automatically mounting usb hard drive

[mesman00]

Hi. I just updated from Feisty to Gusty Gibbon. My USB hard drive does not automatically mount anymore when I boot the system and it is plugged in. Do i need to add a line to fstab or something? I never had to do that before. How can i make it so the drive automatically mounts again at boot up. The drive is /dev/sdb7.

[SheeEttin]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

Is this a hard drive (i.e. drive and enclosure) or a Flash (a.k.a. "thumb", "pen", etc.) drive?

Please also post the contents of /etc/fstab.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

it is actually a USB hard drive. I have kubuntu installed on it, on a separate partition. With fiesty both the root partition and the other partition i talked about were automatically mounted and placed on my desktop when i booted the system. Now neither do, and the other partition (/dev/sdb7) isn't even mounted. I'm at work right now. I'll post fstab when i get home. Thanks.

[dibl]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

If that external USB drive happens to be NTFS format, then this should help:

http://kubuntuforums.net/forums/inde...opic=3084679.0

If that's not it, then your /etc/fstab file system table probably does not have an appropriate mount line for it. Post your fstab file and we can probably fix it.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

its fat32. here's my fstab, obviously no sdb7 entry. its been a while since i've edited an fstab file. what do i need to add in order to get the drive to mount automatically.

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>  <type> <options>    <dump> <pass>
proc      /proc      proc  defaults    0    0
# /dev/sda6
UUID=deddb52e-3e0b-48b0-9fdb-e83f99c38213 /        ext3  defaults,errors=remount-ro 0    1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=39fcb491-46eb-4e06-b2e3-85a104f2ce25 none      swap  sw       0    0
/dev/scd0    /media/cdrom0  udf,iso9660 user,noauto   0    0

[dibl]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

If you booted your system with the USB drive attached, you might be able to

fdisk -l

and get a device assignment, such as /dev/sdc.

If that works, then

blkid

will give you both the device ID and the UUID that Kubuntu has assigned it. With that information, you can make a mount point, and then write a mount line in /etc/fstab.

So,

sudo mkdir /media/USBDISK

and then

kdesu kate /etc/fstab

and add a line that looks about like

UUID=39fcb491-46eb-4e06-b2e3-85a104f2ce25   /media/USBDISK vfat users,auto,rw,noatime   0    0

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

ok now it mounts automatically. but it doesn't show up on the desktop automatically like it used to (same with my root partition, which hasn't done that since the upgrade to gusty). however, if i put in a usb key or a cd (or a CD, etc.), then the usb key, as well as all my other mounted devices, show up on the desktop. how can i make it so my mounted drives show up on the desktop when i boot like they used to with feisty? thanks for the help so far.

[dibl]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

Argghhhh -- now you've asked the hard one!

Well, it's like this. You can "hot plug" like a USB thumb drive or a digital camera, and have it pop up in a window and appear on the desktop (but that will cost you auto-mounting at boot). The problem with doing this with a FAT32 formatted hard drive is the risk of data corruption -- it's not a very rugged filesystem -- not designed to be removed from the computer.

Or, you can automatically mount it at boot time as you have now, and have it NOT appear on the desktop ...

Or (#3 and final choice) you can right-click the desktop, choose "Configure Desktop > Behavior" and click the "Device Icons" tab, and put an "X" in front of "Mounted Hard Disk Volume" and have ALL your hard drive partitions appear.

But I don't think there's a way to have ONLY your USB drive appear on your desktop, automatically. Maybe someone else knows a way .... :P

[Snowhog]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

I had it that way, before upgrading KDE to 3.5.8. Now I can't figure out how to do it. I've got the check in the mounted removeable media, but that doesn't cause them to show on the desktop. I have to open Storage Media and click on just one of them, and they all 'appear' on the desktop. Go figure. :P

[SheeEttin]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

Yeah, same here...
My guess is that it doesn't poll for devices until prompted.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

yep. thats exactly what happens for me as well.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

ok. so like i said the drive auto mounts and everything. however, i only have root permissions to create files/delete files, etc. how do i get full permissions for my regular, non-root user?

[dibl]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

If you run Konqueror as "Super User", you can change the ownership and permissions.

Alt-F2 and enter

kdesu konqueror

now browse to "media" and right-click on USBDISK. Choose "properties" and "permissions" and in the lower left change the owner to yourself, and the group to your group, and then change the permissions so you can read and write. Don't forget to put an "X" in the box that says "apply to subdirectories and files" (or something like that). Click "apply" and you should be set.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

isn't there a way to do it in fstab, so when it mounts it automatically gives non-root users all permissions. i have done it this way with previous distros, just can't remember how.

[mesman00]

Re: automatically mounting usb hard drive

bump thanks.