Can't access external Toshiba drive

jeffneedle · 2016-10-24 05:57

Hi. Using a fresh install of Q4OS, 64-bit. I have an external Toshiba 500 meg drive installed. I can't access it with any file manager, or with VLC (I store some videos on the Toshiba device). I've tried the default file manager (Krusader), PCManFM, and Thunar, and none of them are able to see the drive. If memory serves me correctly, it's formatted as NTSF, but I can't verify that, since I can't read the drive. I've installed NTFS Config and used it to set read and write permissions, but still no luck. Any ideas? Thanks.

Last edited by jeffneedle (2016-10-24 06:06)

bin · 2016-10-24 06:58

Well, it *should* just be available read only via My Computer>Storage Media

Q4OS includes the ntfs-3g driver so it would help to get some more feedback from your machine

I don't know what other devices you have installed, but assuming this is the only USB drive then it will be sdb1

Plug in the drive, open a terminal and enter

sudo blkid /dev/sdb1

If it gives nothing back then it probably isn't mounted.

Next:-
sudo mkdir /mnt/windows
sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /mnt/toshiba

Then use a file manager to go to /mnt/toshiba and see if there's anything there.

If the mount command fails please report the result

jeffneedle · 2016-10-24 07:09

Everything working well. And yes, the drive *does* appear under My Computer>Storage Media

Attempting to mount gives this message:

jeff@jeff:~$ sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /mnt/toshiba
Mount is denied because the NTFS volume is already exclusively opened.
The volume may be already mounted, or another software may use it which
could be identified for example by the help of the 'fuser' command.

Interesting. I don't know what all this means.

Thanks so much for the help and I hope we can get past this problem.

bin · 2016-10-24 07:36

Ah - sorry I misunderstood - I thought it was a mount issue.

I take it that though the drive appears in Storage Media it just won't show any content.

MY BAD here
sudo mkdir /mnt/windows - that should have been /mnt/toshiba - not /mnt/windows
sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /mnt/toshiba

Apologies for that - not had coffee yet.

I also have an external 500gb Toshiba but it was formatted NTFS using linux.

You might want to install gnome-disk-utility - I use it exclusively to power down a USB drive before removing. Safely remove doesn't always do that, but if you use the normal unmount method via the USB Media icon, then use gnome-disk-utility you can select the drive and click the power button top right of the window which will power it off rather than that horrible ping/whee noise you can get when pulling the connection.

So, do that, then re-plug in the drive to clear any confusion in mtab.

Right click on the drive in Storage Media>Properties>Permissions
It should show:-
Owner View and Modify
Group Forbidden
Others Forbidden

Then down the bottom it should show both Ownership User and Group as you.

Is that the case?

ghostdawg · 2016-10-24 15:47

I also have a 500gb ext. HDD, generic since I put the drive inside an ext. enclosure. Q4OS found and mounted it automagically. It is also formated as NTFS. Mine is listed under /media/ghostdawg/6B82A265151273E71 (UUID).

Next time after a boot, maybe power the drive off and on or unplug it and plug it back in, see if that helps,

jeffneedle · 2016-10-24 19:05

Well, I've followed the directions, and the response to sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /mnt/toshiba is exactly the same as the previous attempt -- see post above. But then I decided to unmount the drive and rerun the sudo mount command -- success!!!!! I now have access to the drive. Thanks to everyone for your help. Oh, and to the kind person who blamed no coffee -- I am sometimes unable to properly state my problems. Old age, stroke, all of that. I have to muddle through the best I can. Again, my deepest thanks to all for your great help!

bin · 2016-10-25 05:45

That's good news, glad to be of help.

If you use the drive regularly then there is a further tweak you can do - well there are several depending on what you want to achieve.

If you're happy that the above works for you then that's great

Q4OS Forum

#1 2016-10-24 05:57

Can't access external Toshiba drive

#2 2016-10-24 06:58

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

#3 2016-10-24 07:09

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

#4 2016-10-24 07:36

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

#5 2016-10-24 15:47

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

#6 2016-10-24 19:05

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

#7 2016-10-25 05:45

Re: Can't access external Toshiba drive

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