Unable to make XFCE "automount" a particular external hard drive.

STDOUBT · 05-13-2014, 09:24 PM

Greetings!
Enjoy the colors as my attempt to liven up a dull topic!

I "need" to have Xfce automatically mount and be rw for user when I hook up this USB external HDD.
I can mount it fine manually as root with:

Code:

mount -t exfat /dev/sdb1 /media/WDMyPassport/

...at which point the user can read and write! It even appears in Thunar as an ejectable storage location!
I just want to not have to manually mount as root, as my user is a pointy-clicky-4-life and possibly harmful at the command prompt!
Slackware 14.1 32bit (sans KDE) vs. WD My Passport (1TB external HDD).

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# fdisk -l /dev/sdb

Disk /dev/sdb: 1000.2 GB, 1000170586112 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121597 cylinders, total 1953458176 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xfecfd94e

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   *           2  1953458175   976729087    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT

I have installed:

Code:

exfat-utils-0.9.6-i486-1_SBo
fuse-exfat-0.9.6-i486-1_SBo
ntfs-3g-2013.1.13-i486-1

I have spent at least 20 hours on the net looking at various methods, none of which
have panned out....I can't even get it to tell me its UUID for some reason. I suspect
if I knew the UUID, I could make an fstab entry that would help?

I have actually gotten it to appear in Thunar when plugged in by using fstab rules,
but in that case Thunar says "mount: only root can mount /dev/sdb1 on /media/WDMyPassport."

I even tried setting /bin/ntfs-3g and /sbin/mount.exfat-fuse SUID,
but I'm not sure I did it properly...

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# ls -lsh /bin/ntfs-3g
128K -rws--x--x 1 root root 125K Jun 11  2013 /bin/ntfs-3g*
root@fruitbomb:~# ls -lsh /sbin/mount.exfat-fuse
48K -rwsr-xr-x 1 rosario users 45K May  8 18:19 /sbin/mount.exfat-fuse*

Sincere gratitude!

frankbell · 05-13-2014, 09:48 PM

If you want a partition to automount, do not expect the desktop environment to do it for you. Put it in your /etc/fstab (file system table) with the correct switches.

http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/38125...-does-it-work/

If you want to make sure it always mounts to the same mountpoint, use the UUID in fstab.

http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-f...-update-fstab/

Here's an example from the fstab file I'm using on this computer right now. Both these entries point to partitions on an external USB drive; the entries that are remarked out with # are the entries that I replaced when I started using UUIDs:

Code:

# /dev/sdb1       /media/sdb1     ext3    rw,user,auto    0      1
UUID=1655a198-15a7-471f-9e99-e3fc9fd92ca0       /media/sdb1     ext3    rw,user,auto    0      1
# /dev/sdb5       /media/sdb5     ext3    rw,user,auto    0      1
UUID=7900ade7-de36-41e5-88b5-2d7aaa8adcd4       /media/sdb5     ext3    rw,user,auto    0      1

STDOUBT · 05-14-2014, 11:04 PM

Sorry, I suppose a more apt title would have been:
"Unable to make Slackware "automount" a particular external hard drive"

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# mount -t exfat /dev/sdb1 /media/WDMyPassport/
FUSE exfat 0.9.6
root@fruitbomb:~# mount
/dev/mapper/bomfunk-root on / type ext4 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
/dev/mapper/bomfunk-home on /home type ext4 (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /boot type ext4 (rw)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/sdb1 on /media/WDMyPassport type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
root@fruitbomb:~# blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda2: UUID="5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948" TYPE="crypto_LUKS" 
/dev/mapper/lukssda2: UUID="MjXooJ-Pdos-EZYd-2spf-501s-CBcX-Q3G6Y2" TYPE="LVM2_member" 
/dev/mapper/bomfunk-root: UUID="5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/mapper/bomfunk-swap: UUID="a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/mapper/bomfunk-home: UUID="f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc" TYPE="ext4"

I have tried at least a dozen well-crafted fstab entries. None allowed user read/write.
And for some reason, I can't see this bugger's UUID.

Loomx · 05-15-2014, 03:30 AM

Quote:

And for some reason, I can't see this bugger's UUID.

What do you see if you do:

Code:

ls /dev/disk/by-id
ls /dev/disk/by-uuid

Didier Spaier · 05-15-2014, 03:49 AM

Code:

lsblk -o NAME,KNAME,FSTYPE,UUID,OWNER,GROUP,MODE,RO,RM,MODEL

or for all block devices

Code:

