Accessing a data partition

[mijdrawoh]

I have a dual boot configuration with Ubuntu 11.04 and another Linux distro on separate SATAs. When I installed Natty, I created a data partition on the Ubuntu SATA in NTFS format for backup of data from the other distro and, I thought, the 11.04 home partition. My problem - I can't find the data partition in Places and can't copy to that partition in 11.04. I can access it from the other distro and copy to it, and it's there in gparted. Is the format preventing me from using that partition in Ubuntu? What actions do I need to take to get access to that partition?

[Morbius1]

Please post the output of the following commands:

sudo blkid -c /dev/null

cat /etc/fstab

mount

[mijdrawoh]

The requested data:

murgatroyd@murgatroyd-desktop:~$ sudo blkid -c /dev/null
[sudo] password for murgatroyd:
/dev/sda1: UUID="2992f38f-4696-43fd-b2b7-6954a7691920" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda2: UUID="31a42aee-7500-43c9-a74c-9e5a36f3be88" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sda3: LABEL="home" UUID="4bdc45d0-57f8-4753-9b42-19fa28dec5d0" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda5: LABEL="adata" UUID="2C974A1E4252E4E2" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sdb1: UUID="cd2695c1-654d-4eac-8464-e55949739145" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb5: UUID="9c5ac52a-b47e-4874-8842-327727a0c667" TYPE="swap"
/dev/sdb6: UUID="5c6c7618-4e8e-46be-9fe2-43b3c2b68a8e" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sdb7: LABEL="datac" UUID="778DCC7C7960038F" TYPE="ntfs"
murgatroyd@murgatroyd-desktop:~$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid -o value -s 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 nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sdc1 during installation
UUID=cd2695c1-654d-4eac-8464-e55949739145 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
# /home was on /dev/sdc6 during installation
UUID=5c6c7618-4e8e-46be-9fe2-43b3c2b68a8e /home ext4 defaults 0 2
# /windows was on /dev/sdc7 during installation
UUID=778DCC7C7960038F /windows ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=8a7bc69b-ac34-4926-bdad-9a584d6d0f53 none swap sw 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sda7 during installation
UUID=8f5d5852-bdd0-4572-be9d-49aea2848945 none swap sw 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sdb4 during installation
UUID=a3dc3bdd-0f34-416a-ba8e-df1274b05edd none swap sw 0 0
# swap was on /dev/sdc5 during installation
UUID=9c5ac52a-b47e-4874-8842-327727a0c667 none swap sw 0 0
murgatroyd@murgatroyd-desktop:~$ mount
/dev/sdb1 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro,commit=0)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
none on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
none on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,mode=0755)
none on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/dev/sdb6 on /home type ext4 (rw,commit=0)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/murgatroyd/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=murgatroyd)
murgatroyd@murgatroyd-desktop:~$

[Morbius1]

You have 2 ntfs partitions:

/dev/sda5: LABEL="adata" UUID="2C974A1E4252E4E2" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sdb7: LABEL="datac" UUID="778DCC7C7960038F" TYPE="ntfs"

One of which is being auto mounted in fstab:

UUID=778DCC7C7960038F /windows ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0

From the "mount " command it doesn't seem to be mounting however so run the following command:

 sudo mount -a

Post any errors and then run this command to access the partition:

nautilus /windows

It should open up to that partition.

If you want the other ntfs partition to auto mount then just repeat the same entry in fstab with a different mount point:

 sudo mkdir /DataA

Then add the following to the end of /etc/fstab:

UUID=2C974A1E4252E4E2 /DataA ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0

Then mount the new partition:

sudo mount -a

[mijdrawoh]

Thanks for your help, Morbius1.

I ran the sudo mount -a command and the nautilus /windows commands without errors and was able to access the windows partition. However, the windows partition still does not appear in Places and I cannot copy to it. Defying logic perhaps, considering it is shown as a swap partition in fstab, the adata partition from the other SATA does appear in Places and I can access it without any problem. Should I recreate the datac (windows) partition and reboot?

[oldfred]

Ignore the comments in fstab, they are just for reference and are the devices when installed, but in your case they all seem to have changed drive number and many are invalid.

You do not seem to be mounting the swap in sda2 or UUID ' 31a....'. But you still are using the swap in sdb5 or UUID ' 9c5...' You do not have to mount both.
All the other swaps you are trying to mount look like old partitions and can just be deleted from fstab.

If you did not copy & paste Morbius1 commands or used your own mount names and was not exactly consistent in using those names(including caps) then you may have issues.

[mijdrawoh]

I copied and pasted the commands, rebooted and checked for datac in Places. It wasn't there; I can only access it through the terminal command. As a side note, when I run the other distro, I can open, read and copy to datac. Should I re-install 11.04?

[oldfred]

Because you are mounting / (root) so you see your partitions if you use Nautilus to open Computer, then file system?

Generally mounts in /media or /home show in the left panel, but often show twice one the actual mount and another that will not work since it is already mounted.

[Morbius1]

Partitions in fstab never show up in Places - never have.

Run the following command:

nautilus /windows

When nautilus opens Bookmark it: Bookmarks > add Bookmark

As for not being able to copy to it I have no idea. Based on this line in fstab:

UUID=778DCC7C7960038F /windows ntfs defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0 0

Root and every memeber of the plugdev group ( i.e., gid=46 ) should have write access so you must not be a member of the plugdev group. Add yourself:

sudo gpasswd -a your-user-name plugdev

Then logout and log in again.