[SOLVED] New drive for sharing between Windows and Linux (Debian-Based)

[playstation1868]

Hello all!

I have purchased a new 1TB drive and want to format it in such a way that both my Windows 10 installation AND my LinuxMint installation can see, access and use it. Since I want to learn linux, I attempted to do this in the terminal rather than a graphical interface or cmd. I partitioned it into ONE partition in NTFS and it seems to have gone through without any issues or hang-ups. However, when I was done, the file-manager can NOT see the new drive. The terminal still shows it as SDB -sdb1. What have I done wrong? Do I need new or different drivers in my linux installation to SEE and USE NTFS drives?

Thank You!

(I have an Imgur link but the website seems to reject it as an insert)

https://imgur.com/a/7541l1d

View: https://imgur.com/a/7541l1d

 

[ex_bubblehead]

A. Did you install NTFS support?
B. Did you mount the volume before trying to access it?

 

[playstation1868]

A. Did you install NTFS support?
B. Did you mount the volume before trying to access it?

Like I said, super new. I have not installed that software and I am running linux mint. I assumed that the volume WAS mounted since it was showing up in the terminal and was accessible through it. I am not really familiar with any of the commands required here and know that there are many many many ways to do one thing within the terminal window. I have just sorta been piecing together various youtube and article tutorials. Using CMD seems so much easier but I want to learn how to do the linux terminal. Since posting this I figured that maybe I ought to format the partition (which is basically the entire drive) in ntfs so i ran the following ---> sudo mkfs -t ntfs /dev/sdb1 and it has been running for HOURS now. It is only as 23% done. It claims to be initializing the device with zeros. How do I fix the problem that I have created or have I seriously messed things up here?

Thank you!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Most of your issues stem from the fact that you're trying to run before you've even learned to stand up. The filesystem was already laid down by the partition you did earlier, there was absolutely no need to be doing a long format (which you must let run to completion now). Volumes are not automatically mounted (this is not Windows, so stop thinking in those terms). Your first assignment is to look up the mount command and it's flags (man mount from the commandline). The man command is your best friend. Learn it, love it.

 

[playstation1868]

Most of your issues stem from the fact that you're trying to run before you've even learned to stand up. The filesystem was already laid down by the partition you did earlier, there was absolutely no need to be doing a long format (which you must let run to completion now). Volumes are not automatically mounted (this is not Windows, so stop thinking in those terms). Your first assignment is to look up the mount command and it's flags (man mount from the commandline). The man command is your best friend. Learn it, love it.

Ok, thank you! So what am I looking at right here as of now? I have a new drive, with one partition that, at the end of this VERY LONG process, WILL actually be formatted in ntfs. Technically isn't that all that needed to be done? I know that I sorta took a very wrong and backwards way to get there but should it not technically be good now? Also, can I mount a drive after it has already been partitioned and such? Is there any particular order this has to go in in terms of steps? What would happen if I control +C and killed the long format. Will this many writes kill my SSD? I am starting to get worried evidently. I literally just bought this and do not want to waste the money. This is FAR more different than windows than I thought it would be.

Thank you!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

Ok, thank you! So what am I looking at right here as of now? I have a new drive, with one partition that, at the end of this VERY LONG process, WILL actually be formatted in ntfs. Technically isn't that all that needed to be done? I know that I sorta took a very wrong and backwards way to get there but should it not technically be good now? Also, can I mount a drive after it has already been partitioned and such? Is there any particular order this has to go in in terms of steps? What would happen if I control +C and killed the long format. Will this many writes kill my SSD? I am starting to get worried evidently. I literally just bought this and do not want to waste the money. This is FAR more different than windows than I thought it would be.

Thank you!

Yes, at the end you will have an NTFS formatted drive that can be immediately mounted and used.
If you <Ctrl>-C the partition/format that's currently running you have to start from scratch as the filesystem will be in an inconsistent state and unusable. Being this new to the Linux world you need to first slow way down and digest all of the tutorials available. Linux is NOT Windows (as you've already discovered) and a whole new set of rules apply and the majority of what you know about the Windows world does not apply to Linux.

