Unable to mount most drives

[Spaceboy60]

Get the following error when I try to mount virtually any drive other than the drive containing Linux mint:

Unable to mount location
Not authorized to perform operation

Any suggestions to fix issue?

[AndyMH]

How were you trying to mount them, if in a terminal with mount, try sudo mount?

[Spaceboy60]

Through the Gui file manager

[AndyMH]

Open a terminal and sudo parted --list. This will tell us about the drives in your system. Post the output in your reply, use code markers as explained here:
viewtopic.php?f=42&t=364929&p=2119362&h ... l#p2119362
Which of the partitions in the parted output are you trying to mount?

[Spaceboy60]

Code: Select all

Model: ATA KINGSTON SV300S3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 120GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  525MB  524MB  primary  ntfs         boot
 2      525MB   120GB  120GB  primary  ntfs


Model: ATA TOSHIBA DT01ABA2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  1486GB  1486GB  primary  ntfs
 2      1486GB  1872GB  385GB   primary  ext4
 3      1872GB  2000GB  129GB   primary  ntfs


Model: ATA CT120BX500SSD1 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdc: 120GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  120GB  120GB  primary  ext4


Model: ATA KINGSTON SA400S3 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdd: 240GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End    Size   Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  240GB  240GB  primary  ext4         boot


Model: Kingston DataTraveler 3.0 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sde: 30.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      1049kB  30.9GB  30.9GB  primary  ntfs

 

As an example, the main one i'm trying to mount (but not the only one) is this partition:

Model: ATA TOSHIBA DT01ABA2 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 2000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 1486GB 1486GB primary ntfs


As I said before though the error happens with EVERY partition listed under "Devices"

[pbear]

Please report the output of groups, run in Terminal. I'm wondering whether you accidentally removed yourself from the sudo group.

[Spaceboy60]

Please report the output of groups, run in Terminal. I'm wondering whether you accidentally removed yourself from the sudo group.

Code: Select all

spaceboy adm cdrom sudo dip plugdev lpadmin sambashare libvirt

[AndyMH]

Well, that's okay, sudo is in groups.

Don't know what's causing the original problem, but the 'better' way to mount other partitions is by editing a file called fstab, particularly for internal drives. Before we start that, assuming you used disks to mount those partitions, let's see what it has done to fstab*, post the output from cat /etc/fstab. Also post the output from blkid, this tells us the UUIDs assigned to each partition - need that when you edit fstab.



* not a fan of disks, it makes messy entries in fstab.

[pbear]

... the 'better' way to mount other partitions is by editing a file called fstab, particularly for internal drives.

This will work, of course, but I don't know about 'better'. Clicking the partition in left pane of File Manager should work as the OP expects.

Speaking of Disks, Spaceboy, what happens if you open Disks (an app on Menu), select sdb1 and click the mount button (triangle-shaped, pointing right)?

Also, please post your system information. I don't think this is a hardware or driver issue, but would like to be sure.

[AndyMH]

That's why it was in quotes

[Spaceboy60]

Well, that's okay, sudo is in groups.

Don't know what's causing the original problem, but the 'better' way to mount other partitions is by editing a file called fstab, particularly for internal drives. Before we start that, assuming you used disks to mount those partitions, let's see what it has done to fstab*, post the output from cat /etc/fstab. Also post the output from blkid, this tells us the UUIDs assigned to each partition - need that when you edit fstab.



* not a fan of disks, it makes messy entries in fstab.

fstab:

Code: Select all

# /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>
# / was on /dev/sdd1 during installation
UUID=c0977ad3-0568-4d1f-ad10-8555b882110c /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
/swapfile                                 none            swap    sw              0       0

blkid:

Code: Select all

/dev/sda1: LABEL="System Reserved" UUID="001CCA041CC9F526" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="baf9e3e5-01"
/dev/sda2: UUID="967663DC7663BB9D" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="baf9e3e5-02"
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="New Volume" UUID="7CA4FD93A4FD505E" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="2616d427-01"
/dev/sdb2: LABEL="Virt_Machines" UUID="2ec9417a-9f99-46b3-b0a6-396b1ea885ff" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="2616d427-02"
/dev/sdb3: LABEL="Windows 7" UUID="32DAF75BDAF71A35" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="2616d427-03"
/dev/sdc1: UUID="6d6de654-81a2-4548-9847-66e1178adbaa" TYPE="ext4" PTTYPE="dos" PARTUUID="4a7351a2-01"
/dev/sdd1: UUID="c0977ad3-0568-4d1f-ad10-8555b882110c" TYPE="ext4" PTTYPE="dos" PARTUUID="645be268-01"
/dev/sde1: UUID="9C80142B80140E80" TYPE="ntfs" PARTUUID="b9bbdf79-01"
/dev/sde4: UUID="2019-08-26-06-55-07-00" LABEL="ISOIMAGE" TYPE="iso9660" PTUUID="663d6ede-3cef-4c0c-a005-ceba919e5cca" PTTYPE="gpt" PARTUUID="b9bbdf79-0

[Spaceboy60]

... the 'better' way to mount other partitions is by editing a file called fstab, particularly for internal drives.