lsblk -ao NAME,KNAME,FSTYPE,UUID,OWNER,GROUP,MODE,RO,RM,MODEL

STDOUBT · 05-15-2014, 10:06 PM

@Loomx

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# ls /dev/disk/by-id
ata-FUJITSU_MJA2160BH_G2_K950T9726862@
ata-FUJITSU_MJA2160BH_G2_K950T9726862-part1@
ata-FUJITSU_MJA2160BH_G2_K950T9726862-part2@
ata-MATSHITADVD-RAM_UJ-862_HE25_045929@
dm-name-bomfunk-home@
dm-name-bomfunk-root@
dm-name-bomfunk-swap@
dm-name-lukssda2@
dm-uuid-CRYPT-LUKS1-5df43021bfa74c42a8dc69280d583948-lukssda2@
dm-uuid-LVM-enICCXLmmOmMj7cd50gv1I3KyMG93n0SV7IVsaY96x4gSCDwFFAEehzl6g0jnu0U@
dm-uuid-LVM-enICCXLmmOmMj7cd50gv1I3KyMG93n0SmRyDld4LzJ6DyBiAtjvOzypT5AqEKwdZ@
dm-uuid-LVM-enICCXLmmOmMj7cd50gv1I3KyMG93n0SqstYG63bZHej1KLdgyWJLqm7c45uarUX@
usb-WD_My_Passport_0748_5758423145363253535A3630-0:0@
usb-WD_My_Passport_0748_5758423145363253535A3630-0:0-part1@
wwn-0x500000e043be10b9@
wwn-0x500000e043be10b9-part1@
wwn-0x500000e043be10b9-part2@
root@fruitbomb:~# ls /dev/disk/by-uuid
5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d@  9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868@  f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc@
5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948@  a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27@

@Didier Spaier

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# lsblk -o NAME,KNAME,FSTYPE,UUID,OWNER,GROUP,MODE,RO,RM,MODEL
NAME                    KNAME FSTYPE      UUID                                   OWNER GROUP MODE       RO RM MODEL
sda                     sda                                                      root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 FUJITSU MJA2160B
├─sda1                  sda1  ext4        9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
└─sda2                  sda2  crypto_LUKS 5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
  └─lukssda2 (dm-0)     dm-0  LVM2_member MjXooJ-Pdos-EZYd-2spf-501s-CBcX-Q3G6Y2 root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    ├─bomfunk-root (dm-1)
                        dm-1  ext4        5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    ├─bomfunk-swap (dm-2)
                        dm-2  swap        a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    └─bomfunk-home (dm-3)
                        dm-3  ext4        f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
sdb                     sdb                                                      root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 My Passport 0748
└─sdb1                  sdb1                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
sr0                     sr0                                                      root  cdrom brw-rw----  0  1 DVD-RAM UJ-862  
root@fruitbomb:~# lsblk -ao NAME,KNAME,FSTYPE,UUID,OWNER,GROUP,MODE,RO,RM,MODEL
NAME                    KNAME FSTYPE      UUID                                   OWNER GROUP MODE       RO RM MODEL
sda                     sda                                                      root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 FUJITSU MJA2160B
├─sda1                  sda1  ext4        9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
└─sda2                  sda2  crypto_LUKS 5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
  └─lukssda2 (dm-0)     dm-0  LVM2_member MjXooJ-Pdos-EZYd-2spf-501s-CBcX-Q3G6Y2 root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    ├─bomfunk-root (dm-1)
                        dm-1  ext4        5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    ├─bomfunk-swap (dm-2)
                        dm-2  swap        a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
    └─bomfunk-home (dm-3)
                        dm-3  ext4        f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc   root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
sdb                     sdb                                                      root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 My Passport 0748
└─sdb1                  sdb1                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
sr0                     sr0                                                      root  cdrom brw-rw----  0  1 DVD-RAM UJ-862  
ram0                    ram0                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram1                    ram1                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram2                    ram2                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram3                    ram3                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram4                    ram4                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram5                    ram5                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram6                    ram6                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram7                    ram7                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram8                    ram8                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram9                    ram9                                                     root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop0                   loop0                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop1                   loop1                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop2                   loop2                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop3                   loop3                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop4                   loop4                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop5                   loop5                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop6                   loop6                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
loop7                   loop7                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram10                   ram10                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram11                   ram11                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram12                   ram12                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram13                   ram13                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram14                   ram14                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0 
ram15                   ram15                                                    root  disk  brw-rw----  0  0

(EDIT: I made a grevious error which is now fixed in the text)
It does not appear to report it's UUID, though it is mounted (by root) and read/write works for user....Maybe I'll have to make her learn some command prompt :cries inside:

aaditya · 05-15-2014, 10:26 PM

You could put the commands in a shell script, and use a desktop file to run the script.

Something like the following:

mount-ext-drive.sh

Code:

#!/bin/bash
# Script to mount an external drive as root
if [ -e /dev/sdb1 ] && [ -d /media/WDMyPassport ]; then
        mount -t exfat /dev/sdb1 /media/WDMyPassport/
else
        exit 1
fi

mount-ext-drive.desktop

Code:

[Desktop Entry]
Name=Mount External Drive
GenericName=Mount External Drive
Icon=thunar
Exec=pkexec <path-to-script>
Type=Application
Categories=System;
Encoding=UTF-8
Terminal=true
StartupNotify=false

I have not tested it, so cant say if it works or not; used this concept before though.

STDOUBT · 05-15-2014, 11:30 PM

@aaditya,
That is a good thought. Some kind of scripting.
Though I was hoping to make the OS do the work ;-).

