No permission to plug in USB devices

[Imagus]

One thing I really hate about Linux is this whole "root" thing. I know it's useful and all that, but sometimes it really gets on my nerves.

For some reason, I am now no longer allowed to connect USB devices (memory sticks) to my own computer. "Only root can do that", says LMDE. That's a new one, because only yesterday I could plug in a memory stick and it would automatically mount and get displayed on my desktop, ready for use. Not any more!

So what did I do this time to mess things up? I really have no idea. All I did yesterday was install Iceweasel and Icedove (glad to be rid of Firefox and Thunderbird), but it's hard to believe that caused the problem. However, when I switched on my computer this morning I got this new problem. The whole error message I get when I plug in a USB stick is this:

"Unable to mount 263 MB Filesystem
Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 1: helper failed with:
mount: only root can mount /def/sdf1 on /media/Iomega_HDD"

Also, my Iomega_HDD is an external 1 TB harddisk and has nothing to do with my USB sticks, so why does it want to mount the USB stick to that drive anyway?

I searched on the internet for a solution, but nothing seems to help. One webpage says I should edit my devices in fstab, but I can't believe I have to do this because it all worked fine before without me having to touch fstab.

Another webpage suggested to check my Nautilus configuration in the Configuration Editor, but there's nothing wrong there. The options media_automount and media_automount_open are both checked.

So really I'm at a loss (again). Any ideas?

Thank you.

[Silent Warrior]

Do you have some other auto-mounting things installed?
I have an interesting issue (not a problem, not even a glitch, just a confusing inconvenience): Whenever I stick a perfectly normal audio-CD - which is detected and makes all sorts of things happen that I have specified in various configurations here and there - but I also always get a prompt that the audio CD couldn't be mounted. (Usually I find these while enjoying the hell out of the CD... ) I have a feeling the cause could be closely related to yours.

Alas, my USB-stick and external harddrive mount and fire up Nautilus just fabulously. In Gnome, that is. KDE is another can o' worms...

[Imagus]

Do you have some other auto-mounting things installed?

Yes, I have both Disk Utility and Disk Manager in my menu. I remember installing one or the other (don't remember which) because some of my external drives didn't get mounted at startup. After installing it, everything was fine for weeks. When I run Disk Utility now I can see my USB drive in the list, but when I click "mount filesystem" I get the same error as before.

However, I have just launched the other one (Disk Manager) and now suddenly I get the following message:

============
Removing unknown devices from the configuration file?
I cannot find any existing block devices corresponding to the following devices: /dev/sdf1 on /media/Iomega_HDD
It is advisable to remove them in order to avoid failed mount at start-up. Select the ones you want to remove.
Don't show me this warning in the future
[Cancel] [Remove selected]
=============

Of course I clicked "Remove selected" and now everything is back to normal, so it seems like my problem is solved!

Thanks for reminding me of this extra utility that I installed - I had completely forgotten about it. It's strange though that everything worked fine for weeks, until yesterday this error popped up. Something must have messed up my configuration files.

I have an interesting issue (not a problem, not even a glitch, just a confusing inconvenience): Whenever I stick a perfectly normal audio-CD - which is detected and makes all sorts of things happen that I have specified in various configurations here and there - but I also always get a prompt that the audio CD couldn't be mounted. (Usually I find these while enjoying the hell out of the CD... ) I have a feeling the cause could be closely related to yours.

Alas, my USB-stick and external harddrive mount and fire up Nautilus just fabulously. In Gnome, that is. KDE is another can o' worms...

I'm sorry I cannot really be of any help (you see I constantly have to use trial and error methods myself), but go check your disk utilities, maybe it'll work for you too.

Have a nice weekend.

[ScoobyDan]

Yes, I have both Disk Utility and Disk Manager in my menu. I remember installing one or the other (don't remember which) because some of my external drives didn't get mounted at startup. After installing it, everything was fine for weeks. When I run Disk Utility now I can see my USB drive in the list, but when I click "mount filesystem" I get the same error as before.

However, I have just launched the other one (Disk Manager) and now suddenly I get the following message:

============
Removing unknown devices from the configuration file?
I cannot find any existing block devices corresponding to the following devices: /dev/sdf1 on /media/Iomega_HDD
It is advisable to remove them in order to avoid failed mount at start-up. Select the ones you want to remove.
Don't show me this warning in the future
[Cancel] [Remove selected]
=============

Of course I clicked "Remove selected" and now everything is back to normal, so it seems like my problem is solved!

Thanks for reminding me of this extra utility that I installed - I had completely forgotten about it. It's strange though that everything worked fine for weeks, until yesterday this error popped up. Something must have messed up my configuration files.

Imagus,

Many thanks for this advice - I have been troubled by this fault for a couple of weeks, but using Disk Manager (and selecting "Remove selected") worked a treat!

I don't know what caused the problem, but at least I now have a solution.

Daniel