Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Automount second partition on external HD

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    Automount second partition on external HD

    I've been looking around for this, and haven't found what I need. Maybe I don't know the terminology to search for.

    I just bought a Western Digital My Book Home Edition external hard drive. It has both USB2 and FireWire connection support. When I connect it to my system via either interface, it is automatically mounted under the /Media folder as /media/My Book.

    I used Gparted to shrink the existing FAT32 partition, and created an ext3 partition to use most of the drive. I would like to set things up so, when the drive is autodetected, it does the same thing for the new partition, i.e., automounts and creates a new mount point under /media, say something like /media/My Book2, and disappears when unplugged.

    Is this something I can do simply in a file somewhere? How does the system know to call the existing partition "My Book?"

    I am relatively new to Linux, but quite experienced with DOS and Windows. I'm comfortable editing things like fstab, etc., but I need specific instructions of what files to edit and what to add.

    My system is Kubuntu 8.04, using KDE 3.5.10.

    Any advice appreciated.
    I am relatively new to Linux, but quite experienced with DOS and Windows.&nbsp; I&#39;m comfortable editing things like fstab, etc., but I need specific instructions of what files to edit and what to add.<br /><br />My system is Kubuntu 10.10, using KDE 4.5.1.

    #2
    Re: Automount second partition on external HD

    I haven't done that, but I do know that the mounting arrangements for external plug-in drives are managed by HAL, versus internal drives which are managed by the /etc/fstab file. I also know it is possible to set up /etc/fstab to automatically mount an external drive which is connected at boot time:

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

    But, I don't know how you are going to get the ext3 partition to show up if you just plug it in. Normally the USB device shows only the first partition, in my experience.

    So, I think the only way you can mount it automatically is if you have the external drive plugged in at boot time, and use a "mount by UUID" line in /etc/fstab to mount that ext3 partition.

    Comment


      #3
      Re: Automount second partition on external HD

      Now, on my flash drives, USB also, all partitions show up (are auto-detected ) when I plug in the device.
      An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

      Comment


        #4
        Re: Automount second partition on external HD

        Originally posted by Qqmike
        all partitions show up (are auto-detected ) when I plug in the device.
        Ahhhhhhhhhhh --- TELL, TELL!

        Comment


          #5
          Re: Automount second partition on external HD

          it was automatic.

          I also did some experiments with flash drives, where they showed up and got an UUID, and that UUID didn't change with subsequent unplugging and re-plugging back in. Somehow, a given flash drive kept its UUID.

          It may not be a problem?
          An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

          Comment


            #6
            Re: Automount second partition on external HD

            Hmmmm. Well, I guess whatever is on my 8GB USB stick is going to have to get nuked for an experiment with multiple partitions!

            Comment


              #7
              Re: Automount second partition on external HD

              btw, not so in XP -- it's a well-known "issue." Only the first partition shows up in XP, even under the disk manager (whatever it is called).
              An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

              Comment


                #8
                Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                Originally posted by Qqmike
                Now, on my flash drives, USB also, all partitions show up (are auto-detected ) when I plug in the device.
                But are all of those partitions automatically assigned a mountpoint?
                I am relatively new to Linux, but quite experienced with DOS and Windows.&nbsp; I&#39;m comfortable editing things like fstab, etc., but I need specific instructions of what files to edit and what to add.<br /><br />My system is Kubuntu 10.10, using KDE 4.5.1.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                  Yep -- with mount points.

                  I just did it, right now.

                  2 GB flash drive.
                  /dev/sdc1 500 MB ext2
                  /dev/sdc2 400 MB FAT32
                  /dev/sdc3 600 MB ext3

                  all 3 partitions popped right up on the Desktop (8.04), with device icons.

                  mount points assigned under /media
                  BUT, it used existing mount points already made in /media. So some didn't make sense! Like /media/casper-rw for /dev/sdc3.
                  casper-rw is a mount point used for the persistent partition of a Live Kubuntu flash drive.

                  =>
                  might be good to create some mount points and try to "set" them under Disk & Filesystem

                  An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                    K > System Settings > Advanced > Dis & Filesystems
                    Administrator Mode (button at lower right)
                    Highlight a partition
                    right-click > Modify/edit
                    set the mount point (e.g. /media/sdc1)
                    Click so any user can do anything at any time (drop-down list)
                    Exit out
                    Enable

                    see if it "sticks" (?)

                    Mine always work, but they take some prodding now and then, eg., in Disk & Filesystems.
                    An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                      Hold everything.

                      I just realized that the second partition IS appearing under /media. It's /media/disk. The term "disk" was so generic I never noticed it. So it's actually there.

                      I'd still like to know how the system knows what to call these drives, but at least now it's purely an academic point.

                      I appreciate everyone's input.
                      I am relatively new to Linux, but quite experienced with DOS and Windows.&nbsp; I&#39;m comfortable editing things like fstab, etc., but I need specific instructions of what files to edit and what to add.<br /><br />My system is Kubuntu 10.10, using KDE 4.5.1.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                        Yes, disk, or usbdisk, or disk-1 are all common generics.

                        Ive noticed that when a partition has a Label set on it, Kubuntu picks up that label as a mount point.
                        Like casper-rw.
                        That Label is set (by me) under GParted (the newest Live CD version, with Label capability under Partition > Label).
                        Then, Kubuntu picks that up and uses it as a mount point.

                        Ditto for yours probably -- a label was pre-set on it by someone (factory?)
                        You can also set labels at the command line -- as you, being DOS, probably already know (far better than I).
                        An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                          Experiment:
                          Try detecting it in GParted Live CD.
                          See if GParted picks up its Label.
                          I'm (fairly) sure it will.
                          An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                            sorry for the repeated's here, but this might be worthwhile.

                            If it is true that Kubuntu picks up partition Labels as mount points (I say IF), then that suggests a solution to this: Use the newest version of GParted Live CD to set Labels on the partitions of the external/flash drive USB, then expect those Labels to be auto- setup by Kubuntu as the auto- mount points. I DO know this has worked for my Live Kubuntu flash drives, which require two partitions: kubuntu8.04 and casper-rw (as an example).
                            An intellectual says a simple thing in a hard way. An artist says a hard thing in a simple way. Charles Bukowski

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Re: Automount second partition on external HD

                              Originally posted by Qqmike
                              ...the newest Live CD version...
                              Do you mean the latest stable version?

                              I am relatively new to Linux, but quite experienced with DOS and Windows.&nbsp; I&#39;m comfortable editing things like fstab, etc., but I need specific instructions of what files to edit and what to add.<br /><br />My system is Kubuntu 10.10, using KDE 4.5.1.

                              Comment

                              Working...
                              X