How to mount NTFS partition in Ubuntu

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

I have installed Ubuntu the Warty Warthog release. My problem is that I cannot mount my NTFS (hda1) partition for myself. I made a folder from my username, and mounted the partition by using SU. Now, I do not have permission to view the partition. I always have to log in as SU to view the files.

Please Help.

[paragkalra]

Go here
http://www.linux-ntfs.org/
It may provide u some help
or go here
http://discoverlinux.blogspot.com/20...and.html#links
Perhaps it may help you out

[mehulved]

Well you can mount ntfs as read-only partition. Add the following in /etc/fstab to mount it and view without su'ing.

/dev/hdx  /<name of the folder>   ntfs   defaults,ro,umask=000    0  0

Here x in hdx is the partition number of the ntfs partition. If you have SATA drive you have to use sdx.
And reboot the computer. Somehow it did not work for me without rebooting.

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

Tried but still I have to switch to su to view it.

[mehulved]

su in ubuntu???
Please explain what have you done and have you rebooted after making changes?

[DeSmOnD dAvId]

Yes, I made changes to /etc/fstab as you have described exactly, even counted the spaces and entered the lines. I then restarted and tried to get into the /mnt/win folder, where I have it mounted, then it says that I donot have permission. I swear I entered everything correctly.

[mehulved]

Again did you reboot befotre trying to access the partition after you made changes? And no need to count the number of spaces I have left it does not make a difference. You just need to leave a space.
It won't work without a reboot. That had happened to me too. Me and some others were puliing out our hair at why I could not access windows partition as normal user even after making changes in fstab. But, it went all fine after the next reboot.

[bizzare_blue]

Ain't it possible to have "write-access" to NTFS partitions from ubuntu?

[mehulved]

Well it is possible using ntfs-3g or ntfs-static but it will be too slow. It is so slow that I found it too irritating to even use it.

[QwertyManiac]

^^
NTFS-3G isnt slow at all tech_your_future!
Here, follow this for those who need NTFS-3g in Ubuntu.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009
__________

Originally Posted by tech_your_future

Again did you reboot befotre trying to access the partition after you made changes? And no need to count the number of spaces I have left it does not make a difference. You just need to leave a space.
It won't work without a reboot. That had happened to me too. Me and some others were puliing out our hair at why I could not access windows partition as normal user even after making changes in fstab. But, it went all fine after the next reboot.

are yaar, he said he rebooted. I mounted NTFS in my /media folder and it worked, maybe /mnt/win isnt open to all groups ? Thats a bit weird though.

[Desi-Tek.com]

i never mounted ntfs partition on ubuntu but i don't know how it mounted windows partition automatically! it allow me to read write on ntfs drive without any problem.

[mehulved]

Which version of Ubuntu are you talking about Desi-Tek? It must be Edgy cos AFAIK, ntfs write is supported only since kernel 2.6.17.

[QwertyManiac]

Edgy too by default doesnt allow writing to NTFS. But in coming mid summer the k-mod plugin will start write support.

[Desi-Tek.com]

@tech_your_future hi mate i am using dapper with latest version of kernel which i compiled recently .It require root permission to to write any thing on ntfs drive .

[mehulved]

OK so that's why. You have compiled a kernel with ntfs write support. A default install of Dapper won't allow to write to ntfs.
And you should be able to write as non-root user too. I guess module isn't loaded or you may have not set write permissions for non-root user, maybe intentionally.

[Desi-Tek.com]

latest kernel is not the reason i am able to read/write in ntfs drive from the very first day when i installed ubuntu for first time. even through live cd.
actually i mounted ntfs drive through system>administration>>disks
than i created a folder called /ntfs/windows
than i selected partition 1 added this access path /ntfs/windows
and than i clicked on enable it mounted ntfs drive with read and write support

[mehulved]

Not possible AFAIK dapper doesn't support writing to ntfs.

[Desi-Tek.com]

i have no idea how it is working for me

[QwertyManiac]

The Live CD will definitely not support writing of NTFS. If you compiled a kernel, good job.

[Desi-Tek.com]

i am using fully cr@ckd mce xp may be that could be the reason?
@QwertyManiac it took me more than 1.5hour to compile source code of kernel. but it was really fun

[mehulved]

Nope it doesn't have anything to do with pirated or non-pirated copy of windows. Cos you need the ntfs write enabled in the kernel, which came after 2.6.17 and Dapper has 2.6.15 kernel and I don't think ubuntu has anyway enabled write access to ntfs in 2.6.15 kernel by some patches.

