mounting a 2nd drive through linux

Timmy_j · 10-17-2006, 03:37 AM

Hey guys
a while ago i installed lunx ubuntu on my 2nd harddrive, i run windows xp on the other.
When i start up in ubuntu and view the computer files and directories,
im able to see my my windows drive, but im not able to access it.
I get the following error:

unable to mount the selectd drive
error: device /dev/hda1 is not removable

error: could not execute pmount

is there a way to access all my windows files and folders through my linux drive, or is it just not compatible??

any help or suggestions would be great

**Bartender** · 10-17-2006, 07:36 AM

Timmy -
I'm not much good at Linux, but maybe we can make something happen. Do you have ready access to a terminal?
Tell you what I did - I clicked on Applications>Accessories and found the Terminal icon. Grab that, and drag it to your desktop. Now you have an icon.
Right-click on that icon, click on "Stretch Icon" and squish the icon down a little bit. They're kinda huge by default. This is optional of course

Now left-click on terminal. Terminal opens, and you get a funny-looking little line that ends with a dollar sign.
Type in 'cat /etc/fstab' from where the cursor is setting. That's without the quotes, and one space between 'cat' & '/etc/fstab'. Then hit enter key. Can you transfer that info to a post?
If nothing happens when you type that in, try 'sudo cat /etc/fstab' One space between 'sudo' & 'cat' and another between 'cat' & '/etc/fstab' like before. You'll be asked for your password. Enter that, and click the enter key.

Need to see what your mount points are. Unless the drives have mount points in fstab you'll get error messages such as you describe.

And, yes, you can see your Windows files. However, writing to NTFS from within Linux is still problematic. What lots of people do is create another partition that's formatted as FAT32. That partition acts as a trading post between the two camps.

OK, I have another terminal command that I think will help diagnose what's going on. Not sure. Somebody smarter will come along and help us.

Type in 'sudo fdisk -l' Spaces between 'sudo', 'fdisk', & '-l'. That's a small "L" at the end, not a 'one'. This asks Linux to list all partitions. Please transfer that to the post also.
I'm pretty sure all that's happened is that the Windows partition does not have a specific mount point. If so, this should be a relatively easy fix.

**Bartender** · 10-17-2006, 08:02 AM

Hey, i was just over at the ubuntu Forums and this caught my eye - I haven't tried it and didn't know such a feature was available. I'm definitely gonna try this soon as I've been attempting to multi-boot 2 or 3 Linux OS'es. Can you go online for the script they describe right at the beginning of the guide? If you're online with Ubuntu you can just copy/paste the terminal commands right into the terminal (one at a time!) and click Enter.
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Au...242b3d7f45a06d

Good luck

Timmy_j · 10-18-2006, 12:16 AM

okay i did what u said with the cat /etc/fstab and this is the following info that i got:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hdb1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hdb5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0

hope this is what ur looking for.
So i understand from ur previous post that i cant write and copy data form linux onto my windows drive, is that right??
if thats not possible, am i still able to open up my files and listen to my music for example??

Timmy_j · 10-18-2006, 01:05 AM

okay yeah i followed the steps from that site you said, and it worked better than i hoped,
i suggest doing it the manual way , as i tried the other one and it didnt work for me.
It also took a while to find the folder they were talking about, but once i found it i just made a bookmark of it so i can easily access it.
I can now access all my folders and files, even the program files, which are on my windows drive,
thanks heaps

**Bartender** · 10-18-2006, 03:58 AM

Alright!
I'm glad to hear you took the bull by the horns and fixed the problem. Do you have a printer working on the Linux side yet? Print out your /etc/fstab, /boot/grub/menu.lst, and whatever other things you delve into and save them in a binder. Will probly come in handy some day.

Timmy_j · 10-18-2006, 11:09 PM

hmm i havent tried printing yet, cause im connected to a network.
the problem ive found with accessing ur windows dirve, is even though all the files are there, some u cant play or access because linux hasnt got the porgrams to run them yet.
for exmple, for some reason i cannot play any of my music files, even though i have like 5 different media players for linux.

**Bartender** · 10-19-2006, 04:51 AM

I never thought about that - playing your music files from your Windows HDD via Linux. Of course, there's a lot of Linux stuff I've never thought about. Can you try copying one of those music files onto a thumb drive or a CD, then start up Linux and access the file directly?
Take a look at this thread, OK?

