auto detect usb hdd during bootup

[qvt]

Hello,

I have an installed fedora10 server, and a permanently plugged in usb hdd (it's a 2.5" ide hdd in an enclosure with a usb2.0 adapter). The usb hdd is used for backup storage. Anyway, linux can autodetect the usb drive when I plugged it in, after startup, and all normal operations to the usb drive are fine. However, if I boot up the server with the usb still plugged in, it failed to detect it. lsusb showed the usb controller, but no attached drive. dmesg also showed the usb controller being initialised, but no detection of the attached drive. To get the drive working, I need to unplug it, and replug it back in.

Is this a known bug? Is there a work around to get linux to detect the usb successfully at start up? trying to google this is a nightmare, as all references to usb are about booting from or installing to a usb drive :o(

Thanks.

-v

[Rubberman]

I'm running CentOS (RHEL) 5.3 and my system detects USB drives that are plugged in at boot time, though it won't auto-mount them unless I have put them in /etc/fstab. If you label the drive partition, you can identify it by label in fstab so it will mount properly even if the device id changes (which will happen occasionally). However, if it isn't showing up in /proc/partitions (it will be one of the /dev/sdxN components) then it hasn't been detected.

Do note, that your USB drive probably won't show up as a drive with the "lsusb" command. For example, on my system, it shows up as the controller type:

[root@cos1 ~]# lsusb
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 004 Device 002: ID 04b8:0005 Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus D88+
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 152d:2338 JMicron Technology Corp. / JMicron USA Technology Corp. JM20337 Hi-Speed USB to SATA & PATA Combo Bridge
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

It is the JMicron bridge associated with Bus 001 Device 004. No drive mentioned.

[qvt]

I'm running CentOS (RHEL) 5.3 and my system detects USB drives that are plugged in at boot time, though it won't auto-mount them unless I have put them in /etc/fstab. If you label the drive partition, you can identify it by label in fstab so it will mount properly even if the device id changes (which will happen occasionally). However, if it isn't showing up in /proc/partitions (it will be one of the /dev/sdxN components) then it hasn't been detected.

Do note, that your USB drive probably won't show up as a drive with the "lsusb" command. For example, on my system, it shows up as the controller type:It is the JMicron bridge associated with Bus 001 Device 004. No drive mentioned.

discovered the solution to the os not detecting my usb hdd. it seems the kernel didn't wait long enough for the device to initialise. by putting rootdelay=7 in grub, the usb drive is now consistantly detected every time.