Hardware: 2014 macbook, nuked macos, clean xubuntu 24.04 installation
I never experienced this with my other notebook, a 2016 model from a Taiwanese vendor, forgot the name.
On the macbook: I plug in the external HDD, xubuntu recognizes and opens the volume, I can use vlc to play video files (mostly mkv, x265) but then, 2 to 5 minutes later, xubuntu reconnects to the HDD, meaning the connection stopped and vlc stops playing the file. Not big files, 250 to 500 MiB, 1080p
It’s impossible to watch a 30 minute show.
This never happened with the 2016 notebook and on this notebook I also installed xubuntu 24.04, so I’m assuming this is a hardware issue.
Is it so? Any way to avoid this?
the macbook is an Intel Core i5-4278U CPU @ 2.60GHz, the other notebook an Intel Core i7-7500U CPU @ 2.70GHz
Could be a power issue. 2.5" hard drives do require some power. Some external drives have two USB one for data and other for extra power.
Maybe one of your laptops isn’t supplying enough power or the port is dirty causing resistance and voltage drop. Or it could be something else entirely.
any chance the usb connector is a bit dodgy? Does it happen the same on all USB ports?
Play video in background, watch output of
dmesg --followorjournalctl --follow, look for anything related when it breakmaybe it is hdd sleep issue? it dumps file into ram, hdd idles, sleeps, laptop disconnects (due to some arcane parameter), it queries it, then it takes time to spin? does same thing happens if you actively do other stuff on hdd (opening/closing file every 2 min for example)?
I’m also betting on this. Trying to find energy-save settings for discs and also for USB might bring something.
Sounds like a power or sleep issue. Try doing a file copy while monitoring the logs
