iPod won't remount unless I reboot

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-08-2008, 06:54 PM

I have an iPod Shuffle that I manage through Amarok. I can mount the device and transfer just fine, and the disconnect is successful, but even after manually unmounting the device, the next time I connect it, it will not mount. The automount hangs, and if I cancel it and try to mount it manually, I get the message "mount: special device /dev/sda does not exist"; however, it does seem to be charging even so.

So, how do I get my iPod to remount without rebooting every time?

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-08-2008, 07:06 PM

Update: I just rebooted without the iPod plugged in, and it also will not mount if it is not already plugged in at boot time.

C-Sniper · 06-08-2008, 08:07 PM

do you have access to it through the plugdev group (/etc/groups)

hitest · 06-08-2008, 09:52 PM

As C-Sniper said fire-up a text editor and take a look at /etc/group.

For example:

# nano /etc/group

Add your regular user to the following groups: plugdev, audio, video, cdrom, and floppy

Ctrl+o (save)
Ctrl+x (exit nano)

T3slider · 06-08-2008, 10:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitest

For example:

# nano /etc/group

Add your regular user to the following groups: plugdev, audio, video, cdrom, and floppy

Ctrl+o (save)
Ctrl+x (exit nano)

Or, if you don't want to manually edit /etc/group, you can just do the following as root:

Code:

# gpasswd -a username plugdev
# gpasswd -a username cdrom
# gpasswd -a username audio
# gpasswd -a username video
# gpasswd -a username floppy

Or just add your user to those secondary groups when you create the user using `adduser` instead of `useradd`. In 12.1 it even suggests pressing the UP arrow to see the recommended groups.

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-09-2008, 12:01 AM

Okay, I did that (the only group I wasn't already in was plugdev) and the automount still hung. When I canceled it, then tried to mount it manually, I got the message that it was already mounted and a cat /etc/mtab showed it in there. Then I tried to look at /media in Konqueror and that crashed X completely.

Rebooted for good measure, and... same thing.

Code:

bash-3.1# mount -t vfat /dev/sda /media/ipod
mount: /dev/sda already mounted or /media/ipod busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/sda is already mounted on /media/ipod
bash-3.1# cat /etc/mtab
/dev/hda1 / ext3 rw 0 0
proc /proc proc rw 0 0 
sysfs /sys sysfs rw 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs rw 0 0
/dev/hda2 /hd ext3 rw 0 0
/dev/hda3 /home ext3 rw 0 0
/dev/hdd1 /ntfs fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,blksize=4096 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0
/dev/sda /media/ipod vfat rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev 0 0

It does show that it's mounted, but it's not accessible through X (it just now occurred to me to try to browse it in Terminal, and Terminal doesn't have a problem).

I don't know if this makes any difference, but I can mount and unmount as much as I want, and as long as I don't physically remove the iPod from its cradle, and it was plugged in when I booted, KDE doesn't have any problem. The problem occurs after I've removed the iPod (or it wasn't plugged in at boot) and want to plug it back in to charge/resync. At that time, if I try to access the iPod from within X, KDE goes down in flames.

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-09-2008, 01:39 AM

Clarification: Obviously, it is actually re-mounting. However, Konqueror either won't open at all, or crashes when I try to open it (taking the rest of KDE with it), and Amarok crashes when I try to detect the iPod. I can see the iPod's contents just fine in a terminal emulator, or in Thunar... and in gtkpod, for that matter, but I don't like gtkpod, and would prefer not to have to use a special app just for syncing (I didn't like iTunes either, and only ever used it for syncing).

hitest · 06-09-2008, 09:38 AM

Just to clarify things. Is this behaviour happening in Slackware 12.1 or Zenwalk 5? Both? Very interesting.

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-10-2008, 06:03 PM

Slackware 12.1. I haven't tried it in Zenwalk because there's no music on that machine. Also, it's running Xfce rather than KDE, and I think it's probably KDE that's causing the problem here.

I'll try it though, and see what happens.

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-11-2008, 08:33 PM

Confirmed. No problem at all unmounting and remounting the iPod in Zenwalk 5 with Xfce.

hitest · 06-11-2008, 10:51 PM

How does your ipod work with XFce in Slackware 12.1? Same as KDE? Does it crash with XFce on Slackware 12.1?

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-15-2008, 01:53 PM

Xfce doesn't seem to have any problems even in Slackware 12.1. I can unmount, unplug, and plug back in, and it automounts normally and doesn't seem to cause any problems. It's just KDE.

Vermilion Sparrow · 06-15-2008, 02:10 PM

No, wait. I just tested it again after actually using Amarok and it does the same thing in Xfce (automount hangs, Amarok crashes). So maybe it's Amarok causing all the problems.

Which is a shame, really, as it's the closest thing I've found to having all the features I like.