KDE Partition Manager/ext4 mount cannot access Help.

[oshunluvr]

As I'm sure Snowhog would agree, I suggest you have a notepad next to you and write down stuff you do, so you can reverse things if necessary. Good to have a hard record when you're learning the ropes.

Also a good idea: make a copy of the file before editing it so you can revert to the original with a simple "mv" command (mv = "move" and "rename"). For example, before editing /etc/fstab do this in a terminal;

sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.orig

Now you have two copies of fstab. If you get stuck like you did, use "mv" to "fix" the situation;

sudo mv /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bad
sudo cp /etc/fstab.orig /etc/fstab

This example would leave you with three fstab files in /etc/;

fstab
fstab.orig
fstab.bad

The system will only read fstab, but you can look at, compare, and maybe find your mistakes by reviewing fstab.bad and fstab.orig. Once you get done doing whatever it is you're doing and you've verified it works, you can delete the "extra" fstab files if you want (or just keep them);

sudo rm /etc/fstab.bad /etc/fstab.orig

[mxlance]

Thank you for all the help.

I have learned that my problems began by thinking that Linux/Kubuntu treated external drives the way MacOS does. Yes I am a linux convert from macos.

So I started over and reformatted my external drive
and this is where things are now:

~$ lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
sda 8:0 0 465.8G 0 disk
└─sda1 8:1 0 465.8G 0 part /
sdb 8:16 0 465.8G 0 disk
└─sdb1 8:17 0 465.8G 0 part /media/mycomputer/Vault A
sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

~$ sudo blkid
[sudo] password for deepcat2:
/dev/sda1: UUID="b9bc9f85-85f2-46c3-9830-38d7cd68cf01" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="436b584b-01"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="Vault A" UUID="a4634c14-ea7c-45f2-b6fb-6fa4bec25a47" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="08cf33c0-01"

fstab
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=b9bc9f85-85f2-46c3-9830-38d7cd68cf01 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/swapfile none swap sw 0 0
# UUID=a33862f3-45dd-42da-a88b-14a7d8a6e21a none ext4 users 0 0
# UUID=0fe989be-76d7-49c4-8aed-2c6e0625c470 /media/deepcat2 ext4 defaults 0 0

So the drive is mounted in Removable Devices - But no access.

As I understand it now, this is a permissions issue.
Is that Correct?

[oshunluvr]

The default way Kubuntu mounts removable media is under /media/<USER NAME>/<SOME DEVICE ID OR LABEL> and clicking on it in Dolphin or in the Device Notifier causes it to mount. If it's EXT, BTRFS, or other posix file system, it will not allow user to access it because only root can mount things. So after you plug it in the first time, use "sudo chown ..." in konsole to modify the file system to your ownership. You should only have to do that once, after that it should work when you plug it in.

[mxlance]

Oh God, i completely forgot that you told me about that three days ago.
So much happened and the mind is going fast.
Never imagined I would be trying to learn this a 58

sudo chown 1000:1000 //media/me2/VaultA
this worked and I think I know what I did and why.

If I may ask for more of your wisdom and patience.
My goal is to setup 3 external drives and use an old laptop as a media server.
Would there be any additional steps involved that I am unaware of, other than setting up samba shares which I did do ones before and think I can do again.

Thank you again

[Snowhog]

Setting up/using Samba Shares is only necessary if one (or more) of the PCs to be shared is running Windows. Is this the case?

[mxlance]

i have a mac mini 2009 macos 10.13, a raspberry pi zero, raspberry pi 3 and two Gen 1 Chromeboxes running LibreElec/Kodi and an old Thinkpad running kubuntu 18.10.
I have an old Asus laptop that i have loaded Kubuntu 18.04 to be my server replacing the mac which fills that roll now. The mac is just too slow even with a new SSD.
Using the Asus is my cheapest option as a new NAS or newer server is not in the budget. The server will run Emby Media server and HDHomerun DVR recorder and that is about it.
am i crazy to attempt this?
thanks

[Snowhog]

am i crazy to attempt this?
thanks

Only if YOU think so.

So to be clear, none of the PC/devices are running Windows?

[mxlance]

No windows PC at all

[Snowhog]

Therefore, all Linux or a variant of Linux. You should not have to use Samba at all. Wait a bit and see if Oshunluvr chimes in on this, as he (tends) to have good guidance on setting up network shares.

[mxlance]

wow i was not aware of that. you got my attention. but i am also confused. but i am getting use to that lately.

EDIT: After a little Google Fu, is NFS a better option than samba?
it sounds a bit more complex to to setup but faster and works well with kodi.
is this what you had in mind?