10-17-2006, 03:37 AM	#1 (permalink)
Timmy_j Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 120 OS: Windows Vista Premium My System	mounting a 2nd drive through linux Hey guys a while ago i installed lunx ubuntu on my 2nd harddrive, i run windows xp on the other. When i start up in ubuntu and view the computer files and directories, im able to see my my windows drive, but im not able to access it. I get the following error: unable to mount the selectd drive error: device /dev/hda1 is not removable error: could not execute pmount is there a way to access all my windows files and folders through my linux drive, or is it just not compatible?? any help or suggestions would be great __________________ Well... At least when computers stuff up thier consistent about it...

10-18-2006, 12:16 AM	#4 (permalink)
Timmy_j Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 120 OS: Windows Vista Premium My System	okay i did what u said with the cat /etc/fstab and this is the following info that i got: # /etc/fstab: static file system information. # # <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass> proc /proc proc defaults 0 0 /dev/hdb1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1 /dev/hdb5 none swap sw 0 0 /dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0 hope this is what ur looking for. So i understand from ur previous post that i cant write and copy data form linux onto my windows drive, is that right?? if thats not possible, am i still able to open up my files and listen to my music for example?? __________________ Well... At least when computers stuff up thier consistent about it...

10-18-2006, 01:05 AM	#5 (permalink)
Timmy_j Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 120 OS: Windows Vista Premium My System	okay yeah i followed the steps from that site you said, and it worked better than i hoped, i suggest doing it the manual way , as i tried the other one and it didnt work for me. It also took a while to find the folder they were talking about, but once i found it i just made a bookmark of it so i can easily access it. I can now access all my folders and files, even the program files, which are on my windows drive, thanks heaps __________________ Well... At least when computers stuff up thier consistent about it...

10-18-2006, 11:09 PM	#7 (permalink)
Timmy_j Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 120 OS: Windows Vista Premium My System	hmm i havent tried printing yet, cause im connected to a network. the problem ive found with accessing ur windows dirve, is even though all the files are there, some u cant play or access because linux hasnt got the porgrams to run them yet. for exmple, for some reason i cannot play any of my music files, even though i have like 5 different media players for linux. __________________ Well... At least when computers stuff up thier consistent about it...

10-17-2006, 07:36 AM	#2 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,035 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Timmy - I'm not much good at Linux, but maybe we can make something happen. Do you have ready access to a terminal? Tell you what I did - I clicked on Applications>Accessories and found the Terminal icon. Grab that, and drag it to your desktop. Now you have an icon. Right-click on that icon, click on "Stretch Icon" and squish the icon down a little bit. They're kinda huge by default. This is optional of course Now left-click on terminal. Terminal opens, and you get a funny-looking little line that ends with a dollar sign. Type in 'cat /etc/fstab' from where the cursor is setting. That's without the quotes, and one space between 'cat' & '/etc/fstab'. Then hit enter key. Can you transfer that info to a post? If nothing happens when you type that in, try 'sudo cat /etc/fstab' One space between 'sudo' & 'cat' and another between 'cat' & '/etc/fstab' like before. You'll be asked for your password. Enter that, and click the enter key. Need to see what your mount points are. Unless the drives have mount points in fstab you'll get error messages such as you describe. And, yes, you can see your Windows files. However, writing to NTFS from within Linux is still problematic. What lots of people do is create another partition that's formatted as FAT32. That partition acts as a trading post between the two camps. OK, I have another terminal command that I think will help diagnose what's going on. Not sure. Somebody smarter will come along and help us. Type in 'sudo fdisk -l' Spaces between 'sudo', 'fdisk', & '-l'. That's a small "L" at the end, not a 'one'. This asks Linux to list all partitions. Please transfer that to the post also. I'm pretty sure all that's happened is that the Windows partition does not have a specific mount point. If so, this should be a relatively easy fix.

10-17-2006, 08:02 AM	#3 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,035 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Hey, i was just over at the ubuntu Forums and this caught my eye - I haven't tried it and didn't know such a feature was available. I'm definitely gonna try this soon as I've been attempting to multi-boot 2 or 3 Linux OS'es. Can you go online for the script they describe right at the beginning of the guide? If you're online with Ubuntu you can just copy/paste the terminal commands right into the terminal (one at a time!) and click Enter. https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Au...242b3d7f45a06d Good luck

10-18-2006, 03:58 AM	#6 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,035 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Alright! I'm glad to hear you took the bull by the horns and fixed the problem. Do you have a printer working on the Linux side yet? Print out your /etc/fstab, /boot/grub/menu.lst, and whatever other things you delve into and save them in a binder. Will probly come in handy some day.

10-19-2006, 04:51 AM	#8 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,035 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	I never thought about that - playing your music files from your Windows HDD via Linux. Of course, there's a lot of Linux stuff I've never thought about. Can you try copying one of those music files onto a thumb drive or a CD, then start up Linux and access the file directly? Take a look at this thread, OK?