Hard drive mounted on media is causing issues

[drifting lion]

Programs don't load until I manually open my hdd in files or sometimes not working at all. So, I'm looking for help on how and where should I mount on

[crystal mist]

you can edit the mount point in disks app and select it to mount on startup

[drifting lion]

Where would you recommend mounting it in. I use it for gaming as well.

[crystal mist]

/media/games

[drifting lion]

Do I just need edit mount point to /media/games? Also do I need to change file system type from auto to ext4 and identify as to dev/sbd2 or something else?

[void basalt]

I recommend in /home/$user/games

make the folder first ofc.

then type exact path in that field saying Mount Point

ofc replace $user with your own user account name

[drifting lion]

Thank you for responding. I mounted my home on SSD, so when I switch distro and wipe my SSD will it delete everything on my hard drive?

[void basalt]

no the data resides on the hard drive.

[drifting lion]

What about the filesytem type and identify as do I leave me as it is?

[void basalt]

leave alone as is

setting a mount point (ie: assigning a folder in the linux file structure) is similar to assigning a drive letter in Windows.

samples of folder names used as mountpoint locations:

• E-drive
• HDD2
• MyBigDrive
• Other
• Western Digital 500

I prefer no spaces in stuff cuz it's easier to deal with in case of manual CLI stuff

you can later also drag the folder to the left pane in the file manager's "Bookmarks" or "locations" area to set a bookmark to it there

[drifting lion]

Thanks a lot. This was very helpful.

[void basalt]

also, if you do keep a separate drive or partition for userhome, then if you distrohop later, you can do the "Something Else" advanced setup, and make it so NOT to overwrite home partition, but still have it mount that in /home. That way you keep your settings n pics n stuff.

[drifting lion]

In that case, where would I mount my hard drive if home inside of it.

[void basalt]

you'd repeat the process of making a mountpoint manual again either in Disks application or by direct editing the new system's fstab file

eg:

• current SSD or HDD having linux main install on it
• current home partition related to the above lives on a 2nd SSD
• games hard drive manually added to automount somewhere

in the above example, if you change distros at some point, or reinstall the same one, you'd have the linux filesystem root (represented as /) be in a main ext4 partition of the first bullet point. (and tick the Format tickbox)

and you'd tell the installer to set the second bullet point above device to use as or mount in: /home and NOT tick the Format tickbox.

[drifting lion]

Thanks, I understand the Linux file system a lot better now. I have one final question, can I add anything to folder where my HDD is located on, will it mess it up?

[void basalt]

you may add whatever to the games drive or remove stuff. Just bear in mind, if it is NTFS, and u use linux to write to it a lot, it may go a bit screwy on u. You'll need Windows tools (chkdsk) to correct the filesystem every so often

• Hirens Boot CD PE is a live repair OS which also contains a Windows-like interface and comes with command prompt for chkdsk

if you're going to use the HDD on Linux full time, best to wipe it and reformat to ext4 for a much better overall experience.

[drifting lion]

It's already in ext4 format but thanks anyway

Will it cause me problems in the future?

[void basalt]

it's fine to leave it. that space can be used for an EFI partition way way down the road if u ever choose to make that disk bootable and with an OS.

it's not taking much so leave it

[drifting lion]

Thanks. That's all the question I had to ask, should I edit the post to solved.

[void basalt]

yes please do

[drifting lion]

Done. Thanks again!

[drifting lion]

I should have checked earlier

When I try to unmount, I get this error

[void basalt]

um make sure letters match precisely

from what u entered in the Disks app.

plus u need a restart.

[drifting lion]

They are matching and I restarted the pc

[void basalt]

check the Disks app now.

[drifting lion]

Maybe it has do something with file system label?

[void basalt]

not really.

if it identifies by UUID, it shouldnt matter

so i guess if u dont see a play symbol in the hard drive rectangle in Disks, then it really did not mount

see if u can straighten it out

[drifting lion]

I see play a button? let me send screenshot

[void basalt]

click the blue text under the diagram

[drifting lion]

I clicked but the results are the same

it takes me back here

[void basalt]

then change the label to match the folder name exactly

[drifting lion]

Okay

[void basalt]

if u want

ur steamapps folder is there, what's the problem?

