Help with /home directory <SOLVED>

[tj1520]

I absolutely LOVE the new 8.1. 8)

I do need some assistance, PLEASE, in getting my home directory back in shape . . .

I have a fresh clean install of 8.1 on a hard drive designated for the OS. (sdb1)

I have a /home directory on another hard drive (sda1)

When I installed 8.1 I set up a user account that I used as a test, thinking I could easily edit the /etc/fstab to mount to the old /home on the other hard drive. Not quite.

When I added a line to /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda1 /home ext3 nodev,nosuid 0 2

I was no longer able to log in. The user account from the new installation was there, but the user account from the other /home was not. When I tried to login I got an error saying /home couldn't be found, changing to ./ When I clicked through, it returned me to the login screen.

I used vi to remove the line, and I could login again with the user created with the new installation.

I tried another line in fstab:

/dev/sda1 /home ext3 defaults, errors=remount -ro 0 1

but that didn't yield anything positive, and dolphin would not start.
(Also, I noticed that the drive is recognized when I open dolphin, and when you click on it, provide administrator rights, it mounts as /media/disk)

So . . . I know I am close, but I must be missing a step.

Can anyone help me out with what I am missing here?

Thanks!

[Guest]

Re: Help with /home directory

At first I thought that
sudo chown -R username /home/userdirectory

might do the trick. However. I did think of something else. I did a

sudo cat /etc/fstab

and noticed something that I suspected I would see

# /dev/sda7
UUID=9f7b3b21-bae9-42ef-9646-adc0a3818593 /home ext3 relatime 0 2

The device name is now a UUID not a dev file name. I think that you need to find the UUID for your new drive. and put that in place. I am not sure how to find that out though.
Are you sure that this is 8.1?
Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to do a new install with the correct home drive in place.

[bsoderror]

Re: Help with /home directory

If you need the uuid do a "blkid" in konsole and you'll have what you need for all drives/partitions.

Bob

[tj1520]

Re: Help with /home directory

If you need the uuid do a "blkid" in konsole and you'll have what you need for all drives/partitions.

Bob

Thanks Bob, got my drive info!

At first I thought that
sudo chown -R username /home/userdirectory

might do the trick. However. I did think of something else. I did a

sudo cat /etc/fstab

and noticed something that I suspected I would see

# /dev/sda7
UUID=9f7b3b21-bae9-42ef-9646-adc0a3818593 /home ext3 relatime 0 2

The device name is now a UUID not a dev file name. I think that you need to find the UUID for your new drive. and put that in place. I am not sure how to find that out though.
Are you sure that this is 8.1?
Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to do a new install with the correct home drive in place.

Salaneking, thanks to you as well for the idea . . .

I tried this:

# /dev/sda1
UUID=bdc0941c-87cc-49cf-9d8b-37aa1c54dclf /home relatime 0 2

When I rebooted, fschk checked the drive for errors (thought I was on the right track) but the login screen only showed the default user.

When I try to login I get this message:
"Cannot enter home directory. Using /."

Followed by this message:
"Could not start kstartupconfig4. Check your installation."

Any more ideas?

[aged hippy]

Re: Help with /home directory

It is a drastic solution, i know, but i would be inclined to re-install, and to tell the installer to mount that particular patition as /home.

[tj1520]

Re: Help with /home directory

It is a drastic solution, i know, but i would be inclined to re-install, and to tell the installer to mount that particular patition as /home.

I'm not opposed to that!

Would you please explain how?
I've never done that before.

Thanks!

[tinker]

Re: Help with /home directory

I do need some assistance, PLEASE, in getting my home directory back in shape . . .

I have a fresh clean install of 8.1 on a hard drive designated for the OS. (sdb1)

I have a /home directory on another hard drive (sda1)

When I installed 8.1 I set up a user account that I used as a test, thinking I could easily edit the /etc/fstab to mount to the old /home on the other hard drive. Not quite.

When I added a line to /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda1 /home ext3 nodev,nosuid 0 2

I was no longer able to log in. The user account from the new installation was there, but the user account from the other /home was not. When I tried to login I got an error saying /home couldn't be found, changing to ./ When I clicked through, it returned me to the login screen.

I used vi to remove the line, and I could login again with the user created with the new installation.

