Can't mount usb memory sources please help.

[dalehartt]

same error message unfortunatly.

[dalehartt]

I think the problem is with the mounting.... How can we figure out why it won't mount? Thank you so much with your fantastic help.

[pytheas22]

I don't think the problem is with mounting itself, since you can mount devices without a problem if you do it manually from the command line as root. The problem seems to lie somewhere with the daemon that's supposed to auto-mount devices when they're plugged in with permissions such that you can access them without typing "sudo".

What is the output of:

cat /etc/fstab

That will show me the contents of your fstab file, which tells the system how it should mount some devices. I'm wondering if something got mucked up there that's confusing the computer.

Also, just so we're clear, how many different devices have you tried mounting? I'm aware of an iPod and a memory card that you use for your camera. Was there anything else you've tried? Have you been able to plug in any device--such as an ordinary USB memory stick--and get that to mount automatically without any manual intervention on your part?

Thanks for all your patience.

[dalehartt]

sorry have been gone.

dale@dale-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=729ddfd7-fdc1-4140-bb14-15a0e6a47c16 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1983a9e1-fda4-49a2-9c83-ffdcb9077555 /boot ext2 relatime 0 2
# /home was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=e8f09f9a-8357-401c-bd3d-c6b00be4e619 /home ext3 relatime 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=fcd0dd9c-236d-4fe1-8c4b-509920189e31 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/storage ext4 users,user,owner 0 0
/dev/sdg1 /media/sdg1 vfat users 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /media/sdc1 vfat owner,group=user,users,user 0 0
/dev/sdf1 /media/sdf1 vfat users

[pytheas22]

Sorry for not responding sooner--I was moving the last couple days.

The bottom four lines in your /etc/fstab file wouldn't exist by default, so I assume you probably added them manually in an attempt to get your devices to automount? In any case, some of the options there are incorrect, which is probably what's preventing the devices from mounting. Please open the fstab file for editing by typing:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

and then replace the final four lines with this:

/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 ext4 user,owner 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /media/sdc1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdd1 /media/sdd1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sde1 /media/sde1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdf1 /media/sdf1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdg1 /media/sdg1 vfat users,owner 0 0

Then save and close the file. You should also run these commands in order to sure that the mountpoints you want to use exist:

sudo mkdir /media/sdb1
sudo mkdir /media/sdc1
sudo mkdir /media/sdd1
sudo mkdir /media/sde1
sudo mkdir /media/sdf1
sudo mkdir /media/sdg1

Finally, reboot with your media plugged in and it should be mounted automatically under the /media directory, with permissions that allow you to edit it. If you plug the devices in after booting, you will need to type:

sudo mount -a

to mount them.

If this still doesn't work, please post the output of:

cat /etc/fstab

dmesg | grep -e dev -e mount -ie fat

[dalehartt]

dale@dale-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=729ddfd7-fdc1-4140-bb14-15a0e6a47c16 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1983a9e1-fda4-49a2-9c83-ffdcb9077555 /boot ext2 relatime 0 2
# /home was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=e8f09f9a-8357-401c-bd3d-c6b00be4e619 /home ext3 relatime 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=fcd0dd9c-236d-4fe1-8c4b-509920189e31 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 ext4 user,owner 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /media/sdc1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdd1 /media/sdd1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sde1 /media/sde1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdf1 /media/sdf1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdg1 /media/sdg1 vfat users,owner 0 0
dale@dale-desktop:~$

[dalehartt]

don't know if I did this right but its not working at all right now. I get this message when trying to mount.

dale@dale-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=729ddfd7-fdc1-4140-bb14-15a0e6a47c16 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1983a9e1-fda4-49a2-9c83-ffdcb9077555 /boot ext2 relatime 0 2
# /home was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=e8f09f9a-8357-401c-bd3d-c6b00be4e619 /home ext3 relatime 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=fcd0dd9c-236d-4fe1-8c4b-509920189e31 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 ext4 user,owner 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /media/sdc1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdd1 /media/sdd1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sde1 /media/sde1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdf1 /media/sdf1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdg1 /media/sdg1 vfat users,owner 0 0
dale@dale-desktop:~$

[dino99]

if you want to use the easy way, install mountmanager and set your prefs into "system admin mountmanager, no need to tweak fstab or mtab

[pytheas22]

don't know if I did this right but its not working at all right now. I get this message when trying to mount.

dale@dale-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'vol_id --uuid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
# / was on /dev/sda2 during installation
UUID=729ddfd7-fdc1-4140-bb14-15a0e6a47c16 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /boot was on /dev/sda1 during installation
UUID=1983a9e1-fda4-49a2-9c83-ffdcb9077555 /boot ext2 relatime 0 2
# /home was on /dev/sda4 during installation
UUID=e8f09f9a-8357-401c-bd3d-c6b00be4e619 /home ext3 relatime 0 2
# swap was on /dev/sda3 during installation
UUID=fcd0dd9c-236d-4fe1-8c4b-509920189e31 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 ext4 user,owner 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /media/sdc1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdd1 /media/sdd1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sde1 /media/sde1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdf1 /media/sdf1 vfat users,owner 0 0
/dev/sdg1 /media/sdg1 vfat users,owner 0 0
dale@dale-desktop:~$

What command were you trying to use to mount? Above, you posted the output of "cat /etc/fstab", which is the command to display your fstab configuration file, not to mount. To mount, you should plug in your device and type "sudo mount -a".

If you like, you can also try dino99's useful suggestion and install mountmanager with:

sudo apt-get install mountmanager

I think the interface for mountmanager is a little confusing, but it may help you.

[QLee]

dalehartt,

Are you doing any in/out operations, for example deleting pictures, while you have the camera plugged in, and, if so, are you letting the operation completely finish and then properly unmounting the device before you unplug it?

When it doesn't mount, have you tried running a fsck on the unmounted device and if and when it completes successfully does it then mount?