Break after attaching SATA controller to sys-usb

User Support
#1

Hey there!
I made a real stupid thing and hope that I can get to my systemSSD and the data is ok.
I have thinkpad W530, it has SATA-CD-Player that I change to an SSD. So I can attach an SSD via the CD bay.

After some time, the system did not load this SATA-USB and I thought that the SATA port is not mounted to the sys-usb, so I mounted the SATA controller to the sys-usb and restarted.

Now the system can not start. I suppose that this was not the controller for the bay but the general SATA controller (for internal SSD). So the system starts, then it starts the sys-usb (for it starts automaticaly) and crashes then.

How can I stop sys-usb from starting? Maby with “Advanced options for Qubes”?

regards
qundo

#2

in the grub menu, press e, add qubes.skip_autostart after rhgb quiet press f10 after adding parameter

#3

THANKS a lot!!! :smiley:

What connection for the CD bay could it be?
This is the bay:
https://thinkwiki.de/UltraBay
So it should be SATA, isn’t it?

sys-usb has just 3 USB controllers attached. But does QubesOS mounts such SATA bay automatically to sys-usb for SATA is mounted in the system?

#4

write down your pci number and remove 1 from the pci device menu in sys-usb, test it 1 by 1.

#5

From Ultrabay - ThinkWiki, you have a “Serial Ultrabay Enhanced (HDD Adapter)”.
Quotes from this page :

  • The pinout switching is performed by the BIOS and embedded controller, so that it is completely transparent to the operating system
  • IDE [SATA?] hard disks and optical drives are supported by the ata_piix or older ide-disk driver in the linux kernel

So, it seems there is a SATA controller inside the Ultrabay, not USB.
Also, your Ultrabay seems “hot-swappable”, so you can remove it while the computer is running.
Please check though, I’m not responsible for any harm done !
If you’re freaked out, better do it in two steps :

  • run the command below, power off, remove Ultrabay
  • poweron, run same command again

The command is “lspci | grep -i SATA”, you must run it in dom0.
When the Ultrabay is connected, you should have 2 results.
When it’s not connected, you should have only 1 result.
Now you know what PCI BDF your Ultrabay has, it’s the one that is NOT showing when there is only 1 result.

EXAMPLE (with imaginary BDFs)
Ultrabay connected, 2 results :
00:10.0 SATA controller […]
00:11.0 SATA controller […]
Ultrabay not connected, 1 result :
00:10.0 SATA controller […]

In this case, you should PassThrough the 00:11.0 to your sys-usb.
(Out of curiosity, why do you PT a SSD to sys-usb ?)