 

[playstation1868]

Yes, at the end you will have an NTFS formatted drive that can be immediately mounted and used.
If you <Ctrl>-C the partition/format that's currently running you have to start from scratch as the filesystem will be in an inconsistent state and unusable. Being this new to the Linux world you need to first slow way down and digest all of the tutorials available. Linux is NOT Windows (as you've already discovered) and a whole new set of rules apply and the majority of what you know about the Windows world does not apply to Linux.

I would say so...this is way different. I just have this laptop and, ever since putting linux ON it, it has run WAY faster and the OS is so much less bloated and sluggish. I just needed a new drive for storage is all (old one was a 5400rpm HDD that was awful). Most of my problem is that I do not know where to START with a lot of this stuff and just end up trying to learn it on a per-command basis AS i need it. Believe it or not, I actually work in IT and have only ever used Windows. I think I will take your advice, let the full format run (provided it doesn't massively decrease the lifespan of my drive (it wont right?) and then run --->mount /dev/sdb1/media/ (I believe that is correct). Then the drive should be REformatted in ntfs, partitioned, and ready for use. I will make a windows and a Linux directory and store files in it from BOTH operating systems. I am using this laptop as my learning machine since I don't really have any important information stored in it right now. After this I am going to take the 128Gb boot drive that is in it, split it in half, and install both OSs on it. The more practice the better!

Thank you so much!

I will let you know if I run into anymore wild issues...

PS: Do you have any tutorial series or video sets that may be useful in helping understand the basic and most useful Linux terminal commands?

 

[ex_bubblehead]

....After this I am going to take the 128Gb boot drive that is in it, split it in half, and install both OSs on it.

NO NO NO NO!!!!!! 128GB isn't even big enough for a Windows installation by itself, let alone splitting it for 2 OS's. You need at least 256GB just for Windows alone. My advice is to install Windows as the sole OS, then, install something like VirtualBox and run Linux in a virtual machine until you're more comfortable and actually ready for a more complex setup.

 

[playstation1868]

NO NO NO NO!!!!!! 128GB isn't even big enough for a Windows installation by itself, let alone splitting it for 2 OS's. You need at least 256GB just for Windows alone. My advice is to install Windows as the sole OS, then, install something like VMWare and run Linux in a virtual machine until you're more comfortable and actually ready for a more complex setup.

The whole reason that I took windows OFF of it and put Mint on it was because it was very slow at running windows...are windows installations REALLY that large?? It seems as though it doesn't matter anyway since I can not figure out how to mount the drive. I examined the man for mount and I do not know what half of the jargon means and don't know WHERE to even begin with that. I killed the full format because I was afraid that it would break my SSD. I repartitioned it in NTFS again and now am just scouring the internet for tutorials on how to mount it but every article and video uses a different application or command. This is killing me XD.

Thanks!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

The whole reason that I took windows OFF of it and put Mint on it was because it was very slow at running windows...are windows installations REALLY that large?? It seems as though it doesn't matter anyway since I can not figure out how to mount the drive. I examined the man for mount and I do not know what half of the jargon means and don't know WHERE to even begin with that. I killed the full format because I was afraid that it would break my SSD. I repartitioned it in NTFS again and now am just scouring the internet for tutorials on how to mount it but every article and video uses a different application or command. This is killing me XD.

Thanks!

Yes, Windows is that large. Lack of adequate diskspace is the likely reason Windows is so slow on that machine.

More on the mount command: https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-mount-and-unmount-file-systems-in-linux/

correct syntax is very important here.

Basically: sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/<device> /mount/<mount point>
Where <device> is what you want mounted (sda1, sda2, sdb1, sdb2, etc.) and <mount point> is where you want to mount it (/mount/<directory name>

You can use /etc/fstab to do persistent mounts

 

[playstation1868]

Yes, Windows is that large. Lack of adequate diskspace is the likely reason Windows is so slow on that machine.

