Archived thread 1030361 from Arch and derivatives. Markdown source: Arch_and_derivatives/thread_1030361_Permission_issues_with_external_HDD.md
For christmas I got an 1TB extternal HDD. I works fine on a Windows machine, but I have Arch Linux on my computer and I get permission issues with the external HDD. How do I get perimission to use my own external HDD?
I have tried right click and changing permissions as root but I does not work. I see whats in the external HDD when I am root, but can't create a folder!
The same happens in Ubuntu etc... if you wonder...
How is it formated -- what's the filesystem? How are you trying to mount it (hal/fstab)?
fwojciec said: How is it formated -- what's the filesystem? How are you trying to mount it (hal/fstab)?
I guess it is Fat32 (Windows file system) because it works fine with Windows, If you need an output you must give me a full comand. (I don't know how to mount suff like that, I just plug it in)
Can you post the output of "fdisk -l" (as root) and "cat /etc/fstab"? Where is the drive usually mounted to?
Have you tried:
# chown yourusername /media/whatever
# chmod 777 /media/whatever(obviously substituting 'yourusername' and 'whatever' for the correct values)
fwojciec said: Can you post the output of "fdisk -l" (as root) and "cat /etc/fstab"? Where is the drive usually mounted to?
fdisk -l
# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x0008b1af
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 14593 117218241 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 1 243 1951834+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6 244 2067 14651248+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 2068 14593 100615063+ 83 Linux
Disk /dev/sde: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xcbce2081
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sde1 1 121601 976760001 7 HPFS/NTFS
cat /etc/fstab
# cat /etc/fstab
#
# /etc/fstab: static file system information
#
# <file system> <dir> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
none /dev/pts devpts defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
/dev/cdrom1 /media/cdrom1 auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
/dev/dvd /media/dvd auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
/dev/dvd1 /media/dvd1 auto ro,user,noauto,unhide 0 0
UUID=10512ef5-9c47-46a7-9602-f9137ea11d82 swap swap defaults 0 0
UUID=9656f93a-365f-4dee-a00e-301fa58001c6 / ext3 defaults 0 1
UUID=af63f66e-d508-49e8-8bdf-9d1160a6b24b /home ext3 defaults 0 1
Barrucadu said: Have you tried:
# chown yourusername /media/whatever
# chmod 777 /media/whateversorry that does not work. I think it is the FAT32 and UNIX (ext3 for me) filesystem that don't have the same permission setup.
gjoellee said: fdisk -l
# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sde: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xcbce2081
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sde1 1 121601 976760001 7 HPFS/NTFS
cat /etc/fstab
I'd say this is your external drive, and it is being identified as an NTFS file system, which will work fine under Windows as you have noted, but not under Linux.
Herte is a link to the Arch wiki on enabling NTFS write support: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/NTFS_Write_Support
Hope this helps.
Ok, I can mount the HDD when I am logged in as root... however I am still not getting the permissions (I have tied chmoding as showed above)
I am just asking...does making the HDD to Ext3 save me from a lot of trouble? I am wondering if I should do that, I am only going to use it with Linux and maybe Mac (I am not sure abotu the Mac)
gjoellee said:
I am just asking...does making the HDD to Ext3 save me from a lot of trouble?
My external drive is formatted to Ext3 and I have no hassles with it. I also access it from WinXP machines with a additional driver.
Have a look at ext2fsx & macfuse maybe, I know nothing about macs.
My HDD works fine when I am root user now... (still NTSF)
gjoellee said: Ok, I can mount the HDD when I am logged in as root... however I am still not getting the permissions
When you mount it, you have to specify the owner as you, not root. Use the -o options flag to set the owner with uid=. Similar to:
mount -t ntfs /dev/sde1 /media/externaldrive -o uid=gjoelleeBob
hrod beraht said: When you mount it, you have to specify the owner as you, not root. Use the -o options flag to set the owner with uid=. Similar to:
mount -t ntfs /dev/sde1 /media/externaldrive -o uid=gjoelleeit says:
# mount -t ntfs /dev/sde1 /media/hdd -o uid=gjoellee
ntfs-3g: Failed to access volume '/dev/sde1': No such file or directory
Please type '/sbin/mount.ntfs --help' for more information.and /dev/sde1 is correct
Thanks to a guy in the Arch Linux forums I am now able to mount mt hard drive as a normal user. I made a tutorial of what i did because I could not find any tutorial that was very good. Take a look here: http://kshoster.net/content/howto-mount-external-hard-drive-and-get-permissions-ntfs-file-system (it is how I solved to problem)
You either use fstab/mount or you use hal. If you use hal the drive should be mounted automatically without any commands, if you need a command line interface for hal use pmount-hal/pumount, but normally thunar/nautilus or whatever it is that you use will take care of interacting with hal for you.
If you use fstab/mount method then you have to use regular mount/umount commands as root, but you also don't need the custom hal policy you describe in your tutorial. What's important is that if a drive is defined in /etc/fstab it will not be accessible to hal at all, so if you want to mount through hal you should completely remove any reference to that drive from fstab.