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Old 09-09-2017, 02:15 PM   #1
DFMoffatt
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How to mount a Windows USB drive


I have a fresh USB flash drive onto which I copied some data files using Windows 10; file system is FAT32. Now on a different PC LinuxMint says "Unable to mount USB Disk" "Error creating mount point 'media/douglas/USB DISK'; Read-only file system".
This is not answered by related posts here as far I can tell: it was ejected properly from Windows; it can be accessed properly again in Windows.
Have looked at man mount and solution is unclear (what device? would it work with -r?)
Am trying reformat to NTFS pending an answer.
 
Old 09-09-2017, 03:05 PM   #2
KenJackson
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DFMoffatt View Post
"Error creating mount point 'media/douglas/USB DISK'; Read-only file system".
The problem isn't with the USB drive, it's with your Linux file system. I don't know why /media would be mounted read-only, but apparently it is. You can either solve that or pick another mount point and mount it manually.

For example, you might try creating a mountpoint in your home directory, something like this:
Code:
cd
mkdir usb
sudo mount /dev/sdb0 usb
Of course, be VERY CAREFUL to specify the correct device. You can find it with this command right after you plug it in:
Code:
dmesg | tail
Or: lsblk

Last edited by KenJackson; 09-09-2017 at 03:08 PM.
 
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Old 09-09-2017, 03:34 PM   #3
Rickkkk
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I agree with KenJackson - probably an issue with the permissions on /media (where most linux distros mount external devices when inserted).

Read your distro's (Mint) instructions concerning this, but permissions along the lines of 0755 work for me on /media (0775 if you really want to be sure ..).

Otherwise, as suggested by KenJackson, you can create a mount directory in your own home directory tree (ex. /home/dfmoffatt/mnt/usb) ... (replacing "dfmoffatt" with whatever your home directory is called) and use that to manually mount the USB drive (or anything else, for that matter. Caveats mentioned by KenJackson apply.

Cheers - let us know how it goes.
 
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Old 09-09-2017, 04:58 PM   #4
JeremyBoden
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KenJackson View Post
The problem isn't with the USB drive, it's with your Linux file system. I don't know why /media would be mounted read-only, but apparently it is. You can either solve that or pick another mount point and mount it manually.

For example, you might try creating a mountpoint in your home directory, something like this:
Code:
cd
mkdir usb
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 usb
Of course, be VERY CAREFUL to specify the correct device. You can find it with this command right after you plug it in:
Code:
dmesg | tail
Or: lsblk
I agree - with that very minor correction!
 
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Old 09-09-2017, 07:08 PM   #5
tofino_surfer
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Quote:
Of course, be VERY CAREFUL to specify the correct device
There are many links created by udev in the /dev/disk directory that you could use instead of specifying raw devices, a much safer approach. The following is for a Kingston flash drive.

Code:
$ ll /dev/disk/by-id/usb*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root  9 Sep  9 16:48 /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Kingston_DataTraveler_2.0-0:0 -> ../../sdf
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Sep  9 16:48 /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Kingston_DataTraveler_2.0-0:0-part1 -> ../../sdf1
The links in /dev/disk/by-id are prefixed by protocol so all USB devices would be usb-*. All SATA drives would be ata-*. If you only have one USB device plugged in there would be no trouble differentiating it from all of your SATA drives. If you have multiple then the device name Kingston_DataTraveler_2.0 in this case would be useful.

Code:
$ readlink -f /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Kingston_DataTraveler_2.0-0\:0-part1
/dev/sdf1
$ lsblk -f /dev/disk/by-id/usb-Kingston_DataTraveler_2.0-0\:0-part1 
NAME FSTYPE LABEL    UUID                                 MOUNTPOINT
sdf1 vfat   KINGSTON 0000-3781
To perform a mount:

Code:
mkdir /mnt/usb_flash
sudo mount /dev/disk/by-id/usb-device-name-0\:0-part1 /mnt/usb_flash
You wouldn't need to type out the full name as you could use tab completion after entering /dev/disk/by-id/usb-. With udev there is no need to specify drive letters at all, a safer approach. There is a thread about an OP who erased their HDD by typing the wrong letter when they were trying to write to a flash drive with dd to create a bootable USB. Using these udev links instead of drive letters would have saved their whole drive.


A permanent solution for a drive you use often would be to create udev rules to give a fixed link name, such as /dev/lexar for a Lexar flash drive and to automount it to a location in your fstab.

Last edited by tofino_surfer; 09-09-2017 at 08:35 PM. Reason: simplified command
 
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Old 09-10-2017, 06:29 AM   #6
DFMoffatt
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I am impressed!

The replies have been prompt and illuminating - thank you all. I shall be following your advice today.
 
  


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