Can not Access Hard Drives through Disc Utility.


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Thread: Can not Access Hard Drives through Disc Utility.

  1. #1
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    Can not Access Hard Drives through Disc Utility.

    I have 2 Windows 7 hard drives in my tower and I can not access either one through Disc Utility. I used to be able to do it when I had Kubuntu 8.04 and even Trinity Kubuntu. I have Mepis 11 x64 on this box now and I get an error when I try to access either hard drive. The error states: Error mounting vloume an error occured while performing an operation on "HP" (Partition 1 of ATA ST3500620AS): The operation failed Details: Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 1: helper failed with:
    Error opening '/dev/sdc1': Permission denied
    Failed to mount '/dev/sdc1': Permission denied
    Please check '/dev/sdc1' and the ntfs-3g binary permissions,
    and the mounting user ID. More explanation is provided at
    http://ntfs-3g.org/support.html#unprivileged


    Is this a win7 vs Linux issue or Mepis in particular?

    Pepse.
    Registered Linux User: 364162.


    Just about the time you think you can make ends meet somebody moves the ends.

  2. #2
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    The security has caught up with Win7 and Linux.

    Every file has an ownership so those who does not own the file may de denied by the operating system to access it.

    In Linux this can be overcome by using a root terminal. A root user is like the Windows Admin who has privilege to access all files.
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  3. #3
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    Okay, so if I understand you correctly I cannot access either Win hard drive through Linux?

    I kinda figured that win made it hard to access.

    Pepse.
    Registered Linux User: 364162.


    Just about the time you think you can make ends meet somebody moves the ends.

  4. #4
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    No. You misunderstood.

    An operating system, be it a Windows or a Linux must have a terminal mode and a desktop.

    The LInux desktop has evolved that only an ordinary user can log in to it. Nowadays a secure Linux disallows the root user to log in to a desktop like Mepis, Ubuntu, Mint etc as it is easy to damage the system by a wrongly clicking mouse.

    However in terminal mode a user can log in as root by providing the root password first. A root user in root terminal has the priviege to access everything. I believe when Mepis is installed it would have asked the root account set up. It it has not just click a terminal type "su" and supply the password "root". The method to become a root user can be different in each Linux and the distro site would publish the details as this is required for a Live CD.

    You can access every drive and partition in Windows as a root user in a terminal. This is a more secure arrangement.

    Up to about 10 to 15 years ago every Linux when installed with have both root and normal user accounts created. The modern trend is do away with the root account (like Ubuntu) by preceeding a system command with "sudo" and then supply the normal user password.

    Here is an example of a Mint terminal.
    Code:
    saikee@Mint15 ~ $ fdisk -l
    saikee@Mint15 ~ $ sudo su
    [sudo] password for saikee: 
    Mint15 saikee # fdisk -l
    
    WARNING: GPT (GUID Partition Table) detected on '/dev/sda'! The util fdisk doesn't support GPT. Use GNU Parted.
    
    
    Disk /dev/sda: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364801 cylinders, total 5860533168 sectors
    Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x00000000
    
       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    /dev/sda1               1  4294967295  2147483647+  ee  GPT
    Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
    
    Disk /dev/sdb: 240.1 GB, 240057409536 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 29185 cylinders, total 468862128 sectors
    Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x000d52f7
    
       Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
    /dev/sdb1              63   225279359   112639648+  83  Linux
    /dev/sdb2   *   225280000   225484799      102400    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
    /dev/sdb3       225484800   443701247   109108224    7  HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
    /dev/sdb4       443703294   468860927    12578817    5  Extended
    /dev/sdb5       443703296   468860927    12578816   82  Linux swap / Solaris
    Mint15 saikee #
    When I issued a system command "fdisk -l" the operating system ignore me because I was an ordinary user and has no privilege. The command "fdisk -l" is equivalent to Windows' "dir" where every disk and partition is listed.

    However I could become the root user or super user by issue the command "su" and preceed it with "sudo" (this is special to Ubuntu and Mint whereas Mepis does not need "sudo" ). AFter I supplied the ordinary user password I become the root user indicated by the change of the prompt from saikee@Mint15 ~ $ to Mint15 saikee #.

    As a root user you can mount every Windows partition manually and therefore read/write it afterward.
    Last edited by saikee; 07-02-2013 at 04:09 PM.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
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  5. #5
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    Okay, so apparently I can still access the win7 hard drives but I have to be in a Konsole. What commands do I use?

    Pepse.
    Registered Linux User: 364162.


    Just about the time you think you can make ends meet somebody moves the ends.

  6. #6
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    What commands to use depend on what you want.

