Linux Lite Forums - [CLOSED] Installation Follow-up "Partition Mounting" Dilema

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Hello All,

Having partitioned and installed, which all appeared to go O.K,
I'm now at a point where I don't want to break things.
I'm trying to figure out, how to mount the partitions I created.
I'm trying to follow: https://www.linuxliteos.com/manual/install.html

In Thunar file manager, system files(/ root .?)
I see folders that correspond to the partitions/names I created:
/linwin
/myfiles
/myvms
does this mean they are mounted, just not in the right place.?
In my Linux naivety I thought they would show up as Drives.?

(First a confession, jumping the gun, I used the Menu > System > "NTFS Configuration Tool" to make the NTFS partition /linwin writable?)

if I do $ sudo blkid I have 2 disks sdb4 is the [extended] partition

Code:
/dev/zram0: UUID="1be8d1be-031a-4102-8be7-0df3f79a422f" TYPE="swap" 

/dev/sda1: UUID="85bb35c9-1a52-4f2e-8b44-b539f14fcc4d" TYPE="ext4" 

/dev/sdb1: UUID="6dc2bc5a-c0e5-450e-bf71-e65cc33f19e2" TYPE="swap" 

/dev/sdb2: UUID="bb79cb58-ea6c-4a48-9820-61fe46f18854" TYPE="ext4" 

/dev/sdb3: UUID="c0c7dfde-b76c-4116-b83e-434dab6e18b9" TYPE="ext4" 

/dev/sdb5: UUID="3a7d9dbc-2cba-4ca1-8ec4-36c8d6852286" TYPE="ext4" 

/dev/sdb6: LABEL="linwin" UUID="747D4C9C1EFAD1F2" TYPE="ntfs"

If I do $sudo leafpad /etc/fstab

Code:
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.

#

# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>

proc    /proc    proc    nodev,noexec,nosuid    0    0

#Entry for /dev/sda1 :

UUID=85bb35c9-1a52-4f2e-8b44-b539f14fcc4d    /    ext4    errors=remount-ro    0    1

#Entry for /dev/sdb1 :

UUID=6dc2bc5a-c0e5-450e-bf71-e65cc33f19e2    none    swap    sw    0    0

#Entry for /dev/sdb2 :

UUID=bb79cb58-ea6c-4a48-9820-61fe46f18854    /home    ext4    defaults    0    2

#Entry for /dev/sdb3 :

UUID=c0c7dfde-b76c-4116-b83e-434dab6e18b9    /myfiles    ext4    defaults    0    2

#Entry for /dev/sdb5 :

UUID=3a7d9dbc-2cba-4ca1-8ec4-36c8d6852286    /myvms    ext4    defaults    0    2

#Entry for /dev/sdb6 :

UUID=747D4C9C1EFAD1F2    /linwin    ntfs-3g    defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8    0    0

I think the /dev/sdb6 looks a bit odd..?? see my confession above, have I broken sdb6)

So I'm not clear what I do next.?

In the guide it shows for:
NTFS

Code:
UUID=0463741f-a838-40c8-b40f-3dbb7f988e29 /home/user/ntfsfiles ntfs defaults,umask=007,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

ext4

Code:
UUID=0463741f-a838-40c8-b40f-3dbb7f988e29 /home/user/ext4files ext4 defaults 0 2

Do I just add /home/user in front of my:
/home/user/myfiles ext4 defaults 0 2
/home/user/myvms ext4 defaults 0 2

and the ntfs partition, given my confession.?
/home/user/linwin ntfs defaults,umask=007,uid=1000,gid=1000 0 0

changing "user" to my actual user name.?

Any help very much appreciated.

Many Thanks...
Dave

Note: My answers below are mostly going to be using terminal commands rather than GUI methods -- sorry in advance, but it is much easier than trying to explain where to point, click, look over there, then click this, etc.... Also, I'm not used to doing things like below with GUI, so I'd have to experiment myself first before I could explain operation to you.

(03-27-2014, 08:45 PM)Wirezfree link Wrote: [ -> ]In Thunar file manager, system files(/ root .?)
I see folders that correspond to the partitions/names I created:
/linwin
/myfiles
/myvms
does this mean they are mounted, just not in the right place.?

