SOLVED: No permission to open my external hdd

[VirusZero]

Like the title says. I can't get permission to open my external harddrive...

It just says:

Unable to enter file:///media. You do not have access rights to this location.

I have the ntfs-configuration tool installed (Or atleast I'm pretty sure it's installed... The one from the repository is sufficient right?)
And In the Disk & Filesystem configuration menu, it's set so anyone can mount/unmount... So what am I missing? And how can I get it so I can open it?

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

What version of *ubuntu are you running?
Would you post your /etc/fstab file for review?

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

I'm running Kubuntu 7.04 and as far as my /etc/fstab...

You mean this?:

#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda5
UUID=e7c1d714-308f-4123-9643-c5351a18b22e / ext3 nouser,defaults,errors=remount-ro,atime,auto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=C0D8DC0FD8DC0616 /media/sda1 ntfs defaults,nls=utf8,umask=007,uid=0,gid=46,auto,rw,n ouser 0 1
# /dev/sda3
UUID=472E-0027 /media/sda3 vfat defaults,utf8,umask=007,uid=0,gid=46,auto,rw,nouse r 0 1
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,atime,noauto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media auto users,atime,auto,ro,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

Yes. Is the external HD being connected via USB, and is it formatted for Linux of Windows (and if Windows, what version: WinXP, 2000, Vista)?

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

The external hard drive is usb and it is formatted for Windows XP. I haven't made any changes to filesystem of the external harddrive since I bought it. The only change I've made to it is that I have loaded some music and videos on it (Which is why I want to be able to access it.)

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

Okay. Let's see how the drives are 'seen.' Open a console shell and type:

sudo fdisk -l

(that's a lower case L)
Copy and paste the output.

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

Ok, here's what it reports:

Disk /dev/sda: 100.0 GB, 100030242816 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 12161 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 10806 86799163+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 12130 12161 257040 88 Linux plaintext
/dev/sda3 12124 12129 48195 1c Hidden W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda4 10807 12123 10578802+ f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5 10807 12123 10578771 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 320.0 GB, 320070836224 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 38912 312560608+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

And I think I messed up when I posted the earlier fstab...
So here are the results from me running that test again...

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# /dev/sda5
UUID=e7c1d714-308f-4123-9643-c5351a18b22e / ext3 nouser,defaults,errors=remount-ro,atime,auto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 1
# /dev/sda1
UUID=C0D8DC0FD8DC0616 /media/sda1 ntfs defaults,nls=utf8,umask=007,uid=0,gid=46,auto,rw,n ouser 0 1
# /dev/sda3
UUID=472E-0027 /media/sda3 vfat defaults,utf8,umask=007,uid=0,gid=46,auto,rw,nouse r 0 1
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,atime,noauto,rw,dev,exec,suid 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media auto users,atime,auto,ro,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

Okay. So your external USB HD is 320GB, has a single partition sdb1, is referenced as /dev/sdb1, and formatted as HPFS/NTFS (Windowx XP).

I have a similar setup: external USB 60GB HD, has a single partition sdb1, referenced as /dev/sdb1, and formatted as FAT32.

As it is a 'pluggable device' it is not setup in my fstab (mtab takes care of it when it is present (plugged in)). I would remove that entry, as it isn't needed anyway.

Reboot your system after making the change to the fstab file. (edit as root required)

You should have installed (unless you are running Gutsy) the ntfs-3g package (available via Adept Manager). If you actually installed ntfs-conf then ntfs-3g will have been installed. This provides r/w access to NTFS formatted devices.

Open System Menu | Storage Devices and see if the external HD is visible. If it is (should be) you should be able to double-click and open if for use.

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

This might sound a bit paranoid, but I have to ask anyway... If I remove it from my fstab, (which I can do by going to Disk & Filesystems, then administrator mode, then delete right?) will my external HDD run in windows XP still?

And I checked the package manager and I do have ntfs-3g installed.

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

What you do with the fstab file has no physical effect on the drives.

You want to edit the /etc/fstab file. Open a console shell and type:

kdesu kate /etc/fstab

This will open the file with Kate. You can either delete the line completely, or just comment it out. Put a # in front of the entry so it looks like this:

# /dev/sdb1 /media auto users,atime,auto,ro,nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0

Save and quit Kate. Reboot.

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

Ok, got it, now to test the results.

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

The file has to be edited by root. Are you the first user account on the system? In *ubuntu the first account created is given permission to operate as the super user (read: root) when required. kdesu programis issued from a console shell to launch a GUI application as root. If you aren't being allowed to do so, then we need to determine why?

Open a console shell and type:

groups yourusername

where yourusername is your logon account name.
What you are looking for is the groups adm and admin. If you don't see these then you don't have access to root.

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

I am the first user, but (according to the user management in the system settings ) as for the group, it lists everything under secondary groups... Should it be under primary where my user account name is?

In the console it lists everything like this:
<my name> root adm dialout cdrom floppy audio dip video plugdev scanner netdev lpadmin powerdev admin

[Snowhog]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

No. That all looks good. So, now I have to ask, and should have at the beginning: Are you using Kubuntu or Ubuntu? If your running Kubuntu then kdesu is supposed to work. If you are on Ubuntu, then it's going to be gksudo (I think).

[VirusZero]

Re: No permission to open my external hdd

I'm running Kubuntu 7.04 (Fiesty Fawn). To get it to work I had to open a Linux shell window, then it still gave me a mess of errors but then it opened.

And now the fun part... I can't see my external hard drive anymore. Its not showing up anywhere that I can access it. The only place it appears is the Disk & Filesystem area... And I don't want to mess around with anything there unless I have to.