problem mounting one of NTFS disks.

setrofim · 05-18-2009, 02:37 AM

I am in the process of switching to Ubuntu from Windows. I have a machine with three NTFS-formatted hard drives. Two of them (including the Windows system drive) I can mount in Dolphin without problems. The other one however refuses to mount. I've attempted to mount it in bash using

Code:

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/Network -o force

However got the following:

Code:

Failed to read NTFS $Bitmap: Input/output error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f parameter is very
important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the 'dmraid' documentation
for more details.

I did as the message suggested and ran chkdsk (with /f flag) and rebooted into Windows a couple of times. chkdsk reported no errors. I've also attempted to scan this disk by right-clicking it in Windows explorer and running the utility in the Tools tab; again, no errors. Upon rebooting into Ubuntu, I get the same error form mount command. I can use this disk Without any problems in Windows.
I have Ubuntu 9.04 (but had the same problem with 8.10). Does anyone know what the problem might be and how it could be resolved?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

irishbitte · 05-18-2009, 04:16 AM

The problem is windows is not 'unmounting' this drive cleanly. ntfs-3g looks at the filesystem table, and if it sees that windows has not unmounted cleanly, it will refuse to mount the volume, since the volume may be inconsistent. if windows keeps doing that, there isn't alot you can do!

setrofim · 05-18-2009, 04:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishbitte

The problem is windows is not 'unmounting' this drive cleanly. ntfs-3g looks at the filesystem table, and if it sees that windows has not unmounted cleanly, it will refuse to mount the volume, since the volume may be inconsistent. if windows keeps doing that, there isn't alot you can do!

I see, that makes sense. Thanks, irishbitte. It's strange that it is only happening to this hard disk and not the others.
Maybe there is something I can do from Windows, e.g. manually unmount the volume before exiting?

irishbitte · 05-18-2009, 07:05 PM

Unfortunately, if it is a windows boot volume, windows only 'unmounts' it when you shutdown windows. What you really need to do is read up on shutdown processes in windows, and try to find out what is causing the problem. I have no doubt it can be solved! For a start, take a look at this: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php. I found this using google!

setrofim · 05-19-2009, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishbitte

Unfortunately, if it is a windows boot volume, windows only 'unmounts' it when you shutdown windows.

It isn't -- it's a separate hard disk (the Windows system disk mounts just fine).

Quote:

Originally Posted by irishbitte

What you really need to do is read up on shutdown processes in windows, and try to find out what is causing the problem. I have no doubt it can be solved! For a start, take a look at this: http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php. I found this using google!

Thanks for the link, however I wasn't able to find anything about hard drive mount issue in there. I have already tried googling this problem but came up with nothing (maybe I'm not using the right search terms).
I shall try again and will post here if I find a solution; however, it's starting to look like I may need to re-format the drive and hope for the best

Thanks for your help.

setrofim · 05-30-2009, 01:44 PM

Just a follow up. After some more research and a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I ended up reformatting the drive. It was the hassle to move all the data off of it and then put it back on, but at least it works perfectly now

irishbitte · 05-30-2009, 08:46 PM

Good that you got it sorted