FC5 won't mount ext3 FS automatically after boot

tuntsfaah · 05-25-2006, 03:24 PM

I have a USB HDD, and I want to all users to have r/w access to it.
I format this drive to EXT3 FS (ID 83 or 8e), editted the /etc/fstab file. However, I can't get the drive to automactically mount after boot and if I mount it manually, I have no write access to it as a regular user.

fstab line is like this:
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb default,umask=000 0 0

Where did I go wrong?
Is there another file I should configure for EXT3 FS to be ounted at boot?

michaelk · 05-25-2006, 07:20 PM

Your fstab line has several mistakes unless what you posted has typos.

No filesystem type specified.
Should be defaults not default.
umask option not necessary for ext3 partition.

inescapeableus · 05-25-2006, 07:27 PM

To build on what michaelk replied, I would add automount in your options

tuntsfaah · 05-26-2006, 01:14 AM

/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb ext3 automount,defaults 0 0

Is that the way I should have it, in order to have it mount automatically at boot?

I tried the line above but it doesn't work, I have to mount it manually.
Moreover, I still can't write to it as a regular user only as root.
The drive is also saying that I have only a GB of space free out of a 250 GB HDD, and I haven't used it as yet.

I need steps from partitioning and formatting the drive to mounting it.

michaelk · 05-26-2006, 11:25 AM

The default is to mount at boot. The correct syntax for mounting at boot is auto not automount.

/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb ext3 defaults 0 0

Make sure the permissions on the /mnt/usb directory is set to read/write by all.
Use the chmod command to change permissions.
chmod 777 /mnt/usb

tuntsfaah · 05-26-2006, 11:50 AM

/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb ext3 auto,defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 /mnt/usb ext3 defaults 0 0

I tried these two and either still don't mount at boot.
I guess my system is messed up

michaelk · 05-26-2006, 02:08 PM

My fault.... Your system is not messed up. Typically modules are not loaded until after the OS mounts filesystems via the fstab file which is why the drive is not mounted. The simplest fix is to add a command to mount the drive ub the /etc/rc.local file. This is the last file to run at boot independent of run level. A slightly harder fix would be to add the USB modules to the initial ramdisk (initrd).

tuntsfaah · 06-05-2006, 01:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by michaelk

My fault.... Your system is not messed up. Typically modules are not loaded until after the OS mounts filesystems via the fstab file which is why the drive is not mounted. The simplest fix is to add a command to mount the drive ub the /etc/rc.local file. This is the last file to run at boot independent of run level. A slightly harder fix would be to add the USB modules to the initial ramdisk (initrd).

So what should the line in both files be?
Does someone have an example of these files?

michaelk · 06-05-2006, 06:54 AM

Add this line to the /etc/rc.local file
mount -t ext3 /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb

n926bb · 06-07-2006, 02:22 PM

I had problems automounting similar to yours, they were related to SELinux. See my thread "fstab will not mount partitions" Posted by me, n926bb. One quick test for you to do is to disable SELinux, to do this: System > Administration > Security Level and FireWall > SELinux > SELinux Setting: Disable > OK } If with SELinux disabled fstab will mount your drive, experiment changing the security context of the file where you are mounting the drive (read my thread).

Good luck