usb drive mount by a normal user

voodoo.child · 2007-11-04 12:56:06

how can i make a normal user mount usb drives? i added a line in fstab that allows users to mount /dev/sdb1, but this solves only partially the problem

Dheart · 2007-11-04 14:54:26

Ye. I'm also interested in that... I never wanted to mount usb drive like a normal user, but I have other problem: My user has a readonly access to the usb stick.

mico · 2007-11-04 15:00:26

voodoo.child wrote:

how can i make a normal user mount usb drives? i added a line in fstab that allows users to mount /dev/sdb1, but this solves only partially the problem

You could remove corresponding entry in fstab and use pmount and pumount instead of mount/umount.

Last edited by mico (2007-11-04 15:02:34)

pelle.k · 2007-11-04 15:56:15

Have you read the beginners guide?
So far, you've told us next to nothing about your system and setup, so here's a rather lacking answer in return. Ask smart questions.

Lone_Wolf · 2007-11-04 20:00:36

try adding the user to the storage group .

tousborne · 2007-12-01 17:39:39

After a recent sys upgrade, I am having a somewhat similar problem. I can still mount my usb stick, but the permissions are now a little screwy (EDIT: i.e. permission denied when trying to change into /mnt/usb directory).

fstab entry:

/dev/sdc1   /mnt/usb  vfat  rw,user,noauto     0  0

after performing a mount /mnt/usb the permissions on /mnt are:

d-wxrw-rwx 6 root users 16384 1969-12-31 19:00 usb

well, the permissions on this drive seem strange to me, as well as the 1969 date. Additionally if I look at the directory as root everything is executable, which should not be the case. I've added my username to users and storage in /etc/groups to no effect. I can mount fine using pmount, but I would much prefer things my way, plus i dislike the idea of being forced to mount things under /media (notions of liberty and such)

Any thoughts or additional info needed? I've become stumped enough by this odd behavior to actually register and post.

Last edited by tousborne (2007-12-01 17:42:08)

byte · 2007-12-01 18:11:40

man mount, section on fat, uid/gid/dmask/fmask options.

tousborne · 2007-12-01 20:02:55

wow, I feel foolish. I didn't even think of editing ID/mask options. So for anyone that reads this thread in the future the correction i needed was just a minor edit to /etc/fstab:

/dev/sdc1    /mnt/usb   vfat     rw,user,noauto,uid=500,gid=500    0  0

where the uid and gid are specific to the user that needs permission. Also, some might need to add a fmask=*** or dmask=*** where the *** represents the permissions octect for the files/directory (i.e. if you're feeling adventurous and risky 777 (not recommended)) but in my case permissions were set fine by the calling process.

Sidenote: Anyone know why this would have changed on a recent update? Previously I had not needed to set permission IDs in fstab. (my logs indicate an update to pam and udev could they be the cause?)

jordi · 2007-12-01 20:11:29

you might want to take a look at pmount instead of messing around with fstab entries...

Last edited by jordi (2007-12-01 20:11:55)

broch · 2007-12-03 15:18:10

you don't need (should not) specify filesystem.
If you have several usb devices connected at the same time, and you need static mounting point (or WM does not handle dynamic device creation), this is mine fstab (different distros) entry for usb:

/dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb1 auto noauto,user,rw 0 0
/dev/sdb2 /mnt/usb2 auto noauto,user,rw 0 0
/dev/sdb3 /mnt/usb3 auto noauto,user,rw 0 0

also you may try ivman that will work nicely with different WMs and will be able to mount removable devices per user with all required rights granted.

Mr Green · 2007-12-03 16:46:04

what happened to using hal and dbus to autoload devices?

broch · 2007-12-03 18:54:27

if you want to have static mount point for each of usb ports, then you must define mount points.
Otherwise you don't have to specify anything in fstab to mount usb device obviously, but you would need mounting mechanism that will mount device with user privileges (that is the point). KDE/Gnome have this, blackbox does not so you can consider to use ivman or similar.

Last edited by broch (2007-12-03 18:59:24)

tousborne · 2007-12-04 22:28:28

Using auto (in fstab) to determine the FS somehow cleared all permissions issues. Personally, I think that is very strange, especially considering I had previously specified the FS as vfat using same mountpoint and usb stick for over 1.5 years with no issue, until a recent update. But hey, it works now and that's good enough for me. HAL and dbus seem interesting, but I don't think they are "integrated" into xmonad (not sure about that) and don't think they really should be.

By the way, if it wasn't for being forced into mounting into /media and/or if they supported loop mounts, pmount would be really cool.

Also, ivman looks interesting, I don't really have a use for it as I only ever mount my usb stick or ipod so static mounting isn't an issue. But, as it looks cool, I'm going to check it out, out of curiosity.

Last edited by tousborne (2007-12-04 22:29:18)

Arch Linux

#1 2007-11-04 12:56:06

usb drive mount by a normal user

#2 2007-11-04 14:54:26

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#3 2007-11-04 15:00:26

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#4 2007-11-04 15:56:15

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#5 2007-11-04 20:00:36

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#6 2007-12-01 17:39:39

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#7 2007-12-01 18:11:40

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#8 2007-12-01 20:02:55

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#9 2007-12-01 20:11:29

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#10 2007-12-03 15:18:10

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#11 2007-12-03 16:46:04

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#12 2007-12-03 18:54:27

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

#13 2007-12-04 22:28:28

Re: usb drive mount by a normal user

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