    If I use my previous post as an example and the Windows NTFS partition sdb3 is the one I want to access then after claiming "super User" in a Konsole by command "su" I will have the privilege to mount it. Therefore I shall creat a mount point first and mount the device /dev/sdb3 on it as follow
    Code:
    mkdir /mnt/my_win7_partition
    mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/my_win7_partition
    ls /mnt/my_win7_partition
    The last command is to list the contents of sdb3. At this point your desktop should shown up the partition if you search the /mnt directory.
    I believe at this point you can read it in a desktop but to change the content you have to use the root terminal.

    Most of the power in Linux is in its terminal and knowing how to mount a hardware device to access it in a directory is one of the many wonderful features of Linux.
    Last edited by saikee; 07-03-2013 at 02:58 PM.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  7. #7
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    If you manage successfully to mount a partition "manually" you can make it permanently by instructing LInux to do it at every boot.

    Linux will mount all needed partition at every boot according to the content of the file /etc/fstab which is a text file editable by an editor or a word processor.

    My version of /etc/fstab is as follow and the last line, marked red, was added to mount my /dev/sda2 which is a NTFS partition. I store all my data in a NTFS partition off a 3TB hard disk which can be used by both Linux and MS Windows.
    Code:
    Mint15 saikee # cat /etc/fstab
    # /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/sdb1 during installation
    UUID=933708ca-d58f-418b-bec3-fd9796716b6b /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
    # swap was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
    UUID=2f28d031-95b6-4f37-83e6-bda4e83c3c6b none            swap    sw              0       0
    /dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
    /dev/sda2                                /mnt/2013-3TB               ntfs    errors=remount-ro 0       0
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  8. #8
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    Okay, I have made some progress with mounting the win7 HDD /sdc1 , but when I go to disk utility it shows a mount point of /mnt/my_win7_partition and when I click on it I get this error: Error spawning nautilus: %s an error occured while performing an operation on "500 GB Hard Disk" (ATA ST3500620AS): Unknown error Details Failed to execute child process "nautilus" (No such file or directory).

    Here is the process I did in Konsole: [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mkdir /mnt/my_win7_partition
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc /mnt/my_win7_partition
    mount: you must specify the filesystem type
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/my_win_7_partition
    ntfs-3g-mount: failed to access mountpoint /mnt/my_win_7_partition: No such file or directory
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# cd /my_win_7_partition
    bash: cd: /my_win_7_partition: No such file or directory
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc1/ /mnt/my_win7_partition
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# ls /mnt/my_win7_partition
    a la mode Config.Msi eula.1041.txt HP PCL5 Universal Print Driver install.res.1041.dll PerfLogs SWSetup Windows
    AuroraCD Documents and Settings eula.1042.txt install.ini install.res.1042.dll ProgramData System Volume Information
    Boot eula.1028.txt eula.2052.txt install.res.1028.dll install.res.2052.dll Program Files updatedatfix.log
    bootmgr eula.1031.txt eula.3082.txt install.res.1031.dll install.res.3082.dll Program Files (x86) Users
    BOOTSECT.BAK eula.1033.txt FINIS_IT.TXT install.res.1033.dll Intel Qoobox VC_RED.cab
    COMBOFIX eula.1036.txt globdata.ini install.res.1036.dll MSOCache $RECYCLE.BIN vcredist.bmp
    ComboFix.txt eula.1040.txt hp install.res.1040.dll pagefile.sys SentriLockCardUtil.err VC_RED.MSI
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]#


    I included everything including my small errors. But just so you see what I was doing.

    I am trying to access this hard drive to get pictures off of it as it has some bad sectors; MBR I am sure.

    Pepse.
    Last edited by Pepse; 07-07-2013 at 10:38 PM.
    Registered Linux User: 364162.


    Just about the time you think you can make ends meet somebody moves the ends.

  9. #9
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    Well it looks like you have managed to mount the partition but the operating system failed to read it.

    Since these are Windows partitions I assumed you might have suffered the same drawback with a MS Windows before using Linux.

    If a hard disk developes bad sectors then you may have a problem of reading its content because the operating system will make a fixed number of attempts before abondoning the operation.

    You could remove the hard drive, put it in an enclosure, offer it as an external hard disk to a MS Windows to see if the same problem persists. This is to get a second opinion.

    If you do have bad sectors affecting the disk you should spin the disk when it is necessary to do so as more rotation can lead to more bad sectors.

    If the disk content is of value to you then you should immediate clone the disk. When cloning a disk no partition needed to be mounted and the binary pattern of each sector is transferred. The bad sectors cannot be read so they become empty sectors on the target disk. This way you may be able to save some data.

    To clone a hard disk sector by sector you need to have the target disk either exactly equal or just larger than the source disk. Say the source is /devsda and the target is /devsdd the dd command at the terminal is all you need
    Code:
    dd if=/dev/sda of=/dev/sdd bs=32256 conv=noerror
    The above instructs Linux to use input file from device /sda, output file from device /sdd, read and write one record of 32256 byte which is eactly equal to one complete track of 63 sectors each 512 bytes and continue with the operation if error is encountered.

    dd command does not give a progresss and the completion is only known if you see the command prompt again. Internal hard disk cloning (both target and source are internal disk) is about 35 to 120Mb/s. However if one of the disk is hooked up as a USB then the bottle neck is at the USB connection which can drag the speed dowm to 10Mb/s. Therefore if both source and target disk are Sata III capable of 100Mb/s transfer it will take 1.4 hour whereas with one being USB2 this can become 14 hours.