This will work, of course, but I don't know about 'better'. Clicking the partition in left pane of File Manager should work as the OP expects.

Speaking of Disks, Spaceboy, what happens if you open Disks (an app on Menu), select sdb1 and click the mount button (triangle-shaped, pointing right)?

Also, please post your system information. I don't think this is a hardware or driver issue, but would like to be sure.

Disks:

Error Mounting file system
Not authorized to perform operation (udisks-error-quaark, 4)


System Info:

Code: Select all

System:    Kernel: 5.4.0-120-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 9.4.0 
           Desktop: Cinnamon 5.2.7 wm: muffin dm: LightDM Distro: Linux Mint 20.3 Una 
           base: Ubuntu 20.04 focal 
Machine:   Type: Desktop Mobo: ASUSTeK model: A88XM-E v: Rev X.0x serial: <filter> 
           UEFI [Legacy]: American Megatrends v: 2001 date: 03/09/2016 
CPU:       Topology: Quad Core model: AMD A10-7700K Radeon R7 10 Compute Cores 4C+6G bits: 64 
           type: MCP arch: Steamroller rev: 1 L2 cache: 2048 KiB 
           flags: avx lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm bogomips: 27200 
           Speed: 2601 MHz min/max: 1900/3400 MHz Core speeds (MHz): 1: 2333 2: 2230 3: 3399 
           4: 3400 
Graphics:  Device-1: AMD Kaveri [Radeon R7 Graphics] vendor: ASUSTeK driver: radeon v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:01.0 chip ID: 1002:1313 
           Display: x11 server: X.Org 1.20.13 driver: ati,radeon unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,vesa 
           resolution: 1600x900~60Hz, 1920x1080~60Hz 
           OpenGL: renderer: AMD KAVERI (DRM 2.50.0 5.4.0-120-generic LLVM 12.0.0) 
           v: 4.5 Mesa 21.2.6 direct render: Yes 
Audio:     Device-1: AMD Kaveri HDMI/DP Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:01.1 chip ID: 1002:1308 
           Device-2: AMD FCH Azalia vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel 
           bus ID: 00:14.2 chip ID: 1022:780d 
           Sound Server: ALSA v: k5.4.0-120-generic 
Network:   Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK 
           driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 bus ID: 03:00.0 chip ID: 10ec:8168 
           IF: enp3s0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           Device-2: TP-Link TL-WN722N v2 type: USB driver: r8188eu bus ID: 5-2:3 
           chip ID: 2357:010c 
           IF: wlx503eaaeab6ba state: up mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-1: virbr0 state: down mac: <filter> 
           IF-ID-2: virbr0-nic state: down mac: <filter> 
Drives:    Local Storage: total: 2.28 TiB used: 58.80 GiB (2.5%) 
           ID-1: /dev/sda vendor: Kingston model: SV300S37A120G size: 111.79 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> temp: 30 C 
           ID-2: /dev/sdb vendor: Toshiba model: DT01ABA200 size: 1.82 TiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> temp: 33 C 
           ID-3: /dev/sdc vendor: Crucial model: CT120BX500SSD1 size: 111.79 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> temp: 39 C 
           ID-4: /dev/sdd vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37240G size: 223.57 GiB speed: 6.0 Gb/s 
           serial: <filter> temp: 25 C 
           ID-5: /dev/sde type: USB vendor: Kingston model: DataTraveler 3.0 size: 28.82 GiB 
           serial: <filter> 
Partition: ID-1: / size: 219.06 GiB used: 24.93 GiB (11.4%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sdd1 
USB:       Hub: 1-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 5 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 2-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 5 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-1: 2-1:2 info: Kingston DataTraveler 100 G3/G4/SE9 G2 type: Mass Storage 
           driver: usb-storage rev: 2.1 chip ID: 0951:1666 
           Hub: 3-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 5 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Device-2: 3-1:2 info: Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical type: Mouse 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 1.1 chip ID: 045e:0040 
           Hub: 4-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 5 rev: 1.1 chip ID: 1d6b:0001 
           Hub: 5-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Device-3: 5-1:2 info: Microsoft Wired Keyboard 200 type: Keyboard 
           driver: hid-generic,usbhid rev: 2.0 chip ID: 045e:07b9 
           Device-4: 5-2:3 info: TP-Link TL-WN722N v2 type: Network driver: r8188eu rev: 2.0 
           chip ID: 2357:010c 
           Hub: 6-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
           Hub: 7-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 2.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0002 
           Hub: 8-0:1 info: Full speed (or root) Hub ports: 2 rev: 3.0 chip ID: 1d6b:0003 
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 9.5 C mobo: N/A gpu: radeon temp: 10 C 
           Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A 
Repos:     No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list 
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/brave-browser-release.list 
           1: deb [arch=amd64] https: //brave-browser-apt-release.s3.brave.com/ stable main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mjasnik-ppa-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/mjasnik/ppa/ubuntu focal main
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list 
           1: deb https: //www.mirrorservice.org/sites/packages.linuxmint.com/packages una main upstream import backport
           2: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal main restricted universe multiverse
           3: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           4: deb http: //archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu focal-backports main restricted universe multiverse
           5: deb http: //security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ focal-security main restricted universe multiverse
           6: deb http: //archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ focal partner
           Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/papirus-papirus-focal.list 
           1: deb http: //ppa.launchpad.net/papirus/papirus/ubuntu focal main
Info:      Processes: 289 Uptime: 9d 21h 08m Memory: 6.79 GiB used: 3.24 GiB (47.7%) Init: systemd 
           v: 245 runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 9.4.0 alt: 10/9 Client: Unknown python3.8 client 
           inxi: 3.0.38 

