# ubuntu 8.04 cannot mount ntfs partitions



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 20, 2008)

hi friends, i recently installed ubuntu 8.04 but there is a problem that i cannot mount the windows ntfs partitions ie my windows drive ,songs and video drives etc.in winwods before installation i made 2 partitions ,one of size 4gb for swap amd other 20gb for root and installed ubuntu.now when i try to access the other ntfs volumes from places,though they r listed as 41gb,40 gb etc,ubuntu says that it cannot mount volume.i tried ntfs 3g and other commands and also installed ntfs config utility but of no help.please help.i dont no much about ubuntu /linux.but long ago i tried fedora 7 this way and it worked and can also read ntfs partitions,was there a problem in my installation procedure?but everything else works correctly


----------



## gopi_vbboy (Dec 20, 2008)

to be simple try this
i)reboot-->go to windows-->Shut Down and dont switchoff till the os automatically shuts ur pc off(NORMAL SHUTDOWN-NOT LIKE JUS SWITCHING OFF)
ii)If u have been using the hibernate option in XP(if u have hibernated in xp)... disable hibernate in xp

i think now linux should mount

the funda is the xp should release the filesystems(unmount)...whcih doesnt occur until u shut down normally


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 20, 2008)

@gopi_vboy : i tried this,but of no help.i googled around and even searched in this forum,but differrent solutions have totally puzzled me.i have another problem,my mobo d102ggc2 does not support many distros.it shows some message like bios bug or something like that in some distros.I m totally cooked up man,my new year resolution was to switch completely to linux but"""""""""""".another question,how to install wine,can it be done by apt-get install method like apt-get install wine

@others pleasssseeeeeeeeeeeeeeee helllllllpppppppppppp


----------



## thewisecrab (Dec 20, 2008)

Type the following in the terminal:


> sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g ntfs-config


You will get Accessories -> System Tools --> NTFS Configuration Tool
After opening it, it will detect all of your NTFS partitions. Check all, it will automatically edit your fstab file so that all drives get mounted when u boot into Ubuntu.

Credit for this post goes to Garbage. 

And yeah, WINE is present in the repos of synaptic package manager, so it should install properly.


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 20, 2008)

i cannot properly configure ntfs config,what to add or write in click to add ... box


----------



## NucleusKore (Dec 20, 2008)

First try by installing *ntfs-config* through Synaptic. Assign mount points like c or d or e, and  click apply; they should appear as drives on your desktop. If you are still not able to access your partitions read on.............

Look when you double click on the volume if it doesn't mount it means that you did not unmount the windows partitions cleanly the last time. Maybe because of a power failure?

Now there are two solutions to this problem.

Solution 1: Easy but bad, bad for the filesystem and your data
1. Press alt and f2
2. Type *gnome-terminal* and press ENTER
3. Type *sudo gedit /etc/fstab* and press ENTER
4. Click file->saveas, and save it as fstab_old
5. Close the editor and repeat step 3
6. Now you will see many lines, those which correspond to windows ntfs partitions will look like this

*/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AABS-_WD-WMAP93914663-part7 /windows/E           ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,umask=0002,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0*

Just add the option force to the line to make it look like this

/dev/disk/by-id/scsi-SATA_WDC_WD1600AABS-_WD-WMAP93914663-part7 /windows/E           ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,umask=0002,*force,*locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0

Do this for each of the windows partitions.

7. Click File->save and close the editor
8. Type *sudo mount -a* and press ENTER. This is the command to mount all the partitions.

Solution 2: More cubersome but the right thing to do
1. At the GRUB boot screen select Windows, Press ENTER and immediately follow it with an F8; you have to be fast here !
2. Select boot with safe mode and command prompt
3. After you get your command prompt type

*chkdsk X: /F /V*

where X is your drive letter, D, E, F, etc. This will repair the filesystem. Do one drive at a time, and last run for C: When you ask for chkdsk to repair C: it will tell you that it will be run on the next reboot. Reboot your system into windows *normally* and allow the chkdsk to finish for C: At the end of it you will be prompted for a reboot again 

4. Now boot to Ubuntu and use *ntfs-config* to mount your partitions by assigning mount points like c or d or e, and try accessing them. If it still does not work try solution 1.