    You can get an idea of how faster the hard disk can transfer by the hdparm command. Here is my sda (Sata III) and sdc (USB2) buffered read speed as an example
    Code:
    Mint15 saikee # hdparm -tT /dev/sda
    /dev/sda:
     Timing cached reads:   18104 MB in  2.00 seconds = 9061.39 MB/sec
     Timing buffered disk reads: 498 MB in  3.00 seconds = 165.81 MB/sec
    
    Mint15 saikee # hdparm -tT /dev/sdc
    /dev/sdc:
     Timing cached reads:   16204 MB in  2.00 seconds = 8109.04 MB/sec
     Timing buffered disk reads:  52 MB in  3.11 seconds =  16.75 MB/sec
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  10. #10
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    Yeah, that hard drive has a lot of pics on it that my sister hopes I can recover. So, when I get another 500GB hard drive I will clone it using your commands. To me, cloning would be less hassle than your first option.

    If I encounter any issues when that comes about I will post.

    Can I use that same " my_win7_patition " for my other win7 hard drive? Or do I need to create another " my_win7_partition "?

    Pepse.
    Last edited by Pepse; 07-12-2013 at 11:46 AM.
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  11. #11
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    Since data files are always stored inside a partition so you should always mount a partition for reading and writing and not the whole hard disk.


    The mount command needs a device name first and a mounting point second. A device name is unique and list in /dev folder. The devices names are detected and created by the kernel and cannot be changed. The mounting points on the other hand are entirely up to you.

    For example you can mount the 2nd disk on /mnt again by creating a subdirectory of your choice like
    Code:
    mkdir /mnt/Dude_said_2nd_disk_here
    mount /dev/sdd2  /mnt/Dude_said_2nd_disk_here
    or just
    Code:
    mkdir /mnt/sdd2
    mount /dev/sdd2  /mnt/sdd2
    If the partition is healthy a modern kernel should be able to detect the filing system without specifiying it in the mount command.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  12. #12
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    I kind of thought I would need a different sub directory but I had to ask.

    Thanx.

    Pepse.
    Registered Linux User: 364162.


    Just about the time you think you can make ends meet somebody moves the ends.

  13. #13
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    You can use any directory to mount a partition but /mnt is the commonly designated point. /media is usually used by the distro itself for similar things. You can also mount it anywhere in your personal /home directory system.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

  14. #14
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    Well I finally got another hard drive and successfully cloned the bad hard drive. Now I have issues with the commands you gave so I could mount that hard drive. I will post the problem from the Konsole and let you see what is what.Disk /dev/sdc: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x1549f232

    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sdc1 1 59124 474913498+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
    /dev/sdc3 * 59125 60801 13470502+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

    Disk /dev/sdb: 500.1 GB, 500106780160 bytes
    255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
    Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disk identifier: 0x98ad98ad

    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sdb1 * 1 60800 488375968+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mkdir /mnt/lynette_win7_partition
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc3 /mnt/lynette_win7_partition
    mount: you must specify the filesystem type
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc3 /mnt/HPFS/NTFS
    mount: mount point /mnt/HPFS/NTFS does not exist
    [root@mepis1 Pepse]# mount /dev/sdc3 /mnt/lynette_win7_partition/HPFS/NTFS
    mount: mount point /mnt/lynette_win7_partition/HPFS/NTFS does not exist
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  15. #15
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    If you try to read the manual page of the command "mount" by
    Code:
     man mount
    you will see the explanation of specifying the partition filing type is by -t follow by the filing type like
    Code:
     mount -t ntfs /dev/sdc3 /mnt/lynette_win7_partition
    Try also to mount sdc1 to see if you can access both partitions.

    When a partition gets bad it will have problem in the mounting operation. If you can see the full output of "fdisk -l" without a complaint that means its partition table is still intact. Only a successful mount can determine its contents is still sound. If you read a cloned disk the files should be OK except the bad ones may not have been transferred. So extracting the data from the cloned drive should be easier and a lot quicker.
    Linux user started Jun 2004 - No. 361921
    Using a Linux live CD to clone XP
    To install Linux and keep Windows MBR untouched
    Adding extra Linux & Doing it in a lazy way
    A Grub menu booting 100+ systems & A "Howto" to install and boot 145 systems
    Just cloning tips Just booting tips A collection of booting tips

    Judge asked Linux "You are being charged murdering Windoze by stabbing its heart with a weapon, what was it?" Replied Linux "A Live CD"

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