[pbear]

A quick internet search on that error code suggests this is a problem with polkit, which is the other thing (besides sudo) which regulates command permissions. Frankly, I know the fundamentals about polkit but not the intricacies.

Is this a new installation? If not, has this been a problem all along or did it only crop up recently?

[Spaceboy60]

Installed about couple of months ago, only noticed the problem recently (within the last 2 weeks)

[AndyMH]

A quick internet search on that error code suggests this is a problem with polkit, which is the other thing (besides sudo) which regulates command permissions. Frankly, I know the fundamentals about polkit but not the intricacies.

I'm maybe a step up the ladder with polkit (potentially know enough to be dangerous).

This was a user with a udisks problem, and a fix. Fixed the problem, no idea what the original cause was:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=351281&p=2028541&h ... s#p2028541
Not sure this is wise advice, but you have the information. Probably better - if you have a timeshift snapshot from before the problem started, revert to it.

[Spaceboy60]

A quick internet search on that error code suggests this is a problem with polkit, which is the other thing (besides sudo) which regulates command permissions. Frankly, I know the fundamentals about polkit but not the intricacies.

I'm maybe a step up the ladder with polkit (potentially know enough to be dangerous).

This was a user with a udisks problem, and a fix. Fixed the problem, no idea what the original cause was:
viewtopic.php?f=50&t=351281&p=2028541&h ... s#p2028541
Not sure this is wise advice, but you have the information. Probably better - if you have a timeshift snapshot from before the problem started, revert to it.

Thanks, will look at that thread later.

Did think about timeshift, Gotta check if its made some automatic backups since I've not run it manually.

[AndyMH]

Did think about timeshift, Gotta check if its made some automatic backups since I've not run it manually.

It has to be enabled. Suggest you don't use it with the defaults (saves snapshots in /timeshift), with the number of drives in your system, point it at an ext4 partition on another drive. If the drive is internal you can enable automatic snapshots. My backup drive is internal/removable, timeshift does auto snapshots daily (overkill) keep 5, monthly keep 5. If you screw up the system, timeshift will restore it to an earlier working version (bit scary first time you do it).

Timeshift looks after the system, does nothing for your data (contents of home). Have a look at backintime (in software manager), works just like timeshift but default is to only take snapshots of home so complementary to timeshift. Easy to restore individual files/folders or the whole lot. There are other alternatives.

Both work the same way, using a terminal utility rsync to do the work. First time they run, they copy everything, thereafter they only copy what has changed = quick. Each snapshot is complete, hard links are used to point to the original backup copy of the unchanged file, saves space. Because they use hard links the destination must be an ext4 partition.

[Spaceboy60]

Restored a timeshift backup from a few days ago and it's mounting OK for now