Unable to mount external USB hard drives

Bug #110210 reported by Kevin Francis

This bug report was converted into a question: question #22394: Unable to mount external USB hard drives.

38
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
hal (Ubuntu)
Invalid
Undecided
Unassigned

Bug Description

Please note that I found an identical bug report at https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/kdelibs/+bug/98751. However due to the fact that it remains unresolved, and is for a different version of the bug (the beta release of Feisty apparently) I am not sure whether I should comment there. Add to that the fact that I can't figure out how to resolve which package is in error here since it involves dbus, hal, konqueror and a few libraries, I am unwilling to commit it there.

After upgrading to Feisty I can no longer mount external USB hard drives. Note that I can mount flash based media with no problems -- they still behave as before.

Upon plugging in a USB drive, the KDE dialog pops up asking me what I'd like to do. When I click 'Open in a new window' nothing happens. Attempts to mount it via Konqueror's storage media view are futile as well. However, attempts to mount the drive manually are successful. If I navigate to the 'Storage Media' screen in Konqueror, and attempt to access the drive (it appears there, unmounted) I receive this error message: `hal-storage-removable-mount-all-options refused uid 1000`

I get this error with all four of my USB drives.

Below, I have included the /var/log/messages output.

Apr 26 16:30:29 aerie kernel: [146619.000000] usb 2-7: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 17
Apr 26 16:30:29 aerie kernel: [146619.284000] usb 2-7: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Apr 26 16:30:29 aerie kernel: [146619.284000] scsi12 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.320000] scsi 12:0:0:0: Direct-Access SAMSUNG HM100JC YN10 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.324000] SCSI device sdc: 195371568 512-byte hdwr sectors (100030 MB)
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.328000] sdc: Write Protect is off
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.332000] SCSI device sdc: 195371568 512-byte hdwr sectors (100030 MB)
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.336000] sdc: Write Protect is off
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.336000] sdc: sdc1
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.336000] sd 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sdc
Apr 26 16:30:34 aerie kernel: [146624.336000] sd 12:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg3 type 0

If anyone requires further information from me, please don't hesitate as I imagine this is causing a lot of grief for more than a few people (as evidenced by a few postings in the Ubuntu forums).

description: updated
Revision history for this message
json684 (json684) wrote :
Download full text (4.3 KiB)

I can confirm this behavior on my laptop too with a clean install of Feisty. Here is what I posted in the ubuntu forums, with as much info as I have figured out:

I have looked through the ubuntu forums and kubuntu forums and have found problems that are close to the same but not quite. So I have decided to start a new thread and hope it helps.

The Problem: In Kubuntu Feisty clean install my USB LaCie 160GB HD is not automounted, nor can a regular user mount it with ntfs-3g. I have install ntfs-3g and ntfs-config. I set both internal and external drives to be writeable. My WinXP partition mounts with ntfs-3g fine and dandy using fstab.

More Symptoms: Once plugged in a window pops up asking if I wish to open the folder or what not. I can try any of the options and the window goes away but the disk is not mounted. So I can then go into konqueror and to the Services tab on the side. I can click on the USB disk that shows up under Storage Media. I can click on it and I receive:

(Window Title: Error - Konqueror)
hal-storage-removable-mount-all-options refused uid 1000

If I try instead to right click on the drive and click mount I receive:
(Window Title: Error - kio_media_mounthelper)
hal-storage-removable-mount-all-options refused uid 1000

Next I tried using pmount-hal:

pmount-hal /dev/sdb1

and get this spit out:

libhal-storage.c 1401 : INFO: called LIBHAL_FREE_DBUS_ERROR but dbusError was not set.
process 9726: Applications must not close shared connections - see dbus_connection_close() docs. This is a bug in the application.

And I have read access but not write access. A glance at mtab reveals (last two lines):

/dev/disk/by-uuid/04F8E5B6F8E5A5E0 /media/winXP fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,blksize=4096 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/Arrowboxed ntfs rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=077,iocharset=utf8 0 0

Here the first line is my internal WinXP partition and the second line is my external HD. And it looks like the filesystem for my XP partition is fuseblk, and ntfs for the USB HD. So the next idea is to use the -t option in pmount to specify I want to use ntfs-3g. And I use:

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

And this results in:

libhal-storage.c 1401 : INFO: called LIBHAL_FREE_DBUS_ERROR but dbusError was not set.
process 9811: Applications must not close shared connections - see dbus_connection_close() docs. This is a bug in the application.
Error: invalid file system name 'ntfs-3g'
Error: could not execute pmount

And indeed it does not mount. So I figure okay, lets try just mount:

sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

And it is mounted with read access only for root only. And again mtab has:

/dev/disk/by-uuid/04F8E5B6F8E5A5E0 /media/winXP fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,blksize=4096 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 ntfs rw 0 0

Which appears to mean that it is mounted with the old ntfs driver. So it's back to unmounting and trying to specify ntfs-3g with mount:

sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1

And the HD is now mounted with read and write for everyone. And mtab reads:

/dev/disk/by-uuid/04F8E5B6F8E5A5E0 /media/winXP fuseblk rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,allow_other,blksize=4096 0 0
/dev/sdb1 /media/sdb1 fu...

