How to mount my fat32 partitions

[Tomatot]

Hello guys, first I would like to tell you that I'm french so my english is very bad. But I'll try to speak as well as possible !


So I've go an EEE PC Asus 1215n, wich was running on Windows 7. I had 2 partitions, one for windows and an other for my media.
I'm running on Linux Mint 12 for a few days so I'm a beginner !


Let's back to my "problem"


I can't see my media partition and so I would like to know EXACTLY (because I'm a newbie haha) how to solve it !
I tried some tips with my cousin but it didn't work well


I did this :
With gparted, i took my UIDD code, then I use -by using the terminal- gedit and then i modified the file "fstab" : this is what i did :

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc nodev,noexec,nosuid 0 0
# / was on /dev/sdb2 during installation
UUID=1ff09807-f2fa-4257-b630-198cb4b34a59 / ext4 errors=remount-ro 0 1
UUID=86F4-D40A /media/Multimedia fat errors=remount-ro 0 1


And so then i reboot(ed?) my computer and it says it cant work, i don't remember exactly and si it asks me if i want to ignore, skip or manual settings..

With the gparted i mount the partition and so then i see only the "express gate" files (normally there are all my movies, documents and music)
Screenshot of the partition : http://s4.noelshack.com/old/up/screensh ... 1d6692.png


So what do i have to do ?


Thank you very much Linux community !!!
And one more time sorry for my bad english

[lahirdenganselamat]

Tomatot, my first suggestion was to revert the fstab changes, then install AriOS automount on your mint. It will make your partition automount on boot.
My second suggestion was to reconsider your choise of using fat32 as filesystem and also keeping the expressgate. AFAIK, fat32 cannot handle file >2 GB and some other limitation. So I suggest using either NTFS or ext4 as your data partition (read on wikipedia to get a better understanding about filesystem)
I'm an ASUS user my self and been trying to use expressgate. I think it was an inferior OS compared to Mint and Windows 7 so I suggest to remove it.
My last suggestion (if you're newbie) was try to use Mint 11 instead on mint 12. Mint 11 was much "newbie-friendly" compared to mint 12.
But it just my suggestion,

[Tomatot]

Thank you very much first !


It'ok, my fstab file is like before ! I've installed ArioS automount (I'm not sure, i just open it in the download page ! Do i have to do something else ?)


In fact, i don't care about Express gate ! Linux Mint boot very fast so now it's useless ! How can i properly remove it ? I agree to change fat32 for NTFS but if I do this, I'm going to loose all my files, won't I ?

Hum, I think it's a bit sad to don't use this beautiful OS ! I want to learn so it'okay, sometimes it's going to be difficult but you are here



Thank tou very much (I'm going to try arios, i've just installed it with the "package installer)


EDIT : It worked but not well : Like before I can see my partition but only the express gate files ! I don't understant why (it's in /media), it's exactly the same bug as before, I'm confused !

[altair4]

This is what I would do:

[1] I've tried to find out some information about ArisOS automount. I'm not sure what it is or what it's doing but it says it can be disabled so I would do that. If you have it autostart I would disable that as well.

[2] If you still have this line in fstab:

UUID=86F4-D40A /media/Multimedia fat errors=remount-ro 0 1

There is no such thing as fat in fstab - it's vfat

I would rewrite the whole line to read like this:

Code: Select all

UUID=86F4-D40A /media/Multimedia vfat defaults,utf8,umask=000,uid=1000 0 2

After you save fstab run the following command that will test for errors and mount the partition without requiring a reboot:

Code: Select all

sudo mount -a

If you still have problems post the output of the following commands:

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sudo blkid -c /dev/null

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mount

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cat /etc/fstab

[Tomatot]

I did all of this but there is still the same problem..

Look : when I'm in media/multimedia, there is only this : http://s4.noelshack.com/old/up/screensh ... 88f230.png

Well, I think I'm going to format it and then i have a old save of my movies on an extern disk. And all my music is on my android so it's going to be okay.

How can I format and what extension do i have to choose next ? (ntfs, fat32 lol, ext3 etc..)

[altair4]

I think you are pointing to the wrong partition.

Please post the output of the following command:

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sudo blkid -c /dev/null

[Tomatot]

[sudo] password for tomatot:
/dev/sda2: UUID="1ff09807-f2fa-4257-b630-198cb4b34a59" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda3: UUID="86F4-D40A" TYPE="vfat"


This is what i see

[altair4]

It seems you have two problems:

And so then i reboot(ed?) my computer and it says it cant work, i don't remember exactly and si it asks me if i want to ignore, skip or manual settings..

You fixed that by rewriting the line in fstab with vfat instead of fat.
Now you have another problem:

Look : when I'm in media/multimedia, there is only this : http://s4.noelshack.com/old/up/screensh ... 88f230.png

But you fixed the line in fstab, you ran "sudo mount -a" and it had no errors, and it mounted the partition. There are no "movies, documents, and music" in that partition.

My guess - and I know nothing about Express gate so it's only a guess - is that when you use express gate it must automatically mount the Windows7 partition so you think it's in the fat32 partition but it's really in the Win7 partition. BTW, based on your output of blkid you don't have a Win7 partition so ....

