21.10 sometimes ignoring USB memory sticks - and a possible workaround.

[Colin Law]

On Thu, 21 Oct 2021 at 16:07, Ian Bruntlett <ian.bruntlett at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am bouncing around between three systems, copying the occasional file from one system to another. They are all x86_64 laptops. The main one runs Ubuntu 20.04.3, the other two run 21.10. I am using a single SanDisk Cruzer Blade for the moment.
>
> I have noticed that sometimes both of my 21.10 based systems refuse to recognise my USB flash drive. One of them is old Thinkpad x230i (IIRC) and had a couple of hard lives before I acquired it so I thought the problem might be a faulty laptop. The other is a Toshiba Satellite and, despite being a trifle slow, seemed solid enough. I've just tried accessing the flash drive and it just would not access it. I panicked slightly. I figured the system was getting confused so I logged out and logged in again and suddenly the system recognised the USB drive.

Next time it fails run
journalctl -f
Then plug in the drive and see what appears in the log.

Colin