Volume auto-dismounts at seemingly random times
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I have an external disc that I mount with Veracrypt, it is an older truecrypt disc, which works perfectly fine when using the truecrypt option in the mounting.
However, on what seem to be random times, the volume auto-dismounts.
At first I though it was maybe because there was no active connection to any of the files or folders, so I usually just keep an explorer or other program open with a view on one of the folders on that disc. This used to do the trick and the auto-dismounts did not happen anymore.
Since today they happen again, even while I am actively using the encrypted volume. In the middle of browsing files, the volume disconnects.
Anyone have any idea what might be going on here? Am I missing some setting somewhere?
Thanks in advance for any hints!
Did you enable any of the options to dismount a volume in the Settings > Preferences > Auto-Dismount section?
The only one checked is 'Force auto-dismount even if volume contains open files or directories'.
That sounds suspiciously similar to what is happening... but none of the options for the dismount are checked, so it should never activate, right?
I've also noticed that there is a mount option 'Mount volume as removable medium', which is not checked, but maybe it should be since it's an external drive?
FYI, this is on a fully updated Windows 10 with Veracrypt 1.19.
I will update to 1.22 firstly... didn't know I was a few versions behind...
Update done, adapted some settings (unchecked the auto-dismount option and checked the removable medium option when mounting).
I will monitor and see if the issue still occurs!
Thanks for your input Enigma2Illusion!
Correct.
No need to enable that option.
EDIT: However, some external drives have their own power save mode that cause them to spin-down. Do you notice your external HDD spinning-down/up when the dismount occurs?
Have you checked the Windows Event Log Viewer for any messages/errors at the moment the volume dismounts expectedly?
Last edit: Enigma2Illusion 2018-05-23
I just checked the Application and System logs, no errors in there at the latest time of auto-dismount.
For the spinning down: not sure. The external disc is a lot quieter than the PC itself, so it's not noticeable when it spins down. It might have done something like that, but I would find it weird it does while actively using the files on the drive.
Could it be a Windows thing, where Windows thinks the drive is not used because no activity on the actual driveletter occurs, because the activity is on the mounted (other) driveletter, and thus Windows might put the 'inactive' driveletter into some powersave mode?
The issue just happened again, I immediately checked logs and found something.
It is logged in Application log as Fault bucket , type 0
Event Name: LiveKernelEvent
Response: Not available
It is pointing to (amongst others) a file C:\WINDOWS\LiveKernelReports\USBHUB3\USBHUB3-20180524-0148.dmp which seems to indicate an issue in the USB driver maybe.
Trying to open this dmp file has not succeeded yet, will not open in VS2015 or 2017.
In the system log at about the same time I find this one:
Application pop-up: Windows - Delayed Write Failed : Exception Processing Message 0xc0000222 Parameters 0x7ffc7e6c1c38 0x7ffc7e6c1c38 0x7ffc7e6c1c38 0x7ffc7e6c1c38
(the drive was not actively used, but an Explorer was opened to one of its folders)
Last edit: Herman Ito 2018-05-24
Check the Power Profile you are currently using:
Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Power Options > Edit Plan Settings > Change advanced power settings:
Hard disk > Turn off hard disk after >
On battery > What is the value?
Plugged in > What is the value?
Scroll down:
USB settings > USB selective suspend setting >
On battery? What is the value?
Plugged in > What is the value?
If it is not due to the settings above causing the HDD to spin-down, you can Google search the errors. Typically these errors mean that either your USB interface is going bad or the HDD is going bad.
For completeness, the issue occurs on a desktop computer.
The power profile is set to Balanced.
Turn off hard disk is set to 20 minutes, should I change this into 'never'?
There's no On battery or plugged in values (because it's a desktop I guess).
The USB selective suspend is set to Enabled. I'll start with disabling this one and see if it resolves the issue.
I appreciate your hints E2I!! I feel I am making some progress at least :-)
You may need to go ahead and set the hard disk to Never to avoid any drive from spinning down.
Only setting the USB selective suspend did not resolve the issue.
I also set the hard disk turnoff to never now.
There was however a difference in how the issue shows itself. Windows popped up a message that the disk in station X can not be used before formatting and if I wanted to do that now? Of course I didn't, but when I checked the Veracrypt interface, the volume was still shown as mounted.
Trying to access files on it did not work anymore. I had to manually dismount and remount to get access again.
With the hard disk turnoff to never, the issue seems to be resolved. It has not occurred again since my last message.
Thanks a lot for your help Enigma2Illusion!!
For months I've been plagued with random dismounts whilst accessing my Trucrypt drive. I had the drive plugged into a USB socket at the back of my desktop. Two weeks ago, I tried a different USB socket on the top of the desktop and I haven't had a single further unauthorised dismount. Its worth a try.