Writing to ntfs

[ladlers]

I just upgraded my Slackware 12.2 running slackpkg upgrade-all and something is different. When I try to mount an ntfs partition with the mount command, even specifying -rw, I cannot write to it. I CAN write to ntfs if specified and mounted from the fstab file. When trying the cp command, I get:
cp: cannot create regular file 'filename': Permission denied
This happens even as root. Remember, I can write to ntfs if premounted from the fstab. Is there some new operand I must specify in the upgraded version in the mount command?

[Freston]

Do you use the ntfs-3g module?

mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/ /mnt/windows

[ladlers]

Thank you, Freston. That worked. However, the drive I have is a Western Digital USB drive and I keep it unplugged because windows takes longer to boot when the drive is plugged in. If I try to mount it after Slackware is booted, it cannot get recognized. Any further information?

[Freston]

What do you mean, not recognized?

When you boot up Slackware, insert the USB drive (wait for ~20 seconds) and then run these commands and post the output here:

/sbin/lsusb
dmesg | tail

[ladlers]

When trying to mount in this situation, the error I get is:

ntfs-3g: Failed to access volume '/dev/sdc1': No such file or directory Please type '/sbin/mount.ntfs-3g --help for more information.

lsusb gives:

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 002: ID 046d:c044 Logitech, Inc. LX3 Optical Mouse
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 004: ID 1058:1110 Western Digital Technologies, Inc.
Bus 001 Device 003: ID 058f:6362 Alcor Micro Corp. Hi-Speed 21-in-1 Flash Card Reader/Writer (Internal/External)
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub

dmesg | tail gives:

scsi 5:0:0:1: CD-ROM WD Virtual CD 1110 2018 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
sr0: scsi3-mmc drive: 51x/51x caddy
sr 5:0:0:1: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr0
sr 5:0:0:1: Attached scsi generic sg7 type 5
scsi 5:0:0:2: Enclosure WD SES Device 2018 PQ: 0 ANSI: 4
scsi 5:0:0:2: Attached scsi generic sg8 type 13
usb-storage: device scan complete
Driver 'ses' needs updating - please use bus_type methods
ses 5:0:0:2: Attached Enclosure device
mtrr: type mismatch for e0000000,10000000 old: write-back new: write-combining

It also states that Driver 'ses' needs updating. How do I do that?

In further checking never mind about the ses driver. It is for power and cooling funtionality only and doesn't affect reading or writing. WD doesn't seem to support it on Linux.

[Freston]

Just to rule it out...

uname -a

(wondering whether slackpkg lets you boot the right kernel)

[ladlers]

Output of uname -a:

Linux Workgroup 2.6.27.31-smp #2 SMP Mon Aug 17 17:21:09 CDT 2009 i686 Pentium(R) Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz GenuineIntel GNU/Linux

[ladlers]

Never mind, I mastered it. By replacing the SES driver on Windows (because of what I found here), the drive no longer makes the computer boot slowly. Thus, the idea of plugging it into Slackware after boot is moot. It will always be plugged in now. Thanks to all who assisted.

[Freston]

Ok, good you had it sorted. Because I was unable to replicate this behaviour I really had no idea why it didn't work

---

Although I do remember similar problems a few years back. I had to completely zero the disk, and build the partitioning table and filesystem anew from within Linux to get it to work again. I think this had something to do with Windows altering the way it wrote the MBR of external drives. But this was a flash drive, so it may have been different and either way, I was never fully sure about any of my assumptions. Could just as well have been a driver problem...

[ladlers]

Unfortunately, after a week's hiatus, the slow boot problem has returned. Ubuntu can do something, believe it or not, to repair the partition to make it boot fast. However, I don't always run ubuntu. I will try to post the message ubuntu displays when repairing it if i see it. I think some type of usb hub has to be mounted to mount the drive. Should I issue the mount command when it's plugged in to see what's mounted? I'm going to unplug it after that.