Arch: Install to & run from External USB Hard Disk Drive (HDD)

I wanted to play with ArchLinux 2009.02, but replacing the existing Debian-Lenny on the laptop's HDD wasn't an option. So I experimented with installing Arch on an external USB Hard Disk Drive.
I have tried to make this "newbie-friendly", so I hope the more experienced will forgive the detail.
Materials:
Three year old Dell Inspiron 6000
     CPU = 2.0 GHz Pentium
     RAM = 2.0 GB
     Internal HDD = 80 GB
     Internal CD/DVD R/RW
External USB HDD = Freecom FHD-2 Pro 80 GB
Archlinux 2009.02 install CD
Steps to install:
1. I put the Archlinux install CD in the drive and connected the external 80 GB HDD in the USB port.
2. When the Dell laptop was booted, I pressed F2 to enter the BIOS setup. I edited the boot sequence to the following:
     Internal CD/DVD
     External USB device
     Internal HDD
On the Dell, you can also press F12 to select the preferred boot device for that boot.
3. I started the laptop and the Archlinux installation menu came up and I proceeded with installation following the "Official Arch Linux Install Guide" and the "Beginners Guide".
4. Used km to change to UK keyboard layout and then began the installer script (/arch/setup). I was installing from the core CD so I skipped the network steps.
5. HDD preparation.
This was fairly straightforward with two cautions:
     (a) Make very sure that the external HDD (sdb) is selected for the operations.
     (b) Remember to set the Bootable Flag for the first (/) partition on the HDD.
I chose 20 GB for /, 2 GB for swap