Of four internal hard drives, Ubuntu Live sees only one

Question

I have an ocz SSD drive with windows 7 on it, and three other internal drives used for storage. They are all identical 4TB Seagate HDD drives. I booted from the flash USB and come into Ubuntu. I chose to try, without installing. If I plug external drives into the USB slots, Ubuntu sees them, and it sees also the ocz drive, which it lists as 120GB volume on the left row of icons. Although the three internals are visible in Windows 7, and show up in BIOS, they do not appear when booting from the Ubuntu flash drive. I know there is nothing wrong with those three drives. I'm considering installing Ubuntu, but first I want to make sure that everything will work without problems. Please advise what I can do to make the other three internals visible. I'm running an Asus Sabertooth z77 motherboard with Intel Core i7 3770k 3.5Ghz processor, 32GB RAM, Asus Radeon GPU, and Asus Xonar DS audio card (none of which probably matters, but just to give full info in case it might matter). If I can get Ubuntu to see my other drives, then I will go ahead and do a fresh install. Thanks in advance.

I tried opening a terminal and typing the first command, (sudo fdisk -l) and got this:

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/ram0: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram1: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram2: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram3: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram4: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram5: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram6: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram7: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram8: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram9: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram10: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram11: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram12: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram13: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram14: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/ram15: 64 MiB, 67108864 bytes, 131072 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes


Disk /dev/loop0: 1.3 GiB, 1433468928 bytes, 2799744 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes




Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x4c9476d4

Device     Boot  Start       End   Sectors   Size Id Type
/dev/sda1         2048    206847    204800   100M  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sda2  *    206848 234438655 234231808 111.7G  7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT


Disk /dev/sdb: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 6563D057-D3B8-4ABE-B2DD-B40B0DF5577D

Device      Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdb1      34       2081       2048    1M Microsoft LDM metadata
/dev/sdb2    2082     262177     260096  127M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdb3  262178 7814037134 7813774957  3.7T Microsoft LDM data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/sdc: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 4F050823-221E-47DC-8FDC-4B1069E2B215

Device      Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdc1      34       2081       2048    1M Microsoft LDM metadata
/dev/sdc2    2082     262177     260096  127M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdc3  262178 7814037134 7813774957  3.7T Microsoft LDM data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/sdd: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: 9EFE1A04-59E0-4FBD-960E-E06399FD9148

Device      Start        End    Sectors  Size Type
/dev/sdd1      34       2081       2048    1M Microsoft LDM metadata
/dev/sdd2    2082     262177     260096  127M Microsoft reserved
/dev/sdd3  262178 7814037134 7813774957  3.7T Microsoft LDM data

Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
Partition 3 does not start on physical sector boundary.


Disk /dev/sde: 29.7 GiB, 31914983424 bytes, 62333952 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x0b7cfa9f

Device     Boot Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sde1  *     2048 62333951 62331904 29.7G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ 

Answer 1

I count 5 hard drives listed in your question, and 3 of which are 4TB drives:

This first one looks like your SSD:

Disk /dev/sda: 111.8 GiB, 120034123776 bytes, 234441648 sectors

The next 3 are all 4TB:

Disk /dev/sdb: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors

Disk /dev/sdc: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors

Disk /dev/sdd: 3.7 TiB, 4000787030016 bytes, 7814037168 sectors

This last one is your 32GB USB Drive:

Disk /dev/sde: 29.7 GiB, 31914983424 bytes, 62333952 sectors

Answer 2

Ubuntu should have no problem seeing those drives.

Open up a terminal and use these commands to inspect if the disks exist.

This command should list all disk in the system, and display information about the partitions. sudo fdisk -l

This command should show you each partition's GUID/ID and also the filesystem each one contains. sudo blkid

Finally, this command will list all disk drives found in the Ubuntu's device directory. ls -l /dev/sd*

They will be in this format: /dev/sda where the "a" is the disk. They will be lettered alphabetically but not in any actual order. (this means /dev/sda might be /dev/sdc the next time you boot the flash drive, but /dev/sdb will always exist before /dev/sdc unless you disconnect the storage device) /dev/sda1 and /dev/sda2 where the numbers are the partitions (if any) of the "a" storage device.

If they still do not show up, check if they are in a RAID configuration, which for motherboards built-in raid functionality is always implemented in a fakeRAID (software RAID) in which case you may need to enter the command: sudo dmraid -ay

If the drives still are not listed, make sure your Ubuntu image you're booting is up to date and that the modules (drivers) for your system have loaded correctly.

To view loaded modules, use this command: lsmod

[Edit] To answer your newly edited question:

From what I can see, Ubuntu can very much see the drives.

From the command output you posted, you can ignore each entry for /dev/ram* and /dev/loop*. Those are just special devices created because you're using Ubuntu in "live" mode. (runs from ram only)

The problem with Ubuntu seeing your drives is that you're using Microsoft Logical Disk manager with the disks aka "Dynamic Disks". So either you're using them in RAID or some other configuration. From windows you can view/edit the configuration using the "Disk Management" utility located at:

Control Panel > Administrator Tools > Disk Management

Linux does not support disks configured for Microsoft LDM natively (ie. a kernel config option). There does exists libraries and tools which will give you some limited access to the disks.

Install ldmtool with this command:

sudo apt-get update; sudo apt-get install ldmtool

To gain access to the disks, use this command:

sudo ldmtool create all

They will not located in the /dev/mapper directory. (Ignore /dev/mapper/control it isn't important)

The disk-utility and file explorer should now show the disks and should functional to the point you read/write files to them.

Alternatively, if you just want to mount single disk-group do this:

sudo ldmtool scan /dev/sd[b-d]*

This should output a guid. (xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}

Copy that guid to the clipboard and then use this command (replace with the guid you copied):

sudo ldmtool create volume <guid> volume1

You can increment the number in "volume1" for more disks. (ie volume1 becomes volume2 in that command, etc.)

For more info about the ldmtool package, see here.

For information on how to use the ldmtool, see here.