If you mean that you see those files after clicking on "/" in Thunar, then they are mounted in that location (simply "/linwin", rather than my prior examples where it would have been a mount point of "/mnt/linwin"). They are fine like that but it is more a standard practice to mount things under either /mnt, /media, /home, or /home/yourusername. As long as the name you pick for the mount point does not conflict with an already existing system directory name, you can mount it straight under "/" (root) as you have. You can make your mount points anywhere you want in the file system, but the most common convention is what I stated above.

(03-27-2014, 08:45 PM)Wirezfree link Wrote: [ -> ]In my Linux naivety I thought they would show up as Drives.?

I think (but am not positive on this) that if you had mounted the partitions to "/media" (like /media/linwin), or /media/yourusername, then they would end up with visible drive icons on Desktop and in Places menu. Other mount points will not -- you have to navigate to those mount points in the file system with Thunar to see there contents. You can create bookmarks of them in Thunar to list them under Places on the left of Thunar for easy, quick access. To do that, click just "/" on left side of Thunar; look in right half that now lists the contents of "/"; click and drag the "/linwin" directory (for example) over to the left and put it under Places. Then every time you open Thunar it will show up under Places on the left.

(03-27-2014, 08:45 PM)Wirezfree link Wrote: [ -> ]I think the /dev/sdb6 looks a bit odd..?? see my confession above, have I broken sdb6)

I don't have any Windows partitions myself, so not an expert on their entries; but from this tutorial from Ubuntu, it looks like the better way to write the /etc/fstab line for the /linwin partition would be:

Code:
UUID=747D4C9C1EFAD1F2    /linwin    ntfs-3g    defaults,windows_names,locale=en_US.utf8    0    0

My guess is that the line shown in the LL help manual is just another way to accomplish the above.

(03-27-2014, 08:45 PM)Wirezfree link Wrote: [ -> ]Do I just add /home/user in front of my:
/home/user/myfiles ext4 defaults 0 2
/home/user/myvms ext4 defaults 0 2
...
changing "user" to my actual user name.?

NO. You would only do that if your actual mount point was "/home/wirezfree/myfiles", etc. The entries in /etc/fstab correspond to where you made the mount points for the partitions. (Mount point = where in the file system you decide to attach the files that are on a partition. You access them by navigating to that point in the file system directly, or by creating links to them in a more convenient location -- like your home directory.)

All of the mount points and /etc/fstab entries, with possible exception of /linwin entry, look good as they are right now.

When you correct the /linwin entry in /etc/fstab, that mount point will work. You will have access to it and be able to read/write to it because the permissions for that are built into the fstab entry line.

I don't know about the others though. That is what you need to confirm and/or set-up next. Since I've never set the mount points through the installer, I don't know how it sets things up. Open a terminal and enter the following command so we can see what the permissions and owners are set for on those mount points:

Code:
ls -l /

(Thats lowercase "LS", space, "-", lowercase "L", space, "/")

Copy/Paste the output from that command back here for us to see.

Hi gold_finger,

Again, many thanks for all the assistance, much appreciated.
I need to re-read all you comments again, when it's not to late/early 01:45
A couple of comments, I can read/write to /linwin, but not /myfile or /myvms
Also there is a lost+found folder in each of the folders

I think that is what I think I understand from the ls -l /

Code:
wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ls -l /

total 112

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root 12288 Mar 27 15:24 bin

drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Mar 27 15:25 boot

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Mar 27 13:07 cdrom

drwxr-xr-x  16 root root  4260 Mar 28 01:34 dev

drwxr-xr-x 132 root root 12288 Mar 28 01:34 etc

drwxr-xr-x   4 root root  4096 Mar 27 13:07 home

lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    32 Mar 27 13:08 initrd.img -> boot/initrd.img-3.8.0-34-generic

drwxr-xr-x  24 root root  4096 Mar 27 15:24 lib

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Dec 26 12:37 lib64

lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    36 Mar 27 15:24 libnss3.so -> /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libnss3.so

drwxrwxrwx   1 root root  4096 Mar 28 01:37 linwin

drwx------   2 root root 16384 Dec 26 12:22 lost+found

drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Mar 27 19:51 media

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Jan 16 06:26 mnt

drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Mar 27 12:44 myfiles

drwxr-xr-x   3 root root  4096 Mar 27 12:44 myvms

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Dec 26 12:28 opt

dr-xr-xr-x 169 root root     0 Mar 28 01:34 proc

drwx------  14 root root  4096 Mar 27 23:41 root

drwxr-xr-x  21 root root   760 Mar 28 01:34 run

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Mar 27 15:24 sbin

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Mar  5  2012 selinux

drwxr-xr-x   2 root root  4096 Dec 26 12:28 srv

dr-xr-xr-x  13 root root     0 Mar 28 01:34 sys

drwxrwxrwt   8 root root  4096 Mar 28 01:39 tmp

drwxr-xr-x  12 root root  4096 Dec 30 02:50 usr

drwxr-xr-x  11 root root  4096 Mar 28 01:18 var

lrwxrwxrwx   1 root root    29 Mar 27 13:08 vmlinuz -> boot/vmlinuz-3.8.0-34-generic

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$

Again, many thanks
Dave

The lost+found folders are normal.

