Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

future stir-fry · 2009-02-23 20:08:09

Hello,

I have a netbook and SD card that I've been trying to use as my /home. I have two SD card slots so leaving one in there is not an issue. In fstab, I specify the correct mount point, specify the 'user' option, etc. Then I double check the permissions for the user, chown the /home/user directory just in case. Then it works for a couple days before the user account suddenly gets the write and execute permissions revoked so all I can do now is read.

Then I tried the same procedure but instead of putting all of /home on the netbook, I just used a folder within my user's home, since this is a single-user computer anyways. Same thing happens here, works for a few days and then the user loses permissions. I've even tried dumb stuff like different filesystems for the SD card partition, and I'm pretty sure I'm doing things correctly.

For fstab options, I used: defaults, user
I've also tried combinations of other options, but all of the working ones result in the same thing.

TheBodziO · 2009-02-24 00:40:41

What does your log says about it? Also does literally user "looses" its permissions (is it indicated e.g. by ls) or just can't alter fs (with ls and mount options showing that he could).

future stir-fry · 2009-03-02 21:02:37

Hello TheBodziO, sorry for the late reply.
I literally have lost the permissions on the folder:

drwxr-xr-x 4 root root  8192 1969-12-31 18:00 nappa

Then when I try to chown the directory, the operation is not permitted.

Which log should I be looking at?

TheBodziO · 2009-03-02 23:15:06

future stir-fry wrote:

Hello TheBodziO, sorry for the late reply.

np I'm watching this thread anyway.

future stir-fry wrote:

I literally have lost the permissions on the folder:
drwxr-xr-x 4 root root  8192 1969-12-31 18:00 nappa
Then when I try to chown the directory, the operation is not permitted.

Which is perfectly correct given you're ordinary user and files are "reposessed" by root.

future stir-fry wrote:

Which log should I be looking at?

I'd start from looking at /var/log/messages.log or /var/log/everything.log (if the former will not give you a clue about your problem). This is the most useful place to look for any information about some device resets, remounts, errors or other problems. Look for info about your card device—maybe you'll be able to deduce answer from it. If not just post part of your log here.

Also you could check /etc/mtab if current mount options differ from those given in /etc/fstab.

And one more thing… are you using any automounter (like gnome-volume-manager, autofs, kde automounter or the like)? They can cause unintentional "interference"

future stir-fry · 2009-03-06 15:43:16

Hey,
- mtab is the same as fstab.

- messages.log and everything.log didn't mention anything about the sd card other than the actual detection. I noticed that it seems like the partition table for the device never sticks - I can't see it in fdisk -l even as root, and when I cfdisk to check it the partition table just contains free space, even though it clearly isn't. Does this mean the card is physically defective?

- So my kde automounter doesn't work. I always get a policykit error that I haven't been able to resolve.

Thanks =\

TheBodziO · 2009-03-06 17:18:43

future stir-fry wrote:

- messages.log and everything.log didn't mention anything about the sd card other than the actual detection. I noticed that it seems like the partition table for the device never sticks - I can't see it in fdisk -l even as root, and when I cfdisk to check it the partition table just contains free space, even though it clearly isn't. Does this mean the card is physically defective?

It might be so. The card or the reader itself may be malfunctioning. Fortunatelly each of this things is easy to check and I would do that in the first place.

I would also try another reader that is known to be stable on the same system. I've got a card reader with usb hub that allows me to mount a card, use it for a while and then out of nowhere denying any access to it—just like the card wasn't there. The other reader, connected to the same hub however never showed such instability.

Good luck with your experiments! I'm looking forward to see its results.

securitybreach · 2009-03-06 19:51:10

Same issue solved here http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php? … 93#p509793
I had the same thing.... I have a 16gb sdhc card in my Eeepc 701 that I wanted to use as my /home folder.

THanks

Last edited by securitybreach (2009-03-06 19:54:45)

securitybreach · 2009-03-06 19:51:58

Put

 sleep 4 && mount /dev/sdb1 -t ext2 /home

in /etc/rc.local. Just change the /dev/sd* and the filesystem to match your card. 4 was as low as I could get to make it work.

Thanks

Last edited by securitybreach (2009-03-06 19:55:52)

TheBodziO · 2009-03-07 07:38:02

Interresting… haven't thought about that, since my mount problems occured after full system boot.

future stir-fry · 2009-03-09 18:27:17

Hey guys, I sent in my SD card for RMA since it was having issues on my other computer as well. I'll let you know if securitybreach's suggestion works after I get the card back. Thanks for your help.

securitybreach · 2009-03-09 19:37:45

No problem. Update the post when you get your card back and let us know whow it goes.

Thanks

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-23 20:08:09

Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#2 2009-02-24 00:40:41

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#3 2009-03-02 21:02:37

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#4 2009-03-02 23:15:06

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#5 2009-03-06 15:43:16

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#6 2009-03-06 17:18:43

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#7 2009-03-06 19:51:10

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#8 2009-03-06 19:51:58

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#9 2009-03-07 07:38:02

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#10 2009-03-09 18:27:17

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

#11 2009-03-09 19:37:45

Re: Trouble mounting SD card as /home or directory in home

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