FWIW:

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# file /dev/disk/by-uuid/5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d
/dev/disk/by-uuid/5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d: symbolic link to `../../dm-1' 
root@fruitbomb:~# file /dev/disk/by-uuid/5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948
/dev/disk/by-uuid/5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948: symbolic link to `../../sda2' 
root@fruitbomb:~# file /dev/disk/by-uuid/9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868
/dev/disk/by-uuid/9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868: symbolic link to `../../sda1' 
root@fruitbomb:~# file /dev/disk/by-uuid/a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27
/dev/disk/by-uuid/a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27: symbolic link to `../../dm-2' 
root@fruitbomb:~# file /dev/disk/by-uuid/f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc
/dev/disk/by-uuid/f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc: symbolic link to `../../dm-3'

aaditya · 05-15-2014, 11:37 PM

Ok, when I want to find the UUID of a device / partition, I simply type

Code:

lsblk -f

And another thing, I think Thunar allows auto mounting of removable drives; you can look at Settings -> Removable Drives and see if there's something that could help you.

Edit-
You could also look at Settings -> Session and Startup and see whether Thunar-volman is being auto started or not.
Also you could clear your Xfce session and reboot to see if it makes a difference.

Richard Cranium · 05-16-2014, 11:18 AM

Thunar won't actually mount the drive, but it will show an icon in the panel with all the other partitions that will perform the mount if you click on it. There's an eject button too.

aaditya's suggestion to see if the Thunar-volman is being started is a very good one; that's what provides the icon to click.

frankbell · 05-16-2014, 08:33 PM

Quote:

I have tried at least a dozen well-crafted fstab entries. None allowed user read/write.
And for some reason, I can't see this bugger's UUID.

Could you share some of those entries you've tried?

blkid is the command I tend to prefer to find out UUIDs. I don't have any rationale for that except that it's easy to remember.

Code:

$ /sbin/blkid
/dev/sda1: UUID="ad52eed9-c80c-41fe-81a6-e8a9a71e6f19" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sda5: TYPE="swap" UUID="35f7217b-f73b-4cd1-b513-571bd0482a18" 
/dev/sdb1: UUID="1655a198-15a7-471f-9e99-e3fc9fd92ca0" TYPE="ext3" 
/dev/sdb5: UUID="7900ade7-de36-41e5-88b5-2d7aaa8adcd4" TYPE="ext3"

STDOUBT · 05-17-2014, 01:00 AM

@ Richard Cranium
I found that Thunar-volman was not running. I had glanced at the "Session and Startup" and saw
"XFCE Volume Daemon", and by mistake, I thought that was the volume manager for hotplug devices.
I made sure thunar-volman (/usr/bin/thunar-volman) was running, rebooted, then looked at "Session and Startup" again to make sure it was still running. It shows as running in "Session and Startup" (the tick-box is checked), BUT I can't find thunar-volman by running ps.

@frankbell
If I uncomment this line in fstab, the icon appears immediately in Thunar.

Code:

/dev/sdb1       /media/WDMyPassport     exfat           defaults        0   0

Clicking on said icon results in:
"mount: only root can mount /dev/sdb1 on /media/WDMyPassport."
Using the line below results in exactly the same behavior:

Code:

/dev/sdb1 /media/WDMyPassport     fuseblk         rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096        0   0

Code:

root@fruitbomb:~# lsblk -f
NAME                      FSTYPE      LABEL UUID                                   MOUNTPOINT
sda                                                                                
├─sda1                    ext4              9f4afaa6-d603-4567-81e9-58e1c6687868   /boot
└─sda2                    crypto_LUKS       5df43021-bfa7-4c42-a8dc-69280d583948   
  └─lukssda2 (dm-0)       LVM2_member       MjXooJ-Pdos-EZYd-2spf-501s-CBcX-Q3G6Y2 
    ├─bomfunk-root (dm-1) ext4              5c3684f2-27e7-487b-8fb5-5c18aca2113d   /
    ├─bomfunk-swap (dm-2) swap              a9ba6577-1273-44c8-8810-a230831edc27   [SWAP]
    └─bomfunk-home (dm-3) ext4              f5d0bc36-ad67-4db9-b365-d2ebd8faddcc   /home

It's just not reporting...I'm beginning to suspect a firmware limitation with this mutant HDD.

frankbell · 05-17-2014, 08:14 PM

Code:

/dev/sdb1       /media/WDMyPassport     exfat           defaults        0   0

Try replacing defaults with rw,user,auto as shown, without any spaces.

rw= "read/write"; user="user can mount/access"; auto="automount" Those settings work on my system.

ReaperX7 · 05-17-2014, 11:53 PM

Slackware includes udisks2 which should auto-detect and auto-assign a mount point in Thunar. I would check and see if udisks2 is properly working. You should also have fstab's comment on the NTFS-3G partition commented out so udisks2 can work properly with NTFS-3G, udev, and FUSE.

Normally most people recommend a fixed mount point, but you should only do a fixed mount point for local disks, not removable ones.

frankbell · 05-18-2014, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Normally most people recommend a fixed mount point, but you should only do a fixed mount point for local disks, not removable ones.

Does this statement include "removable drives" that are never removed?