All the best, do get back to us with your feedback. It will be helpful for others.


----------



## wraj (Dec 20, 2008)

This is just an enlighment not the exact solution...

Dr.tweaker, Just dont loose heart.Take 'thewisecrab' as an example.Couple of months ago,he was yet-another newbie over the forum but am glad to see that his knowledge regarding Linux has appreciated by the significant margin and has started to answer geeky questions too.I too feared it in the beginning,but believe me you,its a cheesy ride once you sort out this rare but minor issues.You will really love the way Linux works once you get past this initial hiccups.Welcome aboard Linux World !!!


----------



## rollcage (Dec 22, 2008)

Man I have the same problem, earlier ubuntu was doing fine, but now.. it cant mount, and deludge is not able to write anything to ntfs partition.
i have vista sp1 + ubuntu installed. ntfs-config doesnt work anymore.
..

edit: 

tried that .. on a few drives running the scan disk worked .. but dont understand the reson behind it.
can anyone explain why does that happen?


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 22, 2008)

help @ nucleascore,i tied the 1st method but in fstab my windows drives are not listed

update,i logged in as root ,typed sudo mount -a,and only one drive got mounted,other 3 ntfs drives are not showinf,i tried to configure them in ntfs config but of no help

in ntfs config only 3 drives are showing now,the drive which got mounted is not showing now.


----------



## rollcage (Dec 22, 2008)

see after the scan disk i am able to add a few drives .. but dont understand the logic .. what it really does. i mean how can linux just dont mount it ..and we can run scan disk there itself. and is it so that we should not use ntfs with linux?

2nd, we know we can run sudo command, and then edit the fstab list to mount the drives ..but if we login as user why doesnt it do all by itself . or gives the option during first logon or creating the user?
no ofence guyz but i am curious to know

3rdly, does removng  this option helps?
*img176.imageshack.us/img176/7125/94966700xq0.th.jpg
disabling the write cache on the harddisk drive

regards


----------



## Faun (Dec 22, 2008)

Only time Linux fails to mount a ntfs drive is when the ntfs partitions had an unclean shutdown. So first boot into windows and it will remove the unclean shutdown log automatically. Then restart and boot into Linux, it will be able to mount in Ubuntu 8.04 onwards.

Or if you don't want to boot into windows, then you can force the mount as root (sudo), of ntfs drive once and then it will reset the logfile for that ntfs partition. U will be able to mount it normally then.



> sudo mount -o force -t ntfs-3g /dev/sdX /media/drv


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 22, 2008)

hi friends ,success atlast,thank you all for your kind cooperation,the scandisk method worked.now BTW how to configure WINE?


----------



## thewisecrab (Dec 22, 2008)

^^
Have you installed it already? If so, then just double click on the ".exe" file of the program you want to run and WINE should run it automatically.


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 22, 2008)

friends another problem,after installing the restricted ati graphics driver(for my mobo intel d102ggc2 with integrated ati radeon express 200) overall graphics is good but while playing videos the appear pixxiliated  ,any solutions

i tried running gta san andreas game but the graphics is too bad, shall i have to sacrafice all my games?  ,anyways friends please help me solving the video playback problem


----------



## thewisecrab (Dec 22, 2008)

Did you install all the codecs? (Gstreamer codecs)
And which player are you using? I'd recommend using VLC over Totem.


----------



## Dr.tweaker (Dec 23, 2008)

i have installed and use vlc in place of totem,but the problem is that whenever i use the ati proprietory restricted driver,the video playback is choppy,but when i disable the driver ,playback is fine.any solutions,also aticonfig says that to address this problem,i must turn the sync video feature off,any ideas about how to do his or any other solutions


                                                                                             cheers,thanks in advance


----------



## sexyshrek (Dec 24, 2008)

thanku very much


----------