I tried another line in fstab:

/dev/sda1 /home ext3 defaults, errors=remount -ro 0 1

but that didn't yield anything positive, and dolphin would not start.
(Also, I noticed that the drive is recognized when I open dolphin, and when you click on it, provide administrator rights, it mounts as /media/disk)

So . . . I know I am close, but I must be missing a step.

Can anyone help me out with what I am missing here?

Thanks!

If I read your post correctly, I think you are caught in a misconception. However, you may have left something out or I may have misunderstood.

Just because you have mounted a /home with a user directory and files in it, the system (because it was a new install) only knows about the users you have added. If your "test" username is different from the "old" username in /home then I would expect the symptoms you detailed. If that is the case, it might be worthwhile to try adding the user that already has a ~home and see if that can then logon. I'm not sure if UID (user I D) would cause a problem because this new one is likely to be one number higher than what it was on your previous install. And that second new user, probably isn't going to get sudo permissions, it might be too advanced for you to try this if you aren't comfortable with it yet, I'm just mentioning it for those who are.

Bottom line: Aged's advice will work and might be easiest and fastest. You will get a chance with the installer to follow Aged's advice.

[aged hippy]

Re: Help with /home directory

Stuff the install CD into the drive, select the Check CD for defects option, and if all is well, re-boot, when it boots, select Try Kubuntu without harming your computer, and when the desktop is loaded click on the Install icon.

Select your locale, keyboard, layout, etc., when you hit Forward after the keyboard bit the installer will examine your drives for a while, then select to Manual Install.

Select where you want / to be, (i always tell the installer to format it), then tell it where you want mounted as /home, tell it Use partition as ext3, but not to format it and mount whatever other partitions you want mounted.

I usually mount an XP install and an XP back-up partition as /windows/XP and /windows/XP-backup , and others i mount as usr/local/Local /Local-home / Non-local, etc.

Be careful with the permissions on ntfs drives, plugdev owns them (whatever plugdev is , it can make accessing them and changing permissions awkward.


Edited to add:
I don't know if this will work, i have never mounted a /home on a different partition to /.

[toad]

Re: Help with /home directory

Right, butting a bit late into this, but if you haven't reinstalled already please read on

1. Boot up.
2. When kdm comes up, go into the command line login.
3. Log in and post the output of the following command:

sudo blkid

4. Post your /etc/fstab file

With that info we can get you back on the road. BTW, you can use the internet on the command line if you use links2 or lynx (sudo apt-get install links2 lynx)

Alternatively, plug a stick into your kubuntu box and append the following to the command in 3. above: > path_to_usb_stick/blkid_output - obviously you have to get the right path to the stick, it will be in /media/ This will redirect the output directly into the blkid_output file on your stick.

[tj1520]

Re: Help with /home directory

Right, butting a bit late into this, but if you haven't reinstalled already please read on

1. Boot up.
2. When kdm comes up, go into the command line login.
3. Log in and post the output of the following command:

sudo blkid

4. Post your /etc/fstab file

With that info we can get you back on the road. BTW, you can use the internet on the command line if you use links2 or lynx (sudo apt-get install links2 lynx)

Alternatively, plug a stick into your kubuntu box and append the following to the command in 3. above: > path_to_usb_stick/blkid_output - obviously you have to get the right path to the stick, it will be in /media/ This will redirect the output directly into the blkid_output file on your stick.

3.
/dev/sda1: UUID="bdc0941c-87cc-49cf-9d8b-37aa1c54dc1f" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="92fb7d0b-8d3c-44e8-981c-a82daf19edfe TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sdb5: TYPE="swap" UUID="4013296b-b29b-4e33-b3f7-cd0605edee04"
/dev/mmcb1k0p1: SEC_TYPE="msdos" LABEL="TSWIN" UUID:="E0E9-3EDE" TYPE="vfat"

4.
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sdb1
UUID=92fb7d0b-8d3c-44e8-981c-a82daf19edfe / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /dev/sdb5
UUID=4013296b-b29b-4e33-b3f7-cd0605edee04 none swap sw 0 0

/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/scd1 /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0


I'd really rather fix this, instead of the "not so easy" way out of reinstalling; just so I can learn something form the process.

Thanks!!!

