Accessing debian partition in kubuntu and viceversa

kamesh419 · 12-19-2005, 07:40 AM

Dear all,

I would like to know how I can access my Debian partition in kubuntu and viceversa. What are the parameters that I needed to know to perform this and how.

Initially I have installed Debian on a windows laptop by making a partition and the debian installer did not recognize the windows partition. I have written the grub on the Master Boot Record. Then I wanted to try out kubuntu. I have erased my windows partition and have installed kubuntu on that. Now I can access both Debian and Kubuntu through grub.

Now I would like to access the partition of Debian on Kubuntu and viceversa. I would be greatful if you could help this newbie in this.

Thanks and Regards,
Kamesh.

PTrenholme · 12-19-2005, 08:53 AM

It should be relatively easy to do what you want.

You need to know the partition location(s) and the format of the the file system on each partition. Then you modify /etc/fstab (as root, of course) to make that information available to your system. Once this has been done (on each of your systems), the file system will be mutually available.

For example, part of my /etc/fstab looks like this:

Code:

#Added by hand
/dev/hdb2		/mnt/fc4_boot		ext3	defaults 1 2
/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 /mnt/fc4		ext3	defaults 1 1

which allows my FC3 backup system to access my FC4 file systems. (The second entry references the VolGroup device because I use LVM on the FC4 system.)

Note that I've created the two /mnt mount points (/fc4_boot and /fc4) with the mkdir command (again, as root) referenced in the fstab entry.

Oh, the simple way to see what you need to reference "system A"'s files system in "system B" is to copy down the fstab information in "system A" and add it to "system B"'s fstab, changing the mount point to whatever you decide to use (like the /mnt/fc4 in the second line, above).

stimpsonjcat · 12-19-2005, 09:18 AM

in a terminal, type:

Code:

sudo fdisk -l

this will list your partitions and show their device names (/dev/hdXY). find your debian partition and remember its name.

create a mount point (a directory) for your debian partition:

Code:

sudo mkdir /mnt/debianpartition

make sure it is read/writable by you:

Code:

sudo chown yourusername:yourusername /mnt/debianpartition

now you can mount your partition with the mount command (see man mount) or if you want it to be automatically mounted on boot, edit your /etc/fstab file:

Code:

sudo gedit fstab

add a line similar to this (man fstab will help you determine the correct values for your system):

Code:

/dev/hdXY      /mnt/debianpartition    ext3    users,rw   0  0

hope this helps
stimpy

kamesh419 · 12-19-2005, 10:39 AM

Thanks a lot PTrenholme and Stimpy for the replies. They worked like a charm. Now I am able to access both the partitions.

Thanks and Regards,
Kamesh.