Arch Linux

SomeGuyDude

Member

Registered: 2008-10-09

Posts: 271

Changing permissions on external HD

I've got an external drive (Simpletech something or other) that I've been using since my Windows days and I'm having issues with it on Arch.

Namely, I can't write to it as a user. I can't chmod it, I can't chown it, opening the dialog box in PCManFM and checking the "write" boxes under permissions, nothing makes a difference. Take a look at this output:

[crew@myhost ~]$ ls -l /media/"Awesome Stuff"
total 32
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     0 2006-12-06 13:39 Diskeeper
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 12288 2007-11-28 01:10 Media
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2008-03-28 17:07 RECYCLER
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2008-03-28 16:56 System Volume Information
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root  1826 2008-03-06 23:50 conkyrc
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2222 2008-03-05 16:55 conkyrc~
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2009-03-13 11:19 crew2
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     0 2008-10-25 03:20 found.000
[crew@myhost ~]$ sudo chmod 755 /media/"Awesome Stuff"
[crew@myhost ~]$ ls -l /media/"Awesome Stuff"
total 32
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     0 2006-12-06 13:39 Diskeeper
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 12288 2007-11-28 01:10 Media
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2008-03-28 17:07 RECYCLER
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2008-03-28 16:56 System Volume Information
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root  1826 2008-03-06 23:50 conkyrc
-r-xr-xr-x 1 root root  2222 2008-03-05 16:55 conkyrc~
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root  4096 2009-03-13 11:19 crew2
dr-xr-xr-x 1 root root     0 2008-10-25 03:20 found.000
[crew@myhost ~]$

The permissions literally don't change. What the heck can I do here?

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And in the midst of such perfection,
I can't help but feel diseased.

initbox

Member

Registered: 2008-09-27

Posts: 172

Re: Changing permissions on external HD

Try:

chown -R youruser /media/place

With root.

Last edited by initbox (2009-03-13 16:36:34)

Dheart

Member

From: Sofia, Bulgaria

Registered: 2006-10-26

Posts: 956

Re: Changing permissions on external HD

Your hdd's pro'lly using the FAT32 filesystem, which doesn't support linux permissions. But a linux box can't work without permissions, so when the hdd is mounted, virtual permissions are set: All files are owned by the user who mounted the hard drive, and if I'm not mistaken the modes for all files are 644. That's why you can't write files or create new files - you can't change the virtual permissions. A workarround (which I adopted) is to add an entry in /etc/fstab about your hdd and mount it as your user on every reboot.

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My victim you are meant to be
No, you cannot hide nor flee
You know what I'm looking for
Pleasure your torture, I will endure...

SomeGuyDude

Member

Registered: 2008-10-09

Posts: 271

Re: Changing permissions on external HD

That's likely it, Dheart. I may end up borrowing another drive to move things around, then reformat the thing as ext3 for ease of use. For now, I just use it as root (which I can do just fine).

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And in the midst of such perfection,
I can't help but feel diseased.

R00KIE

Forum Fellow

From: Between a computer and a chair

Registered: 2008-09-14

Posts: 4,734

Re: Changing permissions on external HD

If the external partition is in NTFS then you need to fiddle with some .fdi files ... can't remember which one(s), do check the wiki the solution is there .

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R00KIE
Tm90aGluZyB0byBzZWUgaGVyZSwgbW92ZSBhbG9uZy4K

Ramses de Norre

Member

From: Leuven - Belgium

Registered: 2007-03-27

Posts: 1,289

Re: Changing permissions on external HD

That's why you can't write files or create new files - you can't change the virtual permissions. A workarround (which I adopted) is to add an entry in /etc/fstab about your hdd and mount it as your user on every reboot.

You can change those perms, read up on the "umask" mount option.

Last edited by Ramses de Norre (2009-03-14 15:12:34)