Mounting More then 1 drive

I can't seem to get my drives to mount on any other mounting point other then /mnt/windows.

I am trying to say data from a dieing HD. Am trying to mount both drives then copy all of the files off the bad HD on the the good one.

But I know very little about Linux.

You do not tell us which linux distro you are using .
But a mount command can be as a example : mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/cdrom
This command connect the partition sda1 to the directory cdrom
Mostly you neat to root to use the mount command

Hello, welcome to LQ.

You need first to know what is the name of your dying HD, as given by the kernel.

I suppose it is an USB one. So launch a terminal and become root (with the command 'su', or 'sudo su' if you use Ubuntu)

Then plug your HD, wait a few seconds for it to sync, then type 'dmesg|tail'

You'll see, for instance a line with 'sdb: sdb1'

Then issue for instance the command 'mount -t auto /dev/sdb1 /mnt' if you want to use the /mnt mount point.

Adapt accordingly if your drive has another name or if you want to use another mount point.

Originally Posted by Didier Spaier Hello, welcome to LQ. You need first to know what is the name of your dying HD, as given by the kernel. I suppose it is an USB one. So launch a terminal and become root (with the command 'su', or 'sudo su' if you use Ubuntu) Then plug your HD, wait a few seconds for it to sync, then type 'dmesg|tail' You'll see, for instance a line with 'sdb: sdb1' Then issue for instance the command 'mount -t auto /dev/sdb1 /mnt' if you want to use the /mnt mount point. Adapt accordingly if your drive has another name or if you want to use another mount point.

I am using System Rescue (not sure what Linux that is). I have been using ntfs-3g -o force command.

The 2 drives:

bad drive
/dev/sdc2

Good drive (usb)
/dev/sdb1

I guess I really don't understand the mounting points. I made a folder called backup on the good drive and am trying to mount that so i can just:
cp * /mnt/windows (the bad drive so i can copy all of it) /mnt/backup

But on either drive i can only mount using the mounting point /mnt/windows. Anything says it can't find that directory.

so i can't run the command.

cp * /mnt/windows /mnt/windows that will not help me....am so lost please help!

As root create a folder with

mkdir -p /mnt/good

then mount the good drive to that using

mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/good

then make sure the bad drive is mounted to /mnt/windows with

ls -l /mnt/windows

if you don't get any output with that then you need to mount the bad drive with

mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt/windows

if you see your output, you can continue with

cp * -R /mnt/windows /mnt/good

and you should be golden

Originally Posted by sean.ferguson As root create a folder with mkdir -p /mnt/good then mount the good drive to that using mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/good then make sure the bad drive is mounted to /mnt/windows with ls -l /mnt/windows if you don't get any output with that then you need to mount the bad drive with mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt/windows if you see your output, you can continue with cp * -R /mnt/windows /mnt/good and you should be golden

Thanks for that. When I do it it says can't create directory Read-Only file system. How can I change the setting on the good usb drive to allow me to write the data to it?

Originally Posted by Sylo Thanks for that. When I do it it says can't create directory Read-Only file system. How can I change the setting on the good usb drive to allow me to write the data to it?

Well after some searching around I found that I wasn't mounting the good drive with write access. So I was able to do that and I went to copy the files I wanted...got part way through the copy and the clicking noise from the bad drive starts. So I think am SoL'd on this drive.

Unless you guys know of any other way I can pull this data.

Sylo,

Have you tried putting the hard drive in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer for the night. Its not a sure fire way to fix a dying drive, but it does prove worthy in some cases. Also, try copying over only a directory at a time rather than everything all at once and putting alot of strain on an already failing drive

Originally Posted by sean.ferguson Sylo, Have you tried putting the hard drive in a ziplock bag and then into the freezer for the night. Its not a sure fire way to fix a dying drive, but it does prove worthy in some cases. Also, try copying over only a directory at a time rather than everything all at once and putting alot of strain on an already failing drive

Yeah I tried that too. Nothing. All I was trying to save was pictures. But no go....

O well.....