[Guide] USB mounting problems

Help and Support Guides
#1

Hi,

I was having problems getting my RPi RevB, running Volumio Beta 1.4, to mount a usb flash drive containing music files. It turned out (the pro linux guys might laught at me for stating this like a revelation) that I had failed to “Safely remove hardware” it from my Windows box! All I had to do was run the command:

sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/USB

this mounts the first partition on device ‘/dev/sda1’, containing the filesystem ntfs to the directory /mnt/USB. Linux then tells you about the problem ^^, fixes it, and mounts the device :slight_smile:

Filesystems can be:
NTFS -> ntfs
FAT32 -> vfat
exFAT -> exfat

Devices can be:
sda, sdb, sdc etc.
…depending on how many usb devices you’ve plugged in.

Also a good tip; in order to be able to mount a drive you first have to be able to see it. Make sure Volumio sees the drive by typing

lsusb

and look for an entry containing the manufacturer of your drive! If you don’t see it you’re having problems ‘registering your device’ which could mean that your device isn’t getting enough power or is in some way damaged. Try plugging it into another usb port and try plugging it in via a powered USB switch…

#2

It might also be good to add that for exfat devices a driver needs to be installed (exfat-fuse) and needs to be mounted manually.

#3

Hi, I can’t acces my USB HDD. It’s connected through a USB Hub and when I do an update library the USB library is empty.
When doing lsusb I can see my HDD, but not sure what name is taking in Linux (sda1, sda2, etc)
I did a fdisk -l and shows 2 drives, and when trying to mount any of them I get the message that are already mounted.

I have a USB DAC connected directly to a raspberry pi b+

Please help.
Thanks.

#4

@ramilacaponi, hey, in case u still haven’t solved this here are a few suggestions/things to look into:

  1. Note that sda1 is the first partition on the first device. sda2 is the second partition on the first device. sdb3 is the third partition on the second device… And so on…
  2. Is the USB hub powered? Is it a big hard drive (ie. needs lots of power to run)? Have a try with a powered hub or a small thumb drive.
  3. What filesystem is it? Sure you don’t need any special drivers like phalanger suggests?
  4. Is your HDD partitioned? Note that some HDD come with multiple partitions so the manufacturer (read: the NSA) has somewhere to stick recovery shit (read: spy shit).

Hope this helps!

#5

The disk has another files and other folders. Don’t know what it is.

#6
  1. cool
  2. that should be fine then
  3. shouldn’t need special driver for that
  4. ok, but have u specifically checked that there are no other partitions? if you have a windows computer, run “Disk Management” and check it out, then mount the correct partition with all you’re stuff. If you have a mac, burn that shit and get windows or linux!
#7

I’m having some similar problems. I have a Pi2B and the latest Volumio. I can only access one USB RAM stick, It is always the last one I plug in. I could access them in Musicbox, they all appeared.

Any clues?

#8

I have the same problems,
my USB drive only show up sometimes, and also some times only halve of the folders,
so i go into settings, play abit, and back, most of the time, usb drive show up in the libray,
but I also see just NAS, I dont want NAS, only USB drives, please…
I have not found out where to write the commands you say

All I had to do was run the command:
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sda1 /mnt/USB

run a command ? how ??
do I manually need to run a command, every time I plug a usb drive or restart my PI ?
I dont understand why it just dont auto search and find my USB drive ?

#9

X7dude, Macs deserve love too. LOL