSI 0:0:0:0)
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] Stopping disk
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] START_STOP FAILED
Apr  6 22:46:27 localhost kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sdb] Result:
hostbyte=DID_BAD_TARGET driverbyte=DRIVER_OK
############################################################################

Assuming the eSATA is not power over eSATAp then on my drives
I can either unplug the cable or power off the drive.

Very, very occasionally there is a glitch when plugging in
and I have to unplug, wait 30sec and try again.

I have been using a 5v power eSATAp connected 32GB OCZ throttle,
externally powered eSATA mechanical disk connection, 12v and 5v powered
eSATAp mech disk connection and 5v powered eSATAp connected 128GB SSD.

I am using the following eSATAp sockets/cables but previously have used
"simple" eSATA sockets/cables.
http://www.lindy.co.uk/shop/showProductDetail.do?orderNumber=70534&source=search
http://www.lindy.co.uk/sff-8482-to-esatap-cable-5v-12v-05m/33625.html


Good Luck

John

> 
> "Just unplugging" will surely work, but it seems wrong.  The device
> driver ought to feel unhappy (perhaps only in my model of the
> universe).
> 
> The drive actually has eSATA and USB ports.  When I connect via USB,
> eject works fine.
> 
> | umount should be working for root but not for a normal user
> 
> Right.
> 
> Same with swapoff.
> 
> 
> Thanks.




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