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Revision history for this message
themroc (rauchweihe) wrote :

I have exactly the same problem. After updating and after a new installation of feisty.
With Egdy I have had no Problems to mount, read and write to my external NTFS-media.

rauchweihe

Revision history for this message
themroc (rauchweihe) wrote :

Perhaps there is a relation between the error on mounting the external NTFS_media and an error at the internal NTFS-Media in GParted: see Attachment.

Revision history for this message
Maurice (m1625) wrote :

The only way I can mount my removable ntfs drive is to do a 'force' mount. If I configure fstab for a normal ntfs-3g mount, I am advised that my removable drive is dirty and requires chkdsk. This I have done, once before a full defrag and once after. On both occasions, chkdsk /f rendered no errors. If I do a reboot, mount cannot find the drive as its name has changed from sdb5 to sdc5, requiring a further edit of fstab to get things running properly. Any suggestions to fix this annoying little bug would be most welcome

Revision history for this message
Axel Plinge (axel-plinge) wrote :

same here. mounting removable media with ntfs-3g fails since feisty.
I manually put
/dev/sdf5 /media/pocket ntfs-3g rw,user,allow_other 0 0
in the fstab after creating the directory, that resolved it for me.

Revision history for this message
Maurice (m1625) wrote : Re: [Bug 110210] Re: Unable to mount external USB hard drives

Axel, thanks. Unfortunately your suggested amendment to fstab did not
work for me. Feisty still complains that my removable drive is 'dirty'
and requires a 'force' mount. It was well worth a try anyway. Thanks
again.

Axel Plinge wrote:
> same here. mounting removable media with ntfs-3g fails since feisty.
> I manually put
> /dev/sdf5 /media/pocket ntfs-3g rw,user,allow_other 0 0
> in the fstab after creating the directory, that resolved it for me.
>
>

--
I use Ubuntu 7.04...
ubuntu - linux for human beings <http://www.ubuntu.com>

Revision history for this message
Sergey Romanov (sml-uni) wrote :

I have had a something similar problem in Debian etch. An NTFS-formatted USB drive *would* actuallly get mounted, but I couldn't browse the filesystem or change into it as normal user (only as root) and Konqueror gave that same message: 'hal-storage-removable-mount-all-options refused uid NNNN'. I solved it with umask option in /etc/fstab:
/dev/sda1 /media/usb auto rw,user,noauto,umask=0002

Revision history for this message
petkostas (petkostas) wrote :

@Sergey That is not an option, manual entering the information in fstan removes the auto-mounting features in KDE or GNOME, just imagine having to manually enter in fstab every usb external drive!
This is a HAL - KDE Problem (propably HAL policy issue) and we need to search in that way. Removing the "Mount as user" option from the properties of the device allows the device to get mounted, but it refuses access to it by normal users (only root can see its files).

Revision history for this message
themroc (rauchweihe) wrote :

When I connect an external USB-NTFS-Harddrive at Kubuntu Feisty, then I can choose in the Popup-window with appears “open in a new window”. As known, nothing happens. But when I then open krusader in administrator-mode and click on the star and choose media, then I can see the auto given name from the external USB-NTFS-Harddrive together with the other media. When I now go into the directory with the name from the external USB-NTFS-Harddrive, then the auto mounting process continue. A desktop button appears. I can open and see all files as normal user. I can choose the dialog “Safely Remove” as normal user and the external USB-NTFS-Harddrive will be unmounted and the button disappear and I can disconnect the external USB-NTFS-Harddrive.

Sorry for my English. I hope everybody can understand, what I mean.