[toad]

Re: Help with /home directory

The problem is quite simple. Your fstab - this being the file that tells the system what to mount at boot time - has no reference to your sda1 partition which I take it is your /home partition.

So you need to edit your fstab to do just that and bingo, you're in business

To do so simply copy the following stanza into your /etc/fstab (using your favourite editor in root mode).

# /dev/sda1
UUID=bdc0941c-87cc-49cf-9d8b-37aa1c54dc1f /home      ext3  relatime    0    2

Once you have done that you need to tell the system to mount everything that is in the fstab:

sudo mount -a

And your /home partition is there. Alternatively simply reboot (but that is so windowesque 8))

Let us know how you get on.

[tinker]

Re: Help with /home directory

The problem is quite simple. Your fstab - this being the file that tells the system what to mount at boot time - has no reference to your sda1 partition which I take it is your /home partition.

Toad, your advice is excellent for figuring a way to mount home on a separate partition.

However, when I read the original post I don't see that as the problem. The poster has a separate /home from a previous install. Then a reinstall was done, but it was done without mounting that /home. Thus, there was a /home created on the new install's partition. In addition a "test" user was added as the user on this new install. The new install worked and the test user could boot up. Then the poster did add a correct line to fstab and managed to get the old /home mounted over the new /home. At that point, there was no longer a ~home for for the test user. Oops, can't logon. There is no ~home for the test username. in the old /home. Poster tries to logon with old username. Oops, can't logon. And the reason for that, the system (because it is a new install) doesn't know anything about that old username. Even though there is a ~home for the old username in the mounted /home.

I may have misunderstood, if you have time toad will you please look over the original post and tell me if I am incorrect.

[toad]

Re: Help with /home directory

tinker - you really were very polite! You could have said: read the original post, blockhead

So here is my 2cs' worth, seeing that things have changed - you cannot have two separate /home directories. Same goes for two / or two /etc.

You need to decide whether you want sda1 or sdb1 as your /home (in the former as a separate partition, in the latter incorporated into /). Once you done that you will want to copy any users from the retired /home to the new home. Quickest way is to mount/umount relevant partitions, but a live CD is prolly easier.

tinker, did I get it right this time? Thanks for checking stuff out (at least somebody reading it!).

[tinker]

Re: Help with /home directory

tinker - you really were very polite! You could have said: read the original post, blockhead

Well, yes, I suppose I could have but that is not my style and it usually isn't productive. I've seen too many ego battles started that way. Kubuntu is a distro that welcomes newbies and Windows converts, many of whom don't have a lot of experience in cyberspace where people talk like that all the time. I don't want the signal to noise ratio to swamp out the content in a post where we are trying to help someone who wants to learn and who is giving us excellent troubleshooting detail. In addition, I haven't been around here long enough for you to respect my posts and opinions, I hope that will eventually happen.

So here is my 2cs' worth, seeing that things have changed - you cannot have two separate /home directories. Same goes for two / or two /etc.

True, but tj1520 really only had one at a time, just sometimes one was mounted over the other one making the other one invisible to the system.

You need to decide whether you want sda1 or sdb1 as your /home (in the former as a separate partition, in the latter incorporated into /). Once you done that you will want to copy any users from the retired /home to the new home. Quickest way is to mount/umount relevant partitions, but a live CD is prolly easier.

If I read tj1520 correctly, that decision has already been made. Separate /home partition.

Reread the post again. there might not be any need to copy anything between partitions, I think tj1520 wants to use the username that already has configurations and options and probably mail and stuff ...but the new install doesn't have a clue about that old username and even though there is a home for it, there can't be a logon.

tinker, did I get it right this time? Thanks for checking stuff out (at least somebody reading it!).

Errrr, not quite, see above. No matter, we still have plenty of time to sort this out before the poster comes back on line if he/she uses the same timeslot.

[tj1520]

Re: Help with /home directory

. . .I think tj1520 wants to use the username that already has configurations and options and probably mail and stuff ...but the new install doesn't have a clue about that old username and even though there is a home for it, there can't be a logon.

Bingo!
That's what I need help fixing.

New install has it's own /home generated by the install. I want to use the old /home found on the sda1 device.

Thanks to you and toad for sorting out my intentions on the original post!