[Desi-Tek.com]

no idea how it is working but it is working for me

[da_tcpip]

the only hitch for me to install this addon is the warning.. that it may hurt my hdd in some way.. how can i reassure myself.. that nothing would be damaged by it
thanks

[Desi-Tek.com]

@tech_your_future r u sure that latest version of kernel has ntfs write support?
but people in debian irc told me that it does not have ntfs write support

<Dheeraj_k> i just installed latest kernel but still not able to write any thing in ntfs drive
<PerfDave> Dheeraj_k: I don't think writeable NTFS support is in the upstream Linux kernel, because it depends on non-Free software.
<jelly-home> PerfDave: say what?
<jelly-home> Dheeraj_k: /msg dpkg ntfs-3g ... but ntfs-3g is a work in progress... HAVE BACKUPS
<PerfDave> jelly-home: Say what what?
<jelly-home> PerfDave: oh, sorry, the "ntfs driver depends on non-free so that's why it isn't in the kernel tree"
<jelly-home> PerfDave: sounds strange... what non-free software does it depend on? ntfs-progs (libntfs) is AFAICT free.
<PerfDave> jelly-home: Hmm, I thought that all the usable NTFS stuff wrapped around the Windows DLL?
<jelly-home> PerfDave: nope, current state of the art is a devel version of libntfs ("ntfs-3g") used with fuse.
<PerfDave> jelly-home: Which doesn't use any of the Windows code at all?
<jelly-home> PerfDave: Correct.
<PerfDave> jelly-home: Fair enough, I stand corrected
<PerfDave> There have been GPL-licensed wrappers for proprietary code before.
<Dheeraj_k> <jelly-home> if libntfs is free than can we expect ntfs write support in future release of kernel?
<jelly-home> PerfDave: there was that captive-ntfs hack that used pieces of wine, ReactorOS and windows dlls, yes
jelly-home> Dheeraj_k: Dunno... as it is now, you don't need support in kernel at all - just use ntfs-3g
<jelly-home> Dheeraj_k: ... the only thing needed from kernel is fuse, and it's been available in vanilla kernels since 2.6.15

<Dheeraj_k> <jelly-home> thanx for the information
<jelly-home> Dheeraj_k: you're welcome

source
irc.freenode.net
##debian channel

[mehulved]

I am talking of vanilla kernel. Not the ubuntu kernel.

[eddie]

That PerfDave kid is stupid...NTFS-Write support (no matter how half baked it is) has been in official kernel since I don't remember when. On the other hand...the other user jelly-home just told you about a better solution for NTFS write i.e. ntfs-3g.

[mehulved]

I guess perf-dave meant about debian when he said that.

[Desi-Tek.com]

@tech_your_future i am using vanilla kernel version linux-2.6.19 and the problem is it is allowing me to write any thing on ntfs drive but it is supporting the read.

and they were knowin that i am using kernel v 2.6.19 .

but surprisingly i am able to do read/write on ntfs when i boot ubuntu on its default kernel!

[mehulved]

Did you select the module which allows writing to ntfs?

[Desi-Tek.com]

yeah i did selected ntfs and other filesystem module. and i guess i got the answer and this time by very exprienced debian user and he is admin of that channel and if i am right than it is a official debian channel

(05:00:24) Guerin: Dheeraj_k: it's not half-baked, it's completely nonfunctional.
(05:01:21) Dheeraj_k: Guerin: that means what they said in thinkdigit is wrong?
(05:01:24) lacin left the room (quit: "Leaving").
(05:01:57) Guerin: Dheeraj_k: it's technically right - there IS what they call ntfs-write in kernel. It's just utterly ****ing useless.
(05:02:02) Guerin: Dheeraj_k: *utterly
(05:04:26) Guerin: Dheeraj_k: well, a very small part. The driver can't create or delete files, and can't change the size of a file. But you could change a file containing `bar' to `foo' as long as the size remained identical, for instance.
(05:05:49) Dheeraj_k: Guerin: actually some linux user said that i can edit, delete,move, rename file in ntfs if i am using vanilla kernel
(05:05:59) Guerin: Dheeraj_k: that's very new, then.

and he also visited this thread before answering the query as i gave him the link via pm