After upgrading to Ubuntu 9.10 external USB drive won't auto mount
 

Hello everyone.

I upgraded Ubuntu 9.04 to 9.10 desktop a few weeks ago and an external USB drive that was mounting at startup on 9.04 is no longer mounting on 9.10. If I unplug the USB cable and plug it back in it comes up. The issue is strange in that when a regular non-admin logs in the drive auto mounts but does not for an admin login. I have not been able to put together search results that would lead me to a hint of why this would occur and/or what a resolution may be.

Why would the drive auto mount when a regular user logs in but not auto mount for an admin? When I say admin I guess what I mean is a user with more privileges such as member of the admin group. I figure it's some setting somewhere but I'm at a loss.

I would suggest you to have a look to /etc/fstab file. It seems like you have anyway specified noauto in this file. This would deny mounting on startup. You may also have a look at this article: Linux Articles - /etc/fstab.

Appreciate the response. I have it working after editing the fstab file but the question still remains. The USB drive mounts at start up for a user without the need to edit fstab. So while adding it to fstab allows it to now mount on startup for all users, why would it be necessary to do this after upgrading to 9.10? In 9.04 it was mounting at start up for all users without touching fstab. After upgrading to 9.10 it would mount at start up for regular users but not for me...a privileged user.

I think I have a pretty good understanding of the Linux boot process but can you help me understand what may cause a drive to mount for one user over another at start up...other than the fstab file? Is it that the device is recognized on start up and when a user logs in it is at that time user settings such as drive ownership/privileges are checked and if allowed the drive mounts? I have checked User Settings and each user has "Access to external storage devices automatically" selected.