Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 12:28:58

Hi,

I want to access a windows (ntfs) partition (internal hard drive) from arch linux without having to use the root password to access it. I remember being able to access this partition by simply clicking on it and the root password dialog didn't pop up.

I tried to put information in my /etc/fstab so that I can mount or unmount the partition using the terminal but the issue I found is that I can't actually see the partition from my GUI filesystem folders. I think it might have something to do with permissions but I am not sure where to look. I thought it was in gconf-editor but I couldn't find the right settings to make the changes I am looking for.

here are my partitions.. the one I am trying to access is /dev/sda2 but it isn't shown here for some reason.. I can see it in my filesystem dialog but blkid doesn't show any info.

/dev/sda1: LABEL="PQSERVICE" UUID="4D54-C080" TYPE="vfat" 
/dev/sda3: UUID="e9581dad-55f7-4a08-99f0-e0f42f217d54" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="faca0d2d-3ffa-4225-915f-61220ca95c66" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sda6: UUID="3600519c-10d0-4a8b-b070-2131dfed877f" TYPE="ext4" LABEL="root" 
/dev/sda7: LABEL="home" UUID="aecfc731-d67b-4081-8946-94abb37cb357" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda8: LABEL="home" UUID="4f186834-d875-4846-bad9-706850869a35" TYPE="ext4"

Mr.Elendig · 2011-07-07 13:27:36

Install ntfs-3g and add something like this to fstab:

UUID=whatevertheuuidofthepartionis /home/youruser/lamewindowsstuff ntfs-3g defaults 0 1

I would just permamount it like that instead of mounting/umounting it everytime you want to access it.

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 13:38:59

I can't actually find out what the UUID of the windows partition is...blkid won't actually give me any info on it.

I have ntfs-3g installed though

estevao · 2011-07-07 13:48:16

Try using cfdisk to find out the correct device node.

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 14:02:12

I can't seem to get that information. I haven't used cfdisk before, do I try to put in something like:

$ cfdisk -P t /dev/sda2

I keep getting error messages

Last edited by rg_arc (2011-07-07 14:09:23)

estevao · 2011-07-07 14:05:52

@rg_arc

As root:

cfdisk /dev/sda

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 14:09:32

ok I got this message...

$ sudo cfdisk -P t /dev/sda2
Password: 
FATAL ERROR: Bad primary partition 1: Partition ends after end-of-disk
$

and also:

 FATAL ERROR: Bad logical partition 6: enlarged logical partitions overlap

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 14:17:17

When I put in "mount" I get this info about sda2:

$mount
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,relatime,size=10240k,nr_inodes=215934,mode=755)
run on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=10240k,mode=755)
/dev/sda6 on / type ext4 (rw,commit=0)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,relatime,mode=600,ptmxmode=000)
shm on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,relatime)
/dev/sda7 on /home type ext4 (rw,commit=0)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/ricky/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=ricky)
/dev/sda2 on /media/ACER type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)

estevao · 2011-07-07 14:25:36

What happens when you just type "cfdisk /dev/sda" as root?

Last edited by estevao (2011-07-07 14:26:08)

rg_arc · 2011-07-07 14:31:42

I get this error message:

FATAL ERROR: Bad logical partition 6: enlarged logical partitions overlap

estevao · 2011-07-07 14:44:37

Well, it appears that you have some partitioning issues in your hard drive. Normally, this type of problem are just solved with a repartitioning of the disk... but I'm not sure if this is your case, maybe you can do some partitioning workaround.

Take a look here: https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=68060

Last edited by estevao (2011-07-07 15:27:55)

Behemot · 2011-07-07 15:01:18

I guess you really have some problems with partitions, but what you probably want is automount of partitions under graphics enviroment, right? I know how difficult this is because on the arch wiki, under this sections are neccessary programs not mentioned, you have to search forums and find what to install every time if you forgot it regularly as I do. You need to have installed and running:

udev
dbus
fuse
gvfs (at least for XFCE4)

You also need to start session with ck-launch-session and dbus-launch. Oh and dont forget on /media/ folder with correct permissions (I personaly use 777, it can't harm). Than automounting of storage devices (incl. flash disks, memory card etc.) should work.

Last edited by Behemot (2011-07-07 15:02:41)

Inxsible · 2011-07-07 15:05:37

Behemot, the OP has an internal drive, not a USB key/drive. /etc/fstab can also be used to permanently auto-mount internal drives.

Behemot · 2011-07-07 15:43:11

Yes, of course, I do it the same way, but if he does not want to mount it permanently, this way is the right one.

Anyway, you can mount it without UUID, just with the /dev/ path, this is lien from my fstab:

/dev/sda1 /home ntfs-3g defaults,uid=1000,gid=100,umask=0027  0 0

I am personally using this way because I never succeeded even in booting from freshly installed Arch using UUID mounting. Tried on 3 computers now. Wonť you say there is something broken here? I guess problem seems to be in the fact the UUID stuff is reachable after the kernell loads or something like that. Maybe missing module or what. Anyway, this should work automatically at least during installation process, no? Will probably make my own thread when I'll be installing Arch next time somewhere…

Inxsible · 2011-07-07 15:58:36

Behemot wrote:

Tried on 3 computers now. Wonť you say there is something broken here?

