Trouble writing to a second ext3 partition

Tomermory · 05-07-2007, 05:18 AM

Hello

I've recently changed my Linux distribution to Ubuntu Feisty Fawn.

I have partitioned my disk as follows:
hda1: swap
hda2: ext3
hda3: ext3 (/)

As you can see, there is no Windows on this computer!

I created hda2 to hold my documents so that, should I need to re-install Ubuntu, all my documents will remain on the computer. Trouble is, I cannot write to this partition (which is properly mounted). I have found instructions on how to change the permissions on an NTFS partition on dual Linux/Windows systems, but I'm not sure if the procedure is exactly the same for an ext3 partition. Can anyone advise me on this?

Thanks very much in advance.

jay73 · 05-07-2007, 05:41 AM

If I understand correctly, hda2 is not /home? /home is still on hda3?

If so you can do this:
cd to the directory where hda2 is mounted:
for example, if it's called "docs":
cd /docs
now give yourself full permissions:
chown (username) *
(this has to be done as root)

Note: it would have been a lot easier if you had just told the installer to use hda2 as your /home. After all, it is perfectly possible to reinstall without touching /home.

carl0ski · 05-07-2007, 06:21 AM

you never mentioned where hda3 is mounted

open the drive in Nautlis right click and Properties> Permissions >

are you the user with full write access?

Tomermory · 05-08-2007, 03:05 AM

Thanks for your replies.

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I cd a hard drive? When I try with my usual method (ie, typing cd and dragging the folder into the terminal) I get nonsense:

Code:

james@james-desktop:~$ cd x-nautilus-desktop:///10.6%20GB%20Volume.volume 
bash: cd: x-nautilus-desktop:///10.6%20GB%20Volume.volume: No such file or directory

Yes, you were write about my home being on hda3. The reason I did this was becasue that because I'm still experimenting with Linux and testing different distributions. If I decide to try something else, I can do so and not have to copy all my documents back onto the computer. If I put /home on another partition, this wouldn't be possible (I think).

When I look at the drive in Nautilis, I see that I cannot do anything with this drive.

carl0ski · 05-08-2007, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomermory

Thanks for your replies.

Excuse my ignorance, but how do I cd a hard drive? When I try with my usual method (ie, typing cd and dragging the folder into the terminal) I get nonsense:

Code:

james@james-desktop:~$ cd x-nautilus-desktop:///10.6%20GB%20Volume.volume 
bash: cd: x-nautilus-desktop:///10.6%20GB%20Volume.volume: No such file or directory

Yes, you were write about my home being on hda3. The reason I did this was becasue that because I'm still experimenting with Linux and testing different distributions. If I decide to try something else, I can do so and not have to copy all my documents back onto the computer. If I put /home on another partition, this wouldn't be possible (I think).

When I look at the drive in Nautilis, I see that I cannot do anything with this drive.

Hi
foremost just to set my mind at ease open
Gnome Terminal from the Application>Accessories Menu
once loaded type :
mount

should look somthing like this and look for /dev/hda2

Code:

/dev/sda4 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
/dev/sda3 on /home type ext3 (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /media/suse type ext3 (rw)

if /dev/hda2 is not shown in above it hasn't mounted correctly

(rw) means read write ro means read only which we dont want.

Side note cd mean change directory
if you dont know what that means dont worry you dont really need it.
Windows starts at My Computer
ubuntu &Linux starts with / (root)

/ just simply means equivilent to My Computer in a terminal

Tomermory · 05-09-2007, 12:52 AM

OK, it looks like it's mounted correctly and that it should have write permissions:

Code:

james@james-desktop:~$ mount
/dev/hda3 on / type ext3 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
procbususb on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devshm on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.20-15-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/hda2 on /media/hda2 type ext3 (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)

Tomermory · 05-12-2007, 04:22 AM

OK, found out how to do it after studying a bit of Linux theory. The key for me was the little motto that keeps popping up that goes something like in Linux everything is a file. When I thought about that a while, I realised where I had gone wrong. Up to that point, I didn't think of hda2 as having being a file somewhere. I found it in /media, and simply entered the following command in a terminal:

sudo chmod 0777 /media/hda2

Hey presto, I now have write permissions!