cannot mount ipod

[keevill]

Suddenly I am unable to mount an ipod to my 10.04 distro. I get the error
mount: can't find /dev/sdb2 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
Can see it in 'places' but cannot mount and naturally, I cannot connect with GTKPod.
I can successfully mount 2 other ipods on this box.
Also, I can mount the original one ( the one I need ) to another machine.
-keevill-

[Rubberman]

Mounting block devices by device id is not usually recommended since changing your system can also change the id's. IE, /dev/sdb may become /dev/sdc or something else if you add a new drive (internal or external), or some other block device. Use the drive label in /etc/fstab instead.

[keevill]

Mounting block devices by device id is not usually recommended since changing your system can also change the id's. IE, /dev/sdb may become /dev/sdc or something else if you add a new drive (internal or external), or some other block device. Use the drive label in /etc/fstab instead.

Can you give me some more detailed help on exactly how to do that ?
Thx,
-keevill-

[tyho]

You can mount them by their UUID:
How To Use UUID To Mount Partitions / Volumes Under Ubuntu Linux

[Rubberman]

You can mount them by their UUID:
How To Use UUID To Mount Partitions / Volumes Under Ubuntu Linux

True, but I prefer a drive/partition/file-system label since that way I can move stuff around, such as replacing the drive, and simply by giving the new device the same label it will be automatically found by the OS and mounted appropriately. Anyway, with the drive running and connected to the system, boot a live CD/DVD and from a command-line execute the command sudo fdisk -l and post the results back here.

[keevill]

True, but I prefer a drive/partition/file-system label since that way I can move stuff around, such as replacing the drive, and simply by giving the new device the same label it will be automatically found by the OS and mounted appropriately. Anyway, with the drive running and connected to the system, boot a live CD/DVD and from a command-line execute the command sudo fdisk -l and post the results back here.

Rubberman,

Below is the results of fdisk -l when booting up in live cd.
The first one is without the ipod connected and the lower one with it connected.
-keevill-

ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 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: 0xafc9afc9

  Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6048    48580528+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2            6352       14593    66203865    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5            6375       14593    66019086    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6            6353        6374      176683+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

____________________________________________________
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$ sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 120.0 GB, 120034123776 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 14593 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: 0xafc9afc9

  Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1        6048    48580528+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2            6352       14593    66203865    f  W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda5            6375       14593    66019086    7  HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda6            6353        6374      176683+  82  Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order
Note: sector size is 2048 (not 512)

Disk /dev/sdb: 30.0 GB, 30005821440 bytes
255 heads, 62 sectors/track, 926 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 15810 * 2048 = 32378880 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 2048 bytes / 2048 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 2048 bytes / 2048 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x20202020

  Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1               1           4       96264    0  Empty
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
    phys=(0, 1, 1) logical=(0, 1, 2)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
    phys=(2, 254, 63) logical=(3, 12, 21)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
Partition 1 does not start on physical sector boundary.
/dev/sdb2               4         927    29206168    b  W95 FAT32
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
    phys=(3, 0, 1) logical=(3, 12, 22)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
    phys=(911, 254, 62) logical=(926, 180, 59)
Partition 2 does not start on physical sector boundary.
ubuntu@ubuntu:~$

[Rubberman]

Thanks. The internal disc on the ipod has one user-accessible partition that I can see, /dev/sdb2 which is a FAT32 partition. Have you tried manually mounting it?

1. Create a mount point, such as /mnt/ipod
2. Mount /dev/sdb2 there: sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb2 /mnt/ipod

If that works, then ok. If not, then it may be munged. The information from fdisk may be indicating that, but then I don't know what a normal ipod drive would look like - my wife won't let me touch hers!

[keevill]

Thanks. The internal disc on the ipod has one user-accessible partition that I can see, /dev/sdb2 which is a FAT32 partition. Have you tried manually mounting it?

1. Create a mount point, such as /mnt/ipod
2. Mount /dev/sdb2 there: sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb2 /mnt/ipod

If that works, then ok. If not, then it may be munged. The information from fdisk may be indicating that, but then I don't know what a normal ipod drive would look like - my wife won't let me touch hers!

That seemed to have done the trick Rubberman ! Initially I got the unable to mount error in gtkpod but on 2nd attempt it mounted and I can see the files on the ipod.

However, when I try to copy songs over onto it I get the following error:

error opening '/mnt/ipod/iPod_Control/Music/F18/libgpod649627.mp3 for writing (Permission denied).
-keevill-

[keevill]

I managed to get over the permissions thing by using sudo gtkpod.
I can live with this slight inconvenience.
Thx for your help Rubberman.
-keevill-

[Rubberman]

Yeah. Mounting a FAT32 partition as root (sudo) will make it read-only for regular users. Sorry, forgot to mention that!