USB hdd not accessible... [SOLVED]

[Bald Brick]

Hi

The joy did not last for long.    At the next boot still the same. So a new install and not a fully upgrade, because it ruins my system so that I can not use my usb-hdd. About 14 days ago everything worked just splendidly and I had update-notifier running and updated as soon as I could. I am pretty sure that it has something to do with ntfs-3g.
Reading the forum it looks like it causes trouble. For now everything works fine but without update.

OW  

Have you tried installing and upgrading without running ntfs-config or any other program that is likely to modify your system settings? If your problems still persist after that it would at least eliminate lots of possible causes.

On the other hand, while ntfs-config seems to be a likely culprit, there are some entries in the last /etc/fstab you posted that may point to something else. That fstab is not really relevant anymore as you have reinstalled, but it was not syntactically correct, and some of the mistakes were not of the kind that ntfs-config would be likely to produce. They look like typos: "1  1" was written as "11", "1  2" as "12", and "0  0" twice as "00".

I don't see how these mistakes could have given rise to the precise problem you are experiencing, but where did they come from?

I think we should try a few changes to your settings, but only one at a time.

What does your new /etc/fstab look like?

[OleWilly]

Hi

I have tried in the beginning of my problem. I.e I started ntfs-3g config after the problem occurred. But I have not tried to uninstall ntfs-3g totally. I will try that next.
Here the fstab:

[ole@localhost ~]$ cat /etc/fstab
# Entry for /dev/sda5 :
UUID=8864592a-6307-4d7d-af63-d97d3c7e4dc4 / ext3 defaults 1 1
# Entry for /dev/sda7 :
UUID=4e3df53a-0042-49d2-a580-2d42abf47777 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# Entry for /dev/sda6 :
UUID=a37fec86-22b1-481a-ac75-49fc4c6f5562 swap swap defaults 0 0
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0
[ole@localhost ~]$

I have not made a fully update on this system yet. I try to pick things from the repository that I remember could run in fully updated system. But with this procedure there are programs, plug-ins that I can not get going.

OW

[OleWilly]

Hi

I updated my system fully, and then removed ntfs, rebooted and powered on my usb hdd and I could access it, and see everything. But I can not write to it.

ow

[Bald Brick]

Hi

I updated my system fully, and then removed ntfs, rebooted and powered on my usb hdd and I could access it, and see everything. But I can not write to it.

ow

Can you post the contents of your /media/.hal-mtab when usb drive is mounted (i.e. after you have accessed it)? That will tell us exactly how it's mounted.

Unfortunately I don't know much about changing the settings for HAL -- although I've noticed that some tweaking (from the GUI) is much easier in KDE4 than in KDE3. So because of the limits to what I know, I suggest that the next step would be giving your drive a permanent mountpoint and an entry in /etc/fstab -- starting with a much simpler one than anything written by ntfs-config. (But before that: cat /media/.hal-mtab.)

I'll browse some documentation files in the meantime.

[OleWilly]

Hi

Here it is:

[ole@localhost ~]$ cat /media/.hal-mtab
/dev/sdb1       500     0       ntfs    nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal,uid=500,utf8   /media/Iomega HDD
[ole@localhost ~]$

I tried to reinstall ntfs-3g and I was back to the situation where some folders were empty which they are not I can see the content in Windows XP.

So I removed ntfs-3g again.

OW

[OleWilly]

I have another box which worked splendidly when I set it aside. I will try to power that on and see if the troubles are caused by an update. That will be  my next try. 

OW

[Bald Brick]

I tried to reinstall ntfs-3g and I was back to the situation where some folders were empty which they are not I can see the content in Windows XP.

So I removed ntfs-3g again.

Well, without the ntfs-3g package installed an ntfs partition won't be writable.

When you earlier talked about removing ntfs I thought you meant ntfs-config, which is not necessary. (We should be able to add an entry to /etc/fstab by hand instead.)

I take it that the /media/.hal-mtab you posted is from when you did not have ntfs-3g installed?

The main question is still what makes your folders invisible. The interesting thing is that (if I've understood your earlier posts) they are visible when the drive/partition is mounted as ntfs, and invisible  when it is mounted as ntfs-3g. But having ntfs-3g installed will not in itself make them seem empty.

I have another box which worked splendidly when I set it aside. I will try to power that on and see if the troubles are caused by an update. That will be  my next try.  

Good idea.

I'll do some googling.

[Bald Brick]

First of all, I'd check the integrity of the drive. If you have the package ntfsprogs installed, run

Code: [Select]

ntfsfix /dev/sdb1on the unmounted partition. I.e. don't try to access it before running the command, and if you have, umount it first. (I hope the partition is still sdb1 -- the device name has changed a few times.)

Then, with the drive attached, boot into Windows.

ntfsfix will fix some problems that may be caused by Linux, but will also schedule a check for the next boot into Windows. In other words, it will leave most of the fixing to Windows.

After that, I think we should try mounting the partition manually at a temporary mountpoint. But one thing at a time.

[OleWilly]

[root@localhost ole]# ntfsfix /dev/sdb1
Mounting volume... OK
Processing of $MFT and $MFTMirr completed successfully.
NTFS volume version is 3.1.
NTFS partition /dev/sdb1 was processed successfully.
[root@localhost ole]#

..that is without ntfs-3g installed.

OW

[OleWilly]

Hi blackbird

Then I booted into Windows and a test was performed. I booted into PCLinuxOS and installed ntfs-3g again. Accessed the usb hd and I could see everything. I will reboot and see if it holds.

[OleWilly]

Hi

And it did not hold. After reboot I am back to the old condition.   Some folders are reported as empty and they are not.
Thank You for all help.  

OW  



 
 

[OleWilly]

Hi

Now have powered up another pc compaq 2.6 MHz cpu and 2 Gb ram. I have dual boot on this one and it is running just fine. I can easily use my usb hdd. - There are 217 updates waiting for me. But I am in a bit of dilemma whether to upgrade or not because I do not know how to downgrade if my usb hdd becomes unuseable again. But I guess I have to do it to roll along.

OW

[ElCuervo]

Now have powered up another pc compaq 2.6 MHz cpu and 2 Gb ram. I have dual boot on this one and it is running just fine. I can easily use my usb hdd. - There are 217 updates waiting for me. But I am in a bit of dilemma whether to upgrade or not because I do not know how to downgrade if my usb hdd becomes unuseable again. But I guess I have to do it to roll along.

Don't worry, OleWilly, go ahead and make the leap! Someone will be there to catch you!

[OleWilly]

Hi

I said to myself: ' Come on .. be a sport, but I should not have been ..'     Now I face the same problem. Some folders are being reported as empty which they are not ! So I do not know how to get this working all right.

OW

[Bald Brick]

Hi

I said to myself: ' Come on .. be a sport, but I should not have been ..'     Now I face the same problem. Some folders are being reported as empty which they are not ! So I do not know how to get this working all right.

OW

Hi, OleWilly,

A thought suddenly struck me: do the misbehaving folders contain many files with Danish characters in their names? That might at least make those files invisible if your system isn't set up correctly.

(But for all files to disappear you'd have to use very long file names, and even then it wouldn't be likely if you're running Linux.)