[Tomatot]

So, what should I do ?

[lahirdenganselamat]

[sudo] password for tomatot:
/dev/sda2: UUID="1ff09807-f2fa-4257-b630-198cb4b34a59" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda3: UUID="86F4-D40A" TYPE="vfat"

I find it's rather odd, this is what I get when I type "sudo blkid -c /dev/null" on my terminal :

Code: Select all

aragorn@aragorn-1215B:~$ sudo blkid -c /dev/null
[sudo] password for aragorn: 
/dev/ramzswap0: TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sda1: UUID="870d0a43-164b-437b-9a50-61b94655dd6f" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda2: UUID="2f3add6c-1e37-4577-86cd-4fb91b6d6198" TYPE="swap" 
/dev/sda3: UUID="2135C3536BE0F984" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda5: UUID="5c17fa49-e7d2-4c88-8b58-97f7f9893e00" TYPE="ext4" 
/dev/sda6: UUID="BAA09498A0945D27" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda7: LABEL="NTFS" UUID="6F4EA0F7096E7395" TYPE="ntfs" 
/dev/sda8: LABEL="Entertain" UUID="05894D561C414CA8" TYPE="ntfs" 

so i just thinking, where is your /dev/sda1 ??

Well, I think I'm going to format it and then i have a old save of my movies on an extern disk. And all my music is on my android so it's going to be okay.

How can I format and what extension do i have to choose next ? (ntfs, fat32 lol, ext3 etc..)

If you're already backup your data, maybe it's better if you do a reinstall, to do a proper install this time.
start with booting Mint live CD/DVD, open gparted, deleting all of your partition, then create a new set of partition
a HDD can have 4 primary partition, so I suggesting this configuration if you're trying to keep dual booting with 7:
primary partition:
an ext4 partition for your Linux root (/) ~30-50 Gb
a swap partition ~twice your RAM
a small NTFS for windows 7 boot (likely 150 Mb)
and an extended partition
extended partition
a NTFS partition for windows 7 system (drive C) ~30-60 Gb (if you plant to install games or heavy apps, allocate more)
and the rest is data partition

here's my partition set

I make a separate /home partition in case I want to upgrade my mint, it's easier when I have a separate /home partition

if the HDD partition was set, reboot, install Windows 7 first, then install mint, make sure using "do something else" option to be able to select which partition you want to install mint into.

[Tomatot]

Hum I delete Windows Seven !!

So i just have to format my other disk and then extend my partition ?
It's the easiest way I think

Look at my computer : http://s4.noelshack.com/old/up/screensh ... aae337.png

[lahirdenganselamat]

i think just delete all the partition and make an new set of partition like above will do

[altair4]

So, what should I do ?

Nothing. Once you fixed the error in your fstab entry for sda3 all of your partitions are being mounted as designed.

* If I'm right that Express Gate automatically mounted the Win7 partition and that's where your Movies, Pictures, and Documents were located then when you deleted Win7 you deleted all those files. You say you have a backup so you have a way to recover.

* The only problem is the fat32 formated /sda3 partition. It's big enough to hold a lot of data but fat32 has a file size limit ( not a partition size limit but a limit on the size of the individual files in that partition ) of 4GB ( actually it's 4GB - 1 byte = 3.99 GB ). If all your files are less than that then you have no problems. If any of your individual files are larger than 4GB then you will need a different filesystem - NTFS or since this is now a Linux only system you should probably use ext4. But reformatting the partition will remove Express Gate and I'm not sure how much in control of the booting process Express Gate has so that needs further investigation.

The least destructive path would be to leave everything as it is and restore your data to 2 different places:

* Pictures, Documents, and anything that has a file size less than 3.99 GB can go to /media/Multimedia.
* Movies or anything that has a file size greater than 3.99GB can go to a folder in your home directory.

[Tomatot]

I don't want to install again Linux, so just format my partition with express gate and make an other one, in ntfs, it will be fine ?

Sorry but it's a bit hard for me to understant all of this...

[altair4]

* If you format the Express Gate partition I don't know if you will be able to boot into anything because I don't know how much control over booting Express Gate has. Only someone with Express Gate can answer that question.

* I don't know why you feel the need to reformat the Express Gate partition. It's a working and accessible fat32 partition. It has file size limitations but I've given you a work around for that.

* If you insist on formatting it and you have no intention of ever reinstalling Windows again then I would format it in ext4. Otherwise I would use NTFS. But again, I would leave it as it is.

[Tomatot]

Yes but there is a bug, and so I have only 16,1 Gb instead of 200Gb !

So I have no choice I think..


EDIT : look on this screenshot : http://s4.noelshack.com/old/up/screensh ... 1d6692.png

Why it's written 213Gb and then 16Gb ?

[altair4]

If you feel that the partition is in error and can live without Express Gate then reformat the partition. I don't know enough about Express Gate to give you an opinion one way or the other. The original problem was an inability to mount the sda3 partition and that's been solved.

[Tomatot]

Okay, so I'm going to do this.. I hope that the express gate is useless !

Thanks you for your help