This will allow you to read/write into /myfiles and /myvms.

Code:
sudo chown -R wirezfree: /myfiles /myvms

Next you'll want to create directories for your Documents, Pictures, etc. in them. After that, if you have an identically named directory already in your home directory, you need to delete that before creating a symlink to the mounted partition.

If you want "Documents" to be in your /myfiles partition, you would delete the existing "Documents" folder under /home/wirezfree. Create a "Documents" folder in /myfiles. Then create a symlink that connects the two. When you're done, you will then see a "Documents" folder under your home, but the actual location of items you create and delete in it is /myfile/Documents.

Delete "Documents" folder under your home.

If the terminal is already in /home/wirezfree (which is its default location when you first open a terminal), you would enter:

Code:
rmdir Documents

If you had moved to look through a different directory and are still there, you would need to enter the full path to the location (the full path could also be used when you're located in /home/wirezfree):

Code:
rmdir /home/wirezfree/Documents

Create "Documents" folder under /myfiles.

Code:
mkdir /myfiles/Documents

Create a symlink connecting the two locations:

Code:
ln -s /myfiles/Documents /home/wirezfree

That's it. Just do similar procedure for other directories and you're all set.

P.s. For further information on some of these things:

Understanding and Using File Permissions

Mounting Partitions Automatically

Introduction to the Command Line

Good book covering basics of Linux is fifth one down the page here, called Introduction to Linux - A Hands on Guide
Linux Documentation Project Guides

Hello gold_finger,

What can I say, thank you so very much for all your help and assistance.
Can I just clarify something from you previous/previous reply, I looked at the Ubuntu Link you gave also, still not quite clear.?

My current fstab:

Code:
UUID=747D4C9C1EFAD1F2    /linwin    ntfs-3g    defaults,locale=en_US.UTF-8    0    0

Suggested fstab:

Code:
UUID=747D4C9C1EFAD1F2    /linwin    ntfs-3g    defaults,windows_names,locale=en_US.utf8    0    0

The: windows_names Do I use that, or do I have to substitute with something..??

(( Note, I spotted an anomaly with the locale, it was: en_US.UTF-8.0, I have corrected now to: en_GB.UTF-8 ))
(( I corrected it in Language options, will use the correct in fstab. I'm sure I selected correctly during the install.?))

I have gone through everything, I feel reasonably confident...
I guess whilst I did my homework, maybe needed a little bit more.
Now I understand the partitions path a little more I should have planned just a little further ahead.
Is there likely to be any downside to what I have done.?,
I could do a complete re-install, and do it correctly this time.?.

Will post back ASAP.

Many Thanks... David

Yes, you do use the "windows_names" as shown in the fstab entry.

Making the change to en_GB.UTF-8 is correct also. However, (not in relation to fstab entries) I do remember another poster from a few weeks ago reporting some quirky behavior resulting from his selecting that over en_US during installation. I could not seem to duplicate his problem when doing some testing, so it may have just been specific to his machine for some reason. Just something to keep an eye on. Here is that post: https://www.linuxliteos.com/forums/index...opic=127.0. Let us know if you experience any similar issues.

Quote:I have gone through everything, I feel reasonably confident...
I guess whilst I did my homework, maybe needed a little bit more.

I'll tell you right now that you are already way ahead of most people starting out. I can tell from your replies that you have done good research ahead of time and already have a much, much better grasp on things than the average beginner! It does take some time before things really start to make sense, since some things are so different than what you may be used to; but at some point things will just click and you'll have an "Aha" moment. After that, things will get much easier. You're off to a great start -- you'll be just fine.

Quote:Is there likely to be any downside to what I have done.?,
I could do a complete re-install, and do it correctly this time.?.

