non-root access to mounted dirs

[hudsonhauck]

Okay, I have one last thing to work out before I am done configuring my linux (i think...). I have all my music on my ntfs drive (my windows drive). So, to use it in Linux, I automounted it in /etc/fstab right? Well, apparently that gives it root ownage because root is the only one who can mount. Plus, I can't chown it because it is read-only. What should I do??
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Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[mamsbrl]

try su

this command change to root privileges. (Super User)

[hudsonhauck]

from what I've heard, its a bad idea to work as the root. I'd rather be able to access these dirs from someone othere than the root
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Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[rogue]

if i recall correctly, the linux ntfs driver instead of doing something with the user permissions data that ntfs supports automatically just gives root access to data on the ntfs drive. if in your /etc/fstab file you edit the line for the ntfs device and add the option "user" so a regular user can mount and unmount it, you should be able to solve your problem by remounting it as a user. You'll have to su to root, unmount the drive, and then exit and mount it as a user for that user to have access.


anyway..hope that helps

edit: ntfs should only be mounted read only...i don't believe read-write support works properly (it's marked experimental in the kernel and so you could potentially lose data)
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(rob)

[hudsonhauck]

I added the option "user" to each drive in fstab and when I tried to mount it (after I rebooted) tiold me that only the root can mount...
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Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[Curious]

[hudsonhauck]

Thanks Curious, that would be great. I think I am putting the "user" in the wrong place. I put it right after "noatime". Am I supposed to actually type "user" or type the name of my user like "johndoe". Thanks.
Here is the section of my fstab that mounts the drives I want to mount/unmount from anywhere:

[lain iwakura]

'user' is correct. but for if you would like anyone to mount/unmount these drives, use the 'users' option. i believe then the user would have to be a part of the 'users' group, then, for this to work.

and as other people have mentioned, mount ntfs read-only because, well, support is not all that great for that file system, yet.

so use users,ro on your ntfs lines in /etc/fstab.

[hudsonhauck]

Well, anybody can unmount these drives now, however, when I try to mount it says this:
"mount: only root can do that"
we're getting closer...
_________________
Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[lain iwakura]

defaults,users,ro should work.

[hudsonhauck]

No such luck. Here is my updated fstab to make sure i have it right:

[hudsonhauck]

Also, just curious, do you have to reboot for the fstab to take effect? I have been rebooting every time and it is kinda annoying...
_________________
Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[lain iwakura]

I'm pretty sure you have to reboot. that's what fstab is for -- for mounting devices at boottime.

you could try changing fstab, then remount the drive -- not sure that works, though

[hudsonhauck]

[lain iwakura]

eww, didn't see you're updated post.

mnt /home/edrive should work. you don't need to say mnt /dev/blah /home/blah. that's why you where getting that error.

[hudsonhauck]

Okay, now I can mount it from any user, however, once I do, it still switches the file permissions to root, and I can't get inside the folder, which puts me back to square-one. Also, even when I'm the root, it tells me this when I type "mount /home/edrive" :

[citron]

Try to
# chmod u+s /bin/mount to add suid bit on mount binary file ..
not so secure, but useful for mounting disks like non root user.

Martin

[lain iwakura]

another thing, will any of your ntfs drives mount properly as root?

[hudsonhauck]

[hudsonhauck]

[lain iwakura]

you created dirs in home? hmm, what are the ownerships of the dirs when you type ls -l /home ? the dirs should belong to root.

never seen hd's mounted on /home. I suppose it should work but .... hmm.

[hudsonhauck]

when they are unmounted, cdrive, edrive, and ddrive belong to "users". But when they are mounted, they belong to "root"

before mount:

[lain iwakura]

alright, umount the drives, su to root and then del the dirs. then recreate them. then try remounting.

the dirs are usually created in the /mnt dir.

update: of coarse you'll should reboot if you change the dirs to the /mnt dir, which I think you should try. also, don't forget to update /etc/fstab.

this is just a guess. not sure if i can be much more help.

[hudsonhauck]

By the way, thanks for all the help, you've been great!
If I mount them in the /mnt dir, which has root perms, how will I be able to get at them from a non-root account?
Oh, and no, it still doesn't work. It is still the access-control problem
_________________
Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/

[hudsonhauck]

Okay, they're in the /mnt dir now and the stupid /dev/hda6 errors are gone. However, since /mnt is owned by root, and /mnt/*drive is owned by root, any old user can't access it. Damn. Maybe it isn't possible?
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Matthew Hauck
http://matthauck.blogspot.com/