More on the mount command: https://linuxize.com/post/how-to-mount-and-unmount-file-systems-in-linux/

correct syntax is very important here.

I read through the article and tried to craft the appropriate command and it keeps throwing errors that don't mean anything to me...I will include an image of that error.

https://imgur.com/undefined

View: https://imgur.com/undefined


Thank you!

The command that I tried was: sudo mount -t NTFS /dev/sdb1 /media/tyler

 

[ex_bubblehead]

I can't see such images behind our work firewall so I'll have to recheck once I get home this evening.
Did you create the /media/tyler directory first? The mount point must actually exist before it can be used, and have proper permissions applied.

sudo mkdir -m777 /media/tyler

-m777 will set permissions to allow all users full control (for your testing purposes it's not going to hurt anything to do this)

https://phoenixnap.com/kb/create-directory-linux-mkdir-command

The "mount" directory may also be called /mnt rather than /mount as well. I personally run Gentoo where it is /mnt

 

[playstation1868]

I can't see such images behind our work firewall so I'll have to recheck once I get home this evening.
Did you create the /media/tyler directory first? The mount point must actually exist before it can be used, and have proper permissions applied.

sudo mkdir -m777 /media/tyler

-m777 will set permissions to allow all users full control (for your testing purposes it's not going to hurt anything to do this)

https://phoenixnap.com/kb/create-directory-linux-mkdir-command

The "mount" directory may also be called /mnt rather than /mount as well. I personally run Gentoo where it is /mnt

So you were right in that my directory should ACTUALLY be named /mnt. That command actually went through (sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt). Is there a particular reason that I can not mount the drive to any directory that I choose? Also even though the OS SAYS that it is mounted...I still can not see it in the file manager. The file manager has not shown up with some large new storage space that I can see.

Thank you!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You don't mount directly to /mnt, you create a directory inside there with proper permissions and then mount to that newly created directory. You should be able to do this with any directory you have write permissions on (be VERY careful here that you don't go mounting things over the top of system directories. For testing purposes keep to /mnt and /home/<your username>. You create the place you want to mount something ("mountpoint") then mount to that point. Beware that if you mount to an existing directory you will not be able to access what's underneath that mount until you unmount (umount).

As far as seeing it in a file manager. You will see it at the mount point. If you mount at (cringing) /mnt then you will see the contents when you open /mnt (assuming the mounting went without issues).

 

[playstation1868]

You don't mount directly to /mnt, you create a directory inside there with proper permissions and then mount to that newly created directory. You should be able to do this with any directory you have write permissions on (be VERY careful here that you don't go mounting things over the top of system directories. For testing purposes keep to /mnt and /home/<your username>. You create the place you want to mount something ("mountpoint") then mount to that point. Beware that if you mount to an existing directory you will not be able to access what's underneath that mount until you unmount (umount).

As far as seeing it in a file manager. You will see it at the mount point. If you mount at (cringing) /mnt then you will see the contents when you open /mnt (assuming the mounting went without issues).

So, for all intents and purposes, when I mounted to /mnt I basically turned the /mnt folder into one giant four-hundred-some GB storage space? Also I am confused about why it does not show up under the "devices" tab. Is it meant to? Usually storage devices do. Thank you for all of your help so far!

 

[ex_bubblehead]

So, for all intents and purposes, when I mounted to /mnt I basically turned the /mnt folder into one giant four-hundred-some GB storage space? Also I am confused about why it does not show up under the "devices" tab. Is it meant to? Usually storage devices do. Thank you for all of your help so far!

Yep, when you mounted that device at /mnt it now IS /mnt until unmounted. It does show up. Its device identifier never changes from /dev/sd<something> whether mounted or not. You have to forget the Windows way of referring to storage. To *NIX they're just devices mounted at a specific directory in the filesystem, there is no A:, B:, C: etc. You can carve up a large storage device into multiple partitions that can each be mounted separately anywhere in the system. *NIX doesn't care.