HOWTO: NTFS with read/write support using ntfs-3g (easy method)

[icecubix]

looking at /etc/mtab:

/dev/hda2 / ext3 rw,errors=remount-ro 0 0
proc /proc proc rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev 0 0
/sys /sys sysfs rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev 0 0
varrun /var/run tmpfs rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=0755 0 0
varlock /var/lock tmpfs rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777 0 0
procbususb /proc/bus/usb usbfs rw 0 0
udev /dev tmpfs rw,mode=0755 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,gid=5,mode=620 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/687C384E7C381970 /media/C fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,default_permissions 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/8E3C7A833C7A665D /media/D fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,default_permissions 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/064812034811F263 /media/F fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,default_permissions 0 0
/dev/disk/by-uuid/4C70F39C70F38ACA /media/M fuse rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,default_permissions 0 0
raul@raulpc:~$

It seems it's not mounted.
Deleting the lock file.
mounting in debug mode:

raul@raulpc:~$ pmount -d /dev/sdb1
resolved /dev/sdb1 to device /dev/sdb1
mount point to be used: /media/sdb1
no iocharset given, current locale encoding is UTF-8
locale encoding uses UTF-8, setting iocharset to 'utf8'
Cleaning lock directory /var/lock/pmount_dev_sdb1
device_whitelist: checking /etc/pmount.allow...
device_whitlisted(): nothing matched, returning 0
find_sysfs_device: looking for sysfs directory for device 8:17
find_sysfs_device: checking whether /dev/sdb1 is on /sys/block/sdb (8:16)
find_sysfs_device: major device numbers match
find_sysfs_device: minor device numbers do not match, checking partitions...
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:16
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:17
find_sysfs_device: -> partition matches, belongs to block device /sys/block/sdb
device_removable: corresponding block device for /dev/sdb1 is /sys/block/sdb
get_blockdev_attr: value of /sys/block/sdb/removable == 0
find_bus_ancestry: device 8:0:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host8/target8:0:0/8:0:0:0, bus scsi) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device target8:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host8/target8:0:0, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device host8 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host8, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device 2-1:1.0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0, bus usb) matches query, success
policy check passed
spawnv(): executing /sbin/cryptsetup '/sbin/cryptsetup' 'isLuks' '/dev/sdb1'
spawn(): /sbin/cryptsetup terminated with status 255
device is not LUKS encrypted, or cryptsetup with LUKS support is not installed
locking mount point directory
mount point directory locked
spawnv(): executing /bin/mount '/bin/mount' '-t' 'udf' '-o' 'nosuid,nodev,user,async,atime,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=000,iocharset=utf8' '/dev/sdb1' '/media/sdb1'

Thanks, givré.



EDITING: Additional note: The directory /sys/block/sdb don't exists.

[givré]

spawnv(): executing /bin/mount '/bin/mount' '-t' 'udf' '-o' 'nosuid,nodev,user,async,atime,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=000,iocharset=utf8' '/dev/sdb1' '/media/sdb1'

This one seams strange, should be ntfs-3g, or at least ntfs. Can you post your 'lshal', or rather attach it, could be quite big.

[icecubix]

Ok, I've upload the lhal result to http://www.fgiro.com/lshal.txt.

I've seen the utf text and I've try to mount the disc changing utf by ntfs with no results.

[givré]

You hal information are ok, don't know why it pick udf instead of ntfs-3g.
try :

pmount -d -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1

[icecubix]

raul@raulpc:~$ pmount -d -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1
resolved /dev/sdb1 to device /dev/sdb1
mount point to be used: /media/sdb1
no iocharset given, current locale encoding is ANSI_X3.4-1968
Cleaning lock directory /var/lock/pmount_dev_sdb1
device_whitelist: checking /etc/pmount.allow...
device_whitlisted(): nothing matched, returning 0
find_sysfs_device: looking for sysfs directory for device 8:17
find_sysfs_device: checking whether /dev/sdb1 is on /sys/block/sdb (8:16)
find_sysfs_device: major device numbers match
find_sysfs_device: minor device numbers do not match, checking partitions...
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:16
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:17
find_sysfs_device: -> partition matches, belongs to block device /sys/block/sdb
device_removable: corresponding block device for /dev/sdb1 is /sys/block/sdb
get_blockdev_attr: value of /sys/block/sdb/removable == 0
find_bus_ancestry: device 13:0:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host13/target13:0:0/13:0:0:0, bus scsi) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device target13:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host13/target13:0:0, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device host13 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host13, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device 2-1:1.0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0, bus usb) matches query, success
policy check passed
spawnv(): executing /sbin/cryptsetup '/sbin/cryptsetup' 'isLuks' '/dev/sdb1'
spawn(): /sbin/cryptsetup terminated with status 255
device is not LUKS encrypted, or cryptsetup with LUKS support is not installed
locking mount point directory
mount point directory locked
Error: invalid file system name 'ntfs-3g'
unlocking mount point directory
mount point directory unlocked

I don't understand, ntfs-3g is the filesystem I use with the fixed discs and it says invalid file system name 'ntfs-3g'.

