Cannot create entry in file system table

Plex Media Server
1

I am using the tip page but get stuck on part D every time. I enter the /etc/fstab line but from there I get instructions and no way to enter the command line as instructed.

2

There’s quite a number of posts in the Linux tips & tricks. Would you mind pointing out which one you’re referring to?
Also I’m not really sure what the problem is – can you share some more details on what you’re aiming for, what steps you’ve taken and where you get stuck?

3

I am adding 2 external NTFS-formatted discs.
I first identified the discs I want to add in graphical disc manager.
Command df.
/dev/sdb1 (My Passport) and
/dev/sdc1 (VIDEO).
Then I go to root.
Then I create location where I will graft everything into Linux.
I call it external.
The hard drives are”my passport” and “video”.
Then I get Block IDs.
I see UUID for each harddrive

Here is where I get lost. I am trying to create in the file system where to mount each time the system boots.
If I enter vi /etc/fstab I get “a static file system information”. Then I see “use blkid to print the universally unique identifier for a device…”
Then more info

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4

ok… some of those editors are a bit weird (don’t tell anybody I said that :wink: ).

Basically what you see on the screen is the content of the fstab configuration file – down to the lines starting w/ ~ that indicate there’s no more content. In order to edit the file, you need to switch into editing mode.

  • as /etc/fstab is a system file you cannot edit it with your regular user. Instead you need to tell the system you want to do that with admin privileges:
    sudo vi /etc/fstab
    This will ask for your account password (and will only work if you’re also an admin on that system.

  • You cannot simply write in the file; instead you need to tell vi if/where you want to edit it. There’s a lot of guides describing how to edit files using vi, e.g. Basic vi Commands

5

  1. You’re going to need two places under /external; one for each HDD
    a. sudo mkdir /external/passport
    b. sudo mkdir /external/video

  2. Next, with nothing mounted: chmod -R 755 /external

  3. Using your info, follow what I do here:

[chuck@lizum etc.507]$ sudo blkid /dev/sdb1
/dev/sdb1: LABEL="6t" UUID="446c8f7a-858b-47c5-94da-5fd8da44a18f" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="ce59470a-769b-4057-bc93-5b1a23156ade"
[chuck@lizum etc.508]$
  1. Add UUID=446c8f7a-858b-47c5-94da-5fd8da44a18f and fill out the rest of the line:
UUID=446c8f7a-858b-47c5-94da-5fd8da44a18f   /external/disk1    ext4   default,auto,nofail,bg 0 0

The info here, as described in the manual (man fstab) is

  1. Parition UUID to mount
  2. Location to mount at
  3. FS type
  4. Mount options (auto = at boot, nofail = don’t stop startup if a problem, background if the drive isn’t quite ready)
  5. backup flag
  6. fsck flag

You will use either partition type nfs or ntfs-3g depending on the formatting and what blkid shows you.

PS: You can have a bit easier way with it:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

^^ graphical editor.

1 Like
6

I followed the order. Here is what I get:

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7

I downloaded and installed Gedi but don’t know what to do with it.

8

Open the app from the command line using the command posted by chuckpa above in order to make your edits to /etc/fstab.

9

I am too much of a newbie to understand the next step. I would be willing to invite remote access to complete the process.

10

Didn’t you mean gedit ?

(Gnome graphical editor)

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

In my How-To

[root@lizum chuck]# vi /etc/fstab  (or use whatever text editor is available / favorite  and add the following lines, using your information)

# Addtions for external and internal drives
# Mount Media-3 (ext4)  at /disks/media3 for Plex
UUID=50f1a141-bc8a-48ba-9b29-8a7bee8043e9 /disks/media3  ext4  defaults,auto,rw,nofail 0 1

# Mount Chuck-2T (NTFS) at /disks/chuck2t for Plex
UUID=56EA5848EA582691                     /disks/chuck2t ntfs  defaults,auto,rw,nofail 0 1

# Mount /dev/sda1 directly  READ-ONLY,  and use the device name because it will never change
/dev/sda1                                 /disks/c       ntfs  defaults,auto,ro,nofail 0 1

vi can be replaced with gedit.

Make certain you are root (notice the # prompt) or use sudo

11

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image816Ă—612 119 KB

I was able to open gedit. I believe I entered the data correctly. I got a new error message.

12

Chuck, can you PM me?

13

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