Not really. I use UUIDs and I haven't had a single problem. Its probably something that you missed or used the wrong UUID. Could be just about anything.

Behemot · 2011-07-07 16:26:13

I did not change anything, just followed the installation process which is pretty automatic. As I said, will open my own thread next time I'll try this again :-)

rg_arc · 2011-07-08 04:43:44

thanks for the suggestions I will look through each one thoroughly before I make a decision on what I want to do for auto mounting. I know my partitioning scheme is flawed to some degree and I have already decided to re-install arch linux again reformatting the appropriate partitions so that arch linux is primary again. Its currently on an extended/logical partition which is causing some problems for sure. So I deleted Ubuntu which is where the primary partition was located before and then I am going to re-install and put in my backed up info for arch linux. Hopefully after that I can re-arrange things accordingly and I can use this thread for further tweaking.

I do want to make the internal hard drive to auto mount but I don't want it to be automatically loaded as soon as I turn the computer on... I just need to change the permissions or something to make it work like I want it to.

Thanks, and any further information on this would be great. I am also curious about the thread you want to start Behemot

Mr.Elendig · 2011-07-08 14:01:41

rg_arc wrote:

I can't actually find out what the UUID of the windows partition is...blkid won't actually give me any info on it.
I have ntfs-3g installed though

The Wiki wrote:

By-uuid
UUID is a mechanism to give each filesystem a unique identifier. It is designed so that collisions are unlikely. All GNU/Linux filesystems (including swap) support UUID. FAT and NTFS filesystems do not support UUID, but are still listed in /dev/disk/by-uuid with a unique identifier:
$ ls -lF /dev/disk/by-uuid/
total 0
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 2d781b26-0285-421a-b9d0-d4a0d3b55680 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 31f8eb0d-612b-4805-835e-0e6d8b8c5591 -> ../../sda7
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 3FC2-3DDB -> ../../sda6
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 5090093f-e023-4a93-b2b6-8a9568dd23dc -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 912c7844-5430-4eea-b55c-e23f8959a8ee -> ../../sda5
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 B0DC1977DC193954 -> ../../sdb1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Oct 16 10:27 bae98338-ec29-4beb-aacf-107e44599b2e -> ../../sdb2
As you can see, the FAT and NTFS partitions (fat and windows labels above) have shorter names, but are still listed. The advantage about using the UUID method is that it is less likely that you have name collisions than with labels. The disadvantage is that UUIDs lose any readability advantage.

rb_arc wrote:

I do want to make the internal hard drive to auto mount but I don't want it to be automatically loaded as soon as I turn the computer on...

Why? Imo that's just silly, but if you really want to, just change the polkit settings to allow you to mount the partion.

Last edited by Mr.Elendig (2011-07-08 14:05:18)

rg_arc · 2011-07-08 14:04:21

AH! I should have seen that earlier... thanks!

stryder · 2011-07-09 01:13:57

AFAIK having arch in a logical partition is not a problem. Unless you can access sda2 in some other os easily I suggest you back up your data and check that partition. To mount as user you can use Thunar with gvfs and dbus and remove the fstab entry for this partition.

jorel1981 · 2011-07-09 01:21:22

Hi, if u r using Gnome u can do what says in the following article from the wiki.

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GN … n_Nautilus

Hope that's helps...

rg_arc · 2011-07-15 05:17:34

thanks jorel1981, that was the article I have been searching for.

jorel1981 · 2011-08-01 03:42:18

Glad to help... don't forget to add [Solved] to the subject of this topic.

Greetings!

Arch Linux

#1 2011-07-07 12:28:58

Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#2 2011-07-07 13:27:36

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#3 2011-07-07 13:38:59

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#4 2011-07-07 13:48:16

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#5 2011-07-07 14:02:12

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#6 2011-07-07 14:05:52

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#7 2011-07-07 14:09:32

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#8 2011-07-07 14:17:17

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#9 2011-07-07 14:25:36

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#10 2011-07-07 14:31:42

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#11 2011-07-07 14:44:37

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#12 2011-07-07 15:01:18

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#13 2011-07-07 15:05:37

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#14 2011-07-07 15:43:11

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#15 2011-07-07 15:58:36

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#16 2011-07-07 16:26:13

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#17 2011-07-08 04:43:44

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#18 2011-07-08 14:01:41

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#19 2011-07-08 14:04:21

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#20 2011-07-09 01:13:57

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#21 2011-07-09 01:21:22

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#22 2011-07-15 05:17:34

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

#23 2011-08-01 03:42:18

Re: Mounting an ntfs filesystem without administrative password/root priv

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