not possible to make a link to a file on a different harddr?

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mgh
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not possible to make a link to a file on a different harddr?

Post by mgh »

Hi All,

Just got Linuxmint 3.0 installed. Only the second distro I have really gotten in to, so very much the newbie.

I am trying to arrange my music files. I was able to make a link from one directory to another on the same hard drive, but when I went to a different hard drive the option to make a link was not available.

Both drives are ntfs. One is an external, the other internal. I thought I was able to make a link to any file on any drive when I was playing around with Ubuntu. Is this normal?

I really hope it is not a permissions issue, those really confuse me :?

Thanks for any help.
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mgh
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Post by mgh »

Damn, it is going to be a permissions thing isn't it.

When I check properties/permissions of the files on the internal drive I am told I am not the owner so I can not change the permissions.

Thank for any help.
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Boo
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Post by Boo »

could you give some more info on where you want the links?

are you trying to put links to the ntfs partitions in your home directory? or in some other location?

:D
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scorp123
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Re: not possible to make a link to a file on a different har

Post by scorp123 »

mgh wrote:Both drives are ntfs.
NTFS is a non-documented Microsoft-proprietary standard. Use at own risk.

You use Linux? Then please stick to Linux filesystem standards.
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mgh
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Post by mgh »

yes I am using Linux.

i am in the process of seeing how i can migrate over and use linux more.

i am fairly sure this can be done.

the permissions on the external are read and write. the permissions on the internal are read only.

i am trying to make a link of a music file on this internal drive.

surely there is a way to change permissions?

thanks for any help.
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Boo
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Post by Boo »

the safest place to put the links would be in your home directory, or a subdirectory of that since you have permission to do stuff there.

in a terminal window create a link in your home directory.

ln -s /media/ntfs_disk/path/to/dir ~/ntfs_disk1

now you have a link called ntfs_disk1 in your home directory.
use the man pages for help on the ln command.

man ln

you will have problems if you go un-plugging the USB drives, or putting them in different usb ports. so plug them in before booting and dont remove to be safe until shutdown.
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