[drifting lion]

There were many other files and it should show free space of 850gibs instead of the 122gb which is the free space for my ssd

[void basalt]

ah

[drifting lion]

I renamed it, but its the same

I will try restarting give me a sec

[void basalt]

ur drive's almost full. that is what the file manager is telling you.

you can use the program Disk Usage Analyzer to see what's taking up so much of your hard drive.

[drifting lion]

no its showing drive

[void basalt]

both drives have 135 GB free

[drifting lion]

This some kind error

both drive merged or something like

Because hdd always had around 150 or under

[void basalt]

notice Size of data, and the number of files. does it sound right?

[drifting lion]

If go home dir or anywhere my ssd is located shows storage of 122

[drifting lion]

No they are different

[void basalt]

ur on Mint Cinnamon right?

[drifting lion]

yes'

[void basalt]

ok

close all file managers

then just open one

[drifting lion]

okay

[void basalt]

then click the pathbar at the top, and the little dot arrow beside it to enter text

then put in /home/<youruser>/HDD-1tb

and press enter

what do you see?

[drifting lion]

same thing as before

[void basalt]

go back to this. press the stop button. Does it unmount?

[drifting lion]

I get the error

[void basalt]

ah

[drifting lion]

and steam shows my ssd with name of hdd

[void basalt]

yeah i see the size there

ok we'll see if can fix

close steam fully

make sure it's not in tray or anywhere

[drifting lion]

Okay done

[void basalt]

open terminal and do lsblk

then show pic

sudo umount /dev/sdb2

ready?

ok next do sudo fsck /dev/sdb2

let it run til done

[drifting lion]

ok

[void basalt]

some server thing using the drive?

[drifting lion]

I don't understand

[void basalt]

is there an application like file share app that is running in background?

[drifting lion]

Yeah discs and files were running

let me retry

[void basalt]

besides that though. no media server thing

i guess yeah close those two anyway

[drifting lion]

I'm using discord from firefox

[void basalt]

that's fine

show your home partition highlighted in Disks app

oh you dont have a separate home partition

thought u did.

that is the root partition anyway,.

[drifting lion]

oh

[void basalt]

the hard drive only had steamapps right?

[drifting lion]

it had 10 or more folders

[void basalt]

did any of those folders begin with a dot in the name?

[drifting lion]

Many because I checked hidden files

[void basalt]

ok so just open file manager, and press ctrl H and view the drive now

[drifting lion]

Sorry can we continue tomorrow, where I am from it's past 11:30

[void basalt]

yes but just check the last thing.

what appears?

click the device representing the hard drive

[drifting lion]

same result

[void basalt]

or the HDD-1tb folder in the home

anyway run Disk Usage Analyzer like I said before

and point it to that disk. it should find all the stuff. tomorrow u can redo the mount.

[drifting lion]

ok

I'm getting this

Sorry I'm logging off

[void basalt]

bit weird the 2nd pic. hover or click those red ringlike sectors. what are the folders?

alright ttyl

[drifting lion]

@void basalt lmk when you are available

[drifting lion]

Hello @void basalt could we continue from where we left off yesterday

[void basalt]

hello, ok

make a new mount folder in /mnt/

[drifting lion]

on it

It's greyed out

[void basalt]

then backup the fstab file in /etc/

[void basalt]

go up one level, r-click & open as root

[drifting lion]

Okay I created a folder

[void basalt]

go here in root file mgr,and make a copy as fstab.bak

then open Disks app

[drifting lion]

where is mgr

[void basalt]

there you will find the drive, click the gear and mount options

manager

[void basalt]

u will undo the mount at startup thing. and set the toggle to use user defaults to on

[drifting lion]

I can't find fstab.bak

where do I look for it

[void basalt]

you will then hilight and copy the UUID of that drive

[void basalt]

/etc

there is no fstab.bak til u make a copy of fstab there

and name it such

[drifting lion]

so I just need to name a folder as fstab.bak in etc?

[void basalt]

then while still in root file mgr, open fstab

[void basalt]

copy n paste fstab to same location, then rename one

[drifting lion]

same location as in etc?