[oshunluvr]

NFS is the usual way to share files in a linux only environment. IMO, NFS isn't more complicated than SAMBA, but there aren't any GUI tools to set it up. With a properly configured SAMBA, Dolphin will open the shares. With NFS, it's Linux, so security, permissions, and access control are part of the plan. SAMBA is like Windows - insecure by default. Either is fine depending on your environment and needs.

The latest and most common setup is to use NFS version 4. Kubuntu will do version 3 or 4, but 4 is easier IMO because it's easier to share multiple folders on the server. If you are only sharing one folder, then version 3 is fine.

Obviously, all your computers need to be on the same network and subnet. If you're using a router to assign IP's and they are dynamic, make sure all your hostnames are properly set because you'll need those to mount the shares. If your network has fixed IPs you can mount using those. The other question you have to consider is who, other than yourself, will be accessing the network folders? This is important because it dictates how you control access. If you're the only user or you don't want others to share files with you (and vice-versa) then it's easy. If you want a group of files to be accessible by everyone, there's more to consider.

For NFSv4, prepare the server by creating a place to mount your shared folders. I use /exports but you can use whatever you want. Then in that folder create folders to share. The folders can be mount locations or just contain files. So if you have multiple drives to share, you need only mount them under /exports and they are available to the client computers.

There are dozens of tutorials out there, but in a nutshell: install nfs-common on all computers (both clients and servers), and install nfs-kernel-server on the servers. Then on the server, edit the file /etc/exports and export your shared folder. Here's how mine is exported;

/exports 192.168.1.0/24(rw,fsid=0,crossmnt,no_subtree_check,sync,secure,nohide,all_squash)

Then you mount this on the clients in /etc/fstab like;

server:/ /shared nfs nofail,x-systemd.automount,x-systemd-device-timeout=10,_netdev,bg,hard,timeo=3,retrans=5,intr,noatime,nodiratime 0 0

With NFSv4 you need only mount the single folder and everything under it will be available. The options above, both in the export and mount are numerous so I suggest searching the web for what they do - and there are others I don't use. I would start with absolutely basic options and add others as you see the need.

Start by planning what you're sharing and how you'd like it to work, Then attempt a server and client configuration. Start a new thread if you run into trouble.

BTW, as far as your Asus laptop server goes, if you are not planning on using it directly, you can set it up to run "headless" thus not using RAM and CPU to run a desktop. I operate my server strictly through ssh, but if you want a GUI tool, check out Webmin - it's easy to setup and pretty slick.

[mxlance]

@oshunluvr

Thank you so much for the advice and instructions.
I was reading last night and found a few Linux/NFS tutorials but I had questions.
You covered every question I had and then some.

I have never used a headless anything and think I will stick with the GUI. Yes I am chicken and well done.

The asus has an i5 and 8G of ram so I think it will do the job. I plan to ad d a small SSD.
This will serve my video library with no trans-coding needed.
I can not use it as a laptop due to a dodgy power port. But it can sit on a shelf just fine.
Do you agree with my plan?

I am currently backing up my library before I attempt to set up the new server and start moving files over from the mac server.
That will take over a week I think (around 16TB to move).

Thank you again to you and Snowhog you are great teachers and very much appreciated.
mxl

[mxlance]

S***! Here I am again.

So the system will not boot if the external drive is not present.

This is just a testing drive that I want to use as a backup drive right now and eject when not needed.
I have not been doing this testing on the Asus I plan as a server this is on my daily driver ThinkPad.

So I take it, it is acting like the drive is to be mounted permanently?


fstab=
UID=b9bc9f85-85f2-46c3-9830-38d7cd68cf01 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
/swapfile none swap sw 0 0
# UUID=a33862f3-45dd-42da-a88b-14a7d8a6e21a none ext4 users 0 0
# UUID=0fe989be-76d7-49c4-8aed-2c6e0625c470 /media/deepcat2 ext4 defaults 0 0


/dev/sdb1 /media/me2/VaultA ext4 defaults 0 0

thanks and sorry to be a pain

[oshunluvr]

That is the expected behavior of a fixed drive - which is those mounted by fstab. In other words, the system expects drives listed in fstab to actually be there. Otherwise, they wouldn't be in fstab.

You can either mount it normally like a removable drive is - using Dolphin or the Device Notifier to mount it when it's inserted - or you can add the options "noauto,user" to the fstab line. This will not mount the drive at boot, therefore boot won't fail if the drive is missing. You'll have to mount it after boot up either manually or with a command in your profile. The "user" option will allow you to mount it without using sudo, thus a single command in your profile will mount it.

Frankly, you're going to run into issues when you attempt to do things in a way not intended by the developers. There is nothing wrong with doing things your way, but you have to expect that the system isn't going to auto-magically know what you want.

[Snowhog]

See Introduction to Fstab - Community Help Wiki

thanks and sorry to be a pain

Don't worry. We've all been where you are at present. We are here to help.