If I unplug the disk, and plug it, then I try with ntfs I obtain:

raul@raulpc:~$ pmount -d -t ntfs /dev/sdb1
resolved /dev/sdb1 to device /dev/sdb1
mount point to be used: /media/sdb1
no iocharset given, current locale encoding is ANSI_X3.4-1968
Cleaning lock directory /var/lock/pmount_dev_sdb1
device_whitelist: checking /etc/pmount.allow...
device_whitlisted(): nothing matched, returning 0
find_sysfs_device: looking for sysfs directory for device 8:17
find_sysfs_device: checking whether /dev/sdb1 is on /sys/block/sdb (8:16)
find_sysfs_device: major device numbers match
find_sysfs_device: minor device numbers do not match, checking partitions...
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:16
find_sysfs_device: checking whether device /dev/sdb1 matches partition 8:17
find_sysfs_device: -> partition matches, belongs to block device /sys/block/sdb
device_removable: corresponding block device for /dev/sdb1 is /sys/block/sdb
get_blockdev_attr: value of /sys/block/sdb/removable == 0
find_bus_ancestry: device 14:0:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host14/target14:0:0/14:0:0:0, bus scsi) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device target14:0:0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host14/target14:0:0, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device host14 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0/host14, bus ) does not match, trying parent
find_bus_ancestry: device 2-1:1.0 (path /sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.1/usb2/2-1/2-1:1.0, bus usb) matches query, success
policy check passed
spawnv(): executing /sbin/cryptsetup '/sbin/cryptsetup' 'isLuks' '/dev/sdb1'
spawn(): /sbin/cryptsetup terminated with status 255
device is not LUKS encrypted, or cryptsetup with LUKS support is not installed
locking mount point directory
mount point directory locked
spawnv(): executing /bin/mount '/bin/mount' '-t' 'ntfs' '-o' 'nosuid,nodev,user,async,atime,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=077' '/dev/sdb1' '/media/sdb1'
mount: /dev/sdb1 already mounted or /media/sdb1 busy
spawn(): /bin/mount terminated with status 32
unlocking mount point directory
mount point directory unlocked

[givré]

I don't understand, ntfs-3g is the filesystem I use with the fixed discs and it says invalid file system name 'ntfs-3g'.

This might be why it picked udf instead of ntfs-3g.
Check the version of pmount :

apt-cache policy pmount

Official one don't support ntfs-3g, you need to be sure to get the one from my repo.

[lenn/art]

Hi,

Tnx for the tutorial! I read it and now i've write / read access to my Windows NTFS disk. As a newbie in Xubuntu (i'm fresh in linux ) i didn't know the difference between gksu and sudo. Maybe the startpost should be editted a little bit for xubuntu users: gksu gedit should be: sudo mousepad.

And, i can't find anything about mounting / using dynamic disks. Does someone has a link to a good tutorial?

[icecubix]

Eivré, thanks for the annoyances that you are taking yourself (and for my english). Yesterday I've installed your pmount versión, and when I write pmount -d -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 it says:

policy check passed
spawnv(): executing /sbin/cryptsetup '/sbin/cryptsetup' 'isLuks' '/dev/sdb1'
spawn(): /sbin/cryptsetup terminated with status 255
device is not LUKS encrypted, or cryptsetup with LUKS support is not installed
locking mount point directory
mount point directory locked
spawnv(): executing /bin/mount '/bin/mount' '-t' 'ntfs-3g' '-o' 'nosuid,nodev,user,nonempty,async,atime,noexec,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=077' '/dev/sdb1' '/media/sdb1'
$LogFile indicates unclean shutdown (0, 0)
Failed to mount '/dev/sdb1': Operation not supported
Mount is denied because NTFS logfile is unclean. Choose one action:
   Boot Windows and shutdown it cleanly, or if you have a removable
   device then click the 'Safely Remove Hardware' icon in the Windows
   taskbar notification area before disconnecting it.
Or
   Run 'ntfsfix' on Linux unless you have Vista, then mount NTFS with
   the 'force' option read-write, or with the 'ro' option read-only.
Or
   Mount the NTFS volume with the 'ro' option in read-only mode.
spawn(): /bin/mount terminated with status 10
unlocking mount point directory
mount point directory unlocked

I've removed safety the disk, and when I do ntfsfix /dev/sdb1 it says:

raul@raulpc:~$ ntfsfix
ERROR: You must specify a device.
ntfsfix v1.12.1 (libntfs 8:1:0)

Usage: ntfsfix [options] device
    Attempt to fix an NTFS partition.

    -h, --help             Display this help
    -V, --version          Display version information

For example: ntfsfix /dev/hda6

Developers' email address: linux-ntfs-dev@lists.sourceforge.net
Linux NTFS homepage: http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net
raul@raulpc:~$ ntfsfix /dev/sdb1
Mounting volume... FAILED
Attempting to correct errors... 
Processing $MFT and $MFTMirr... 
Reading $MFT... OK
Reading $MFTMirr... OK
Comparing $MFTMirr to $MFT... OK
Processing of $MFT and $MFTMirr completed successfully.
Setting required flags on partition... FAILED
Error setting volume flags.

And I return to same point. Disk don't mount.

Thanks again.

[givré]

And I return to same point. Disk don't mount.

Yeah but there is a lot of progress.
The error you get is a common one. You probably forget to unmount your usbdisk, making it unclean, and that's why ntfs-3g don't want to mount it. The betst to do in that case is to boot on windows and plug your external device, and unmount it properly. Then boot on ubuntu, plug it, and that should works.

[szaka]

@icecubix: ntfsfix is old and broken in Ubuntu (version 1.12.1). You must install ntfsprogs 1.13.1 and use that ntfsfix which will fix your NTFS what Windows left in an inconsistent state. In the soon future ntfs-3g will include this functionality built-in, so only the usage of the -o force option will be required. Or just follow Givre's instructions