[void basalt]

then delete the line regarding yesterdays's entry for the hdd

[void basalt]

yes

[void basalt]

then after deleting that line replace it with:
UUID=<paste the uuid from Disks>

on that same line. press Tab and fill in the rest

reflecting new mountpoint place in /mnt/whatever-no-spaces

folder name should have no spaces in name, and mind the exact lettercase

[drifting lion]

is UUID the thing above mount point

[void basalt]

type is ext4

[void basalt]

it says it

below in details

[drifting lion]

but Im unable to copy it

[void basalt]

ctrl c

[drifting lion]

its one with the drop down menu right?

[void basalt]

no

[void basalt]

below this

[drifting lion]

yhe one highlighted?

[drifting lion]

ok got it

[void basalt]

uncheck mount and reverse the toggle in last pic

[drifting lion]

I unchecked before but it reverted after enabling user default

[void basalt]

close fstab if open

[void basalt]

show

[drifting lion]

I meant the mount options

[void basalt]

w/e show now

[drifting lion]

do i need to create a new folder in fstab because I can't paste the uuid

[drifting lion]

w/e?

[void basalt]

leave that for now

[drifting lion]

okay

[void basalt]

show pic of mount options from Disks

good enough

[drifting lion]

should I continue with the copy fstab now?

[void basalt]

u can copy it to desktop

[drifting lion]

UUID? can't paste it anywhere

[void basalt]

did u backup the file?

[drifting lion]

not yet

[void basalt]

https://tenor.com/view/star-wars-do-it-gif-10270118

[drifting lion]

okay done

[void basalt]

open original one in rootmode

[drifting lion]

yeah

[void basalt]

basically like last line above

put ur stuff in

[drifting lion]

I don't understand

[void basalt]

.

[drifting lion]

um

[void basalt]

.

[drifting lion]

I was not using the terminal this whole time

I think I might missed some steps

pls forgive me I'm a day 4 linux user

😢

[void basalt]

review what I wrote, and see sample pic, then save it and reboot

[drifting lion]

I'm stuck in this step. I can't paste the uuid anywhere in fstab

[void basalt]

u have to highlight it first in disks app, then ctrl-c

[drifting lion]

i did that

[void basalt]

then paste to file

[drifting lion]

like inside it?

[void basalt]

go here and highlight n copy it

[void basalt]

of course

[drifting lion]

but paste option is greyed

[void basalt]

open the file and ss it

[drifting lion]

crtl v doesn't work

[drifting lion]

ss?

[void basalt]

screenshot

[drifting lion]

I can't take a screenshot while the menu is opne

open*

[void basalt]

go up one level, delete that folder

[drifting lion]

done

[void basalt]

find the fstab file in etc

back it up

[drifting lion]

should I use search

[void basalt]

if havent already

type fst

[drifting lion]

I backed it up

[void basalt]

now open the original fstab file itself

from the rootmode file manager

[drifting lion]

Okay

now I get it

[void basalt]

delete old line pertaining to hdd

add new instead.

use my sample pic as guide

then save and reboot

[drifting lion]

on it

I can't tell which line belongs to the belonging to hdd

[void basalt]

it's not there, just add new

[drifting lion]

uuid?

[void basalt]

and match last line of my sample

except specify the mount point path u made in /mnt/ before

[drifting lion]

I'm doing something wrong right?

[drifting lion]

Instructions unclear

[void basalt]

nah but u can hit tab to space it better

[void basalt]

u made a new folder earlier

in mnt

[drifting lion]

oh

[void basalt]

specify that there

[drifting lion]

I don't understand what you mean by specify here

in this context

copy paste?

[drifting lion]

And what do I space better the entire thing or something specific

Align it with what

.

[drifting lion]

sorry I'm slow with the up take, I still don't get what you mean by here

what do I align it with

[void basalt]

forget alignment just put the new mount location path where i wrote HERE

and get rid of that line symbol u put

[drifting lion]

where?

[drifting lion]

sorry this is all too vague for me

[void basalt]

dude

what's so hard

[drifting lion]

idk this my first time messing around with this

[void basalt]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeR8Rk5LwWU&pp=ygUiam9lIGNvbGxpbnMgbGludXggYWRkIGEgaGFyZCBkcml2ZQ%3D%3D

[drifting lion]

your being too vague I'm not techsavvy

[void basalt]

follow that

[drifting lion]

Can you at least tell me what the problem is or will clean installing mint fix this