Xfce Forum

gilgamesh

Member

Registered: 2023-06-06

Posts: 49

Unmounted drive icons disappeared from desktop

Hello,
I have an old laptop with an external SSD connected via a USB port. A fully functional Debian forky distribution is installed on this SSD. When I boot from this SSD, I normally see an Xfce desktop displaying, among other things, two unmounted partitions—“home” and “root”—from the internal drive. They have just disappeared and been replaced by a “cdrom0” icon that I’ve never seen before.
What I checked and tried:
1- I checked that everything was correct in Desktop Icons and in Desktop > File/Launcher Icons > General and Default Icons

2- I plugged a USB drive containing a fully functional Debian forky distribution into another laptop, then booted from it: both icons appeared.

3-  I replaced the USB drive with the SSD on this same recent laptop: neither icon appeared. Instead, a “cdrom0” icon appeared. Problem: this laptop doesn't have a CD-ROM drive!! Both versions of Debian forky are up to date and identical.

If anyone has any ideas about what else I could test.

Last edited by gilgamesh (Today 13:37:11)

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Debian 13

Blacklight

Member

Registered: 2026-08-14

Posts: 22

Website

Re: Unmounted drive icons disappeared from desktop

you seem to be implying here: "I normally see an Xfce desktop displaying,"

that you're not at the xfce desktop, which is confusing

then you say "2- I plugged a USB drive containing a fully functional Debian forky distribution into another laptop, then booted from it: both icons appeared."

why would the same partitions appear, if youre connecting to a different laptop

I guess you are trying to verify the basic behavior of the distribution generally, but the problem is centered around the 'old laptop'

if it's configuration has changed that would make sense

you troubleshoot that problem by observing the drives with lsblk

$ lsblk

that should show you, the external ssd drive, and the internal drive as two separate drives

it may be the case, that you have encountered a bug, which may be resolved simply with a reboot, sometimes the drives aren't registered/connected properly (maybe even a full proper reboot -> sudo poweroff -> ((maybe even a power cycle(tricky with a laptop) + for bonus points check your connections/reseat your connections) -> poweron

obviously, the system changed, expected behavior is no longer appearing, so now you have to start examining what is going on exactly

(especially if it's an 'old laptop' you should actually get down and dirty with the hardware - the metal - and give it some real maintenance) (hardware comes first -> then the software)

- edit -

I'll just add here FYI (for your information) because I know you cant search for it directly on the internet (youll get clickbait advertising results)

to properly power cycle a laptop, it's an essential activity, and is not the same as the procedure to do so with a desktop

First power off the laptop (sudo poweroff)

Leave the latop connected to the power outlet with a grounding (third) pin

Remove the battery

Then you can finally discharge the power cells pressing the power button, for between 30-60+ seconds

Then you can reapply the battery, and power on, you want to slowly properly apply the procedures dealing with hardware, then the software can do it's job

(power cycling will resolve a wide range of issues, it's not commonly understood)

Last edited by Blacklight (Today 17:08:50)