Revision history for this message
petkostas (petkostas) wrote :

Seems it is a problem with kio_media_mounthelper:
pestilence@pestilence-laptop:~$ pmount /dev/sda5
pestilence@pestilence-laptop:~$ mount -l
/dev/hda4 on / type reiserfs (rw,notail) []
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
/sys on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
varrun on /var/run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=0755)
varlock on /var/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,mode=1777)
procbususb on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
udev on /dev type tmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devshm on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
lrm on /lib/modules/2.6.20-16-generic/volatile type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/hda2 on /media/C type ntfs (rw,nls=utf8,umask=007,uid=0,gid=46) [LEVIATHAN]
/dev/sda5 on /media/sda5 type ntfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=077,iocharset=utf8) [DOWNLOADS]

But running as user:
pestilence@pestilence-laptop:~$ kio_media_mounthelper media:/sda5
Reports with pop-up:
hal-storage-removable-mount-all-options refused uid 1000 (my userid that is).

Revision history for this message
petkostas (petkostas) wrote :

Additionaly I believe this should be followed as well:
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=402649

Revision history for this message
petkostas (petkostas) wrote :

Some debug info of hal after enabling it with verbose flag and syslog output.

Revision history for this message
honza-kubuntu (molex1) wrote :

I have Kubuntu 7,04 as you said I had no problem on 6,10 with mounting external NTFS HDD (USB2,0 - SATA II 320GB Seagate HDD with NTFS).

Kubuntu 6,10:
honza@kubuntu:~$ dmesg | tail
[17182146.204000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[17182146.208000] SCSI device sda: 625142448 512-byte hdwr sectors (320073 MB)
[17182146.208000] sda: Write Protect is off
[17182146.208000] sda: Mode Sense: 38 00 00 00
[17182146.208000] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[17182146.208000] sda: sda1
[17182146.224000] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda
[17182146.224000] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
[17182160.100000] NTFS-fs warning (device sda1): parse_options(): Option iocharset is deprecated. Please use option nls=<charsetname> in the future.
[17182164.200000] NTFS volume version 3.1.
honza@kubuntu:~$

Kubuntu 7,04:
honza@kubuntu:~$ dmesg | tail
[ 3890.876140] sda: Write Protect is off
[ 3890.876145] sda: Mode Sense: 38 00 00 00
[ 3890.876149] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[ 3890.877244] SCSI device sda: 625142448 512-byte hdwr sectors (320073 MB)
[ 3890.879535] sda: Write Protect is off
[ 3890.879544] sda: Mode Sense: 38 00 00 00
[ 3890.879547] sda: assuming drive cache: write through
[ 3890.879552] sda: sda1
[ 3890.896370] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi disk sda
[ 3890.896438] sd 1:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
honza@kubuntu:~$

Revision history for this message
json684 (json684) wrote :

So the fix that has been found is once the external hard drive has been found right click and open up its properties. And then uncheck the mount as user box. Worked for me and some others. Not sure why it works either though.

Revision history for this message
80daniele80 (80daniele80) wrote :

I had the same problem... i've tried to launch my Kubuntu Feisty with kernel
2.6.17-11 and now all works fine... i think it could be a kernel 2.6.20-15issue.

Daniele

2007/6/28, json684 <email address hidden>:
>
> So the fix that has been found is once the external hard drive has been
> found right click and open up its properties. And then uncheck the mount
> as user box. Worked for me and some others. Not sure why it works either
> though.
>
> --
> Unable to mount external USB hard drives
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/110210
> You received this bug notification because you are a bug contact for hal
> in ubuntu.
>

Revision history for this message
Taboom (taboom) wrote :

Thanks json684. I've had this problem ever since Feisty was released (that's when I started using Feisty) and now I solved it with unchecking the "Mount as user". Thank you so much for this info! What a simple solution for this problem :)

Revision history for this message
Sujee Maniyam (sujee) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Alexandre Brouet (alexandre-brouet) wrote :

I could solve the problem by unchecking the "mount as user" option, but first I had to boot under Windows and make the disk "unmounted" properly with the below-right icon in the taskbar.
hope it can help someone solve the bug.

Revision history for this message
icky999 (icky999) wrote :

Hi I am a complete novice on Linux and don.t really understand how to change settings?
I have a 160 gig Toshiba external HD and have until recently been able to mount this drive and back up or access my photos private info etc but am now unable to mount this HD.
I have tried to mount using right click reloading the drive, rebooting the system and getting updates just in case that cured my problem but to no avail.
I would appreciate any help that would resolve this problem for me.
I changed from Windows because I was fed up with all their problems etc, and until now have been happy with Linux, it has done almost all I have asked of it.
I am running Fiesty Fawn not sure which version, but constantly apply updates as they appear.

Changed in hal:
status: New → Invalid
Revision history for this message
buntu_hugenewbie11 (dwozniak) wrote :

I have the Hal problem in Gutsy.

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