Other Unable to mount USB drive which has ntfs format

neilms

neilms

I have followed all of the instructions in the handbook for getting USB drives and memory sticks to automatically mount when plugged in.
However, I have checked and double checked everything but cannot see the device mounted . I have tried rebooting several times but still my USB drive is not mounting. Any ideas on how to get it done?

I am using FreeBSD 10.2 with xfce 4.12 as my desktop. Nothing shows up in /media/ or /mnt/
 
Last edited by a moderator:
tingo said:
If you mean these instructions, you didn't read the fine print. So it is mounted when you try to access it (after plugging it in), not automatically. If you want that, you should look at sysutils/automount.
Yes, I think this is a bit backwards from what most people expect.
Click to expand...
What you are saying here does not make any sense to me at all.
Can someone please explain to me how to get my USB drive to work automatically when it is plugged in?
 
No sorry, the advice given so far does not solve my problem. My USB drive has NTFS filesystem on it and this does not work with automount. I have checked and sysutils/fusefs-ntfs is installed. I set fuse_load="YES" in the correct configuration file but the device is still not being mounted.

dmesg: outputs
Code: 
ugen7.2: <Seagate> at usbus7
umass0: <Seagate Desktop, class 0/0, rev 2.00/1.30, addr 2> on usbus7
umass0:  SCSI over Bulk-Only; quirks = 0x0100
umass0:6:0:-1: Attached to scbus6
da0 at umass-sim0 bus 0 scbus6 target 0 lun 0
da0: <Seagate Desktop 0130> Fixed Direct Access SPC-2 SCSI device
da0: Serial Number 2GHL7EEK 
da0: 40.000MB/s transfers
da0: 476940MB (976773168 512 byte sectors: 255H 63S/T 60801C)
da0: quirks=0x2<NO_6_BYTE>

I would be grateful if someone who has had the same type of problem is able to help me out here.
 
OK. Just a thought here. What I think you want here, is related to fstab(5).
So, aside from taking the time to read the man(1) page for fstab(5), and mount(8). You're going to want to decide where you will want it to be mounted every time it's plugged in. Just for example sake; let's say you decided you always want to mount in on /ntfs. That being the case. Perform the following (as root):
mkdir /ntfs
You'll also always need to know what device name it get's when plugged in. If it had a GPT partition scheme (see gpart() for greater detail), it would be simple. But I suspect, being ntfs, it must have a MBR scheme. This all makes your desired outcome quite a bit more difficult. But not completely impossible. :)
So you'll now need to create the appropriate entries in your fstab(5) file (also as root, or su/sudo to root)
Assuming it's created as device (/dev) da0:
Code: 
/dev/da0s1    /ntfs    ntfs    rw    0    0
Is a basic layout. The kernel will look for the drive, during boot, and may spew a message, or 2, should it not be found. But they're *advisory* not fatal, or shouldn't be.
Anyway, you'll need to a little experimentation to get all this to work smoothly. But this is a pretty good start in the right direction. As I described it, you should be able to boot your box, after having created the directory, and having made the fstab(5) entry. Then, anytime you plug that ntfs formatted USB stick into the same USB port, it should automatically be mounted, and show up in a directory listing (ls(1)) or anything else possible on an ntfs formatted media.

Hope this hepls! :)

--Chris

EDIT
Advisory note:
You must always use the same USB port when plugging it in, using this method. This is to help insure that it always carries the same device name (da0s1) or what ever was assigned when you first determined it.
Secondly; It also means that should you ever plugin another USB based media into a USB port *before* plugging in your ntfs formatted USB stick, it will *alter* the device name/numbers assigned to it. Making it unmountable in this fashion, *and* it will cause the kernel to think whatever you plugged in *before* you plugged in the ntfs one is the ntfs one (may even cause a kernel panic). So be careful. Sorry, I know it's a bit of PITA. But that's the best I can think of, for your situation. There *are* other methods. But none that I know of that *automatically* mount -- ntfs formatted media, anyway.
 
Chris_H said:
OK. Just a thought here. What I think you want here, is related to fstab(5).
So, aside from taking the time to read the man(1) page for fstab(5), and mount(8). You're going to want to decide where you will want it to be mounted every time it's plugged in. Just for example sake; let's say you decided you always want to mount in on /ntfs. That being the case. Perform the following (as root):
mkdir /ntfs
You'll also always need to know what device name it get's when plugged in. If it had a GPT partition scheme (see gpart() for greater detail), it would be simple. But I suspect, being ntfs, it must have a MBR scheme. This all makes your desired outcome quite a bit more difficult. But not completely impossible. :)
So you'll now need to create the appropriate entries in your fstab(5) file (also as root, or su/sudo to root)
Assuming it's created as device (/dev) da0:
Code: 
/dev/da0s1    /ntfs    ntfs    rw    0    0
Is a basic layout. The kernel will look for the drive, during boot, and may spew a message, or 2, should it not be found. But they're *advisory* not fatal, or shouldn't be.
Anyway, you'll need to a little experimentation to get all this to work smoothly. But this is a pretty good start in the right direction. As I described it, you should be able to boot your box, after having created the directory, and having made the fstab(5) entry. Then, anytime you plug that ntfs formatted USB stick into the same USB port, it should automatically be mounted, and show up in a directory listing (ls(1)) or anything else possible on an ntfs formatted media.

Hope this hepls! :)

--Chris

EDIT
Advisory note:
You must always use the same USB port when plugging it in, using this method. This is to help insure that it always carries the same device name (da0s1) or what ever was assigned when you first determined it.
Secondly; It also means that should you ever plugin another USB based media into a USB port *before* plugging in your ntfs formatted USB stick, it will *alter* the device name/numbers assigned to it. Making it unmountable in this fashion, *and* it will cause the kernel to think whatever you plugged in *before* you plugged in the ntfs one is the ntfs one (may even cause a kernel panic). So be careful. Sorry, I know it's a bit of PITA. But that's the best I can think of, for your situation. There *are* other methods. But none that I know of that *automatically* mount -- ntfs formatted media, anyway.
Click to expand...

I followed your instructions and went back over the steps set out in the handbook. The device still does not automatically mount, but I experimented a bit and found that as root if I use this command: ntfs-3g /dev/da0s1 /mnt, the drive will mount under /mnt. Obviously, i'm glad I can at least access the drive now but it is still not ideal as I can only do it as root and must type in this command every time. Can you suggest how I might automatically access the drive without a command as an ordinary user? If not, can I access this drive for reading and writing as an ordinary user with a command similar to above?
 
In the end I had to take out the ntfs entry in fstab as it caused an error when rebooting.
 
Hello, neilms !
As to needing to be root; yes, it's the same as for the link to your CD, or DVD. You'll need to create a link, or provide the proper entries in your fstab(). I don't recall as I write this. But should be easy to find. :)
OK. There has been some recent chatter on the exact same subject in the stable@ newsgroup. I'd simply copy/paste the dialog. But it's too long, and if done in that form, would only serve to confuse you. You can easily search the archives. Simply look for the subject: "Auto-mounting USB NTFS formatted devices on FreeBSD 10.2 and HEAD". There are several solutions, and all appear to work. :) You might also want to have a look at the pr(1): Bug 204464 , which is also related.

Best of luck!

--Chris
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top