There is no "downside" to what you've done. You may change your mind on how you'd like to organize and set things up, but what you've done here is perfectly good. I'd venture a guess that the vast majority of people using Linux have all gone through multiple installations testing different set-ups and different Linux distributions. It's quite common for people to make changes as they start learning more and discover ways of doing things that might be better, but they just didn't know they could do. I can't even count how many installations I've done over the 3-4 years I've been using Linux! When I first started, I probably made every mistake in the book! The best thing about Linux is that it's extremely easy and quick to just re-install the OS if you botch things up so bad that you can't fix them. Just be sure to always have your important data backed up. If you do that, feel free to experiment all you want. Worst thing that can happen is that you'll have to re-install -- which takes all of 30 minutes. (Botching things up and trying to fix them is actually one of the best ways to learn.)

Good luck and have fun with it.

Hi gold_finger,

Many thanks again, much appreciated.
Noted on the ntfs entry for fstab.
Followed your guide, tested 1st change, all seemed to go O.K, then repeated.
I can read/write fine to the directories.

Code:
wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ sudo chown -R wirezfree: /myfiles /myvms

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ rmdir Documents

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ln -s /myfiles/Documents /home/wirezfree

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ rmdir Music

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ rmdir Pictures

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ rmdir Videos

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ln -s /myfiles/Music /home/wirezfree

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ln -s /myfiles/Pictures /home/wirezfree

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ln -s /myfiles/Videos /home/wirezfree

There was one oddity, it maybe normal.?.
The properties of the Documents and Other folder links are different,
see picture/attachment (not figured out how to insert image/png.?)

Regards - David

[attachment deleted by admin, more than 25 days old]

That is odd.

Post back output of this in terminal:

Code:
ls -l

and

Code:
ls -l /myfiles

(Make sure you do that while terminal opened in your home directory. Terminal opens there by default. For future reference, if exploring the file system with the terminal, typing "cd ~" will put you back to your home directory.)

Hi gold_finger

I was just going to post an update,
I noticed after a re-boot, it looked the same, but here are the outputs

Code:
wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ls -l

total 20

drwxr-xr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree 4096 Mar 27 13:07 Desktop

lrwxrwxrwx 1 wirezfree wirezfree   18 Mar 28 15:54 Documents -> /myfiles/Documents

drwxr-xr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree 4096 Mar 28 19:16 Downloads

lrwxrwxrwx 1 wirezfree wirezfree   14 Mar 28 16:03 Music -> /myfiles/Music

lrwxrwxrwx 1 wirezfree wirezfree   17 Mar 28 16:03 Pictures -> /myfiles/Pictures

drwxrwxrwx 2 wirezfree wirezfree 4096 Mar 27 17:32 Public

drwxr-xr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree 4096 Mar 27 13:07 Templates

lrwxrwxrwx 1 wirezfree wirezfree   15 Mar 28 16:04 Videos -> /myfiles/Videos

drwxrwxr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree 4096 Mar 27 21:11 XText

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$

and

Code:
wirezfree@asuslinux:~$ ls -l /myfiles

total 40

drwxrwxr-x 9 wirezfree wirezfree  4096 Mar 28 18:19 Documents

drwx------ 2 wirezfree wirezfree 16384 Mar 27 12:44 lost+found

drwxrwxr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree  4096 Mar 28 15:57 Music

drwxrwxr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree  4096 Mar 28 16:22 Pictures

drwxrwxr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree  4096 Mar 28 16:02 Videos

drwxrwxr-x 2 wirezfree wirezfree  4096 Mar 28 14:58 Xdownload

-rwxrwxrwx 1 wirezfree wirezfree    19 Mar 28 14:51 x_part_myfiles.txt

wirezfree@asuslinux:~$

I think at this time, everything is looking O.K.?

Just working through some other things,
Network all working and working with my NAS, Networked printer which is Wireless working fine.
So far so good. (fingers crossed),, I'm sure I will have more questions.

I have now done a full image(both disks) backup with Redo offline,
Now need to look at a backup application for day to day files

Again, Many Thanks... David

ps
I keep all the useful information in a great little application, you may know it "CherryTree"
I have a Linux File with all information cross linked, and url's, it works great for me,
I have added some of your information in it for future reference.
I share the data with Windows version, it's open source/cross-platform
http://www.giuspen.com/cherrytree/

Output shows everything is good.

No idea why that properties page looks different for the "Documents" directory -- but it IS set-up right, so no worries.

Thanks for the Cherry Tree link! I've never heard of that one, but looks interesting. Will definitely download and play around with it sometime this weekend.

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