Using 64 bit Debian 7.2 on self-built AMD/nVidia pc and Atom N2800 type netbook. Installed from the 'standard' iso (no desktop, about 450mb).

I imagine that for some reason there is a missing package on my pc and netbook which deals with automounting pendrives and external hard drives. I have just about learnt this morning how to mount drives manually but I have about eight pendrives and can't imagine I need to do this every time. At the moment I'm using the file manager called Gentoo (not the distro) as I am trying to keep the system light and unspoiled by anything with gnome, gnome keyring or gtk3 in (everything else still works and looks fine as I am using the DWM window manager).

I have commented out the drive in fstab that can cause problems (as I understand it because it was the one used to install the OS). No difference with or without that hash though.

Go to /etc/rc.local and put the commands that you use to mount the pens and add to it! That will mount them at boot up time.

Worth a try but I felt fairly sure that wouldn't work. I think the window manager DWM bypasses some things that other WMs use, and /etc/rc.local does seem to be one of these. I've failed so far to get DWM to use some redshift settings too. Thanks anyway. Hopefully someone will know the missing package, that must be the easy way.

The command 'sudo mount -t automount /dev/sdf1 /media/usb0' does work, possibly in conjunction with 'sudo adduser [my name] fuse' which I tried anyway having one NTFS drive. I just need to find out how to make it stick. There doesn't seem to be a dedicated DWM forum as such or I could get clarification.

Do not try zrdc28's solution: you don't want your system trying to mount a usb stick at boot up if there isn't one plugged in. And does rc.local still exist under systemd anyway?

Automounting is a feature usually controlled by a desktop: no desktop, then probably no automounting. Here's one man's solution, but it involves installing a bit of Gnome.
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc/docum...cal-mount.html

No desktop, no automounting - I think I understand that now. The linked solution I can't use because it would involve gnome-keyring I see, which is only slightly below dentists in my book of unliked things.

It was a bit foolish of me not to mention that I am using the Slim display manager, which has turned out to be relevant I think. I am now able to start the otherwise ignored Redshift (to alter some washed out colours on my monitor) from within its config file as there is space for... well, you can see where I've inserted Redshift below in this passage from /etc/slim.conf:

# This command is executed after a succesful login.
# you can place the %session and %theme variables
# to handle launching of specific commands in .xinitrc
# depending of chosen session and slim theme
#
# NOTE: if your system does not have bash you need
# to adjust the command according to your preferred shell,
# i.e. for freebsd use:
#login_cmd exec /bin/sh - ~/.xinitrc %session
login_cmd exec /bin/bash -login /etc/X11/Xsession %session

# Commands executed when starting and exiting a session.
# They can be used for registering a X11 session with
# sessreg. You can use the %user variable
#
sessionstart_cmd bash -c 'redshift -l 51.4:0.4 -O 6800 -g 0.8:0.8:1.0'
# sessionstop_cmd some command

So I wonder if I can make a script, after brushing up on scripting, which I've found a strain, that will both start Redshift as above and also deal with the pendrives. I can substitute that where my Redshift line currently is.

I have also found udisks-glue which sounds promising going by the man page.

I'm assuming the many DWM users find a way round this anyway...

As udisks-glue did nothing I took an easy way out, but one that's not seemed to cause irritation. I've installed Thunar, which has brought a bit of Xfce in with it but nothing I can't ignore. A decent file manager that automounts disks. Redshift I've kept in slim.conf, so now all I need to do is get a clock and battery monitor on the panel/menu and then I can just get on with using a computer as a means to several ends without faffing under the bonnet or getting dragged further into an OCD nightmare, or worse still beginning to eye up the cobwebby Windows 7 DVD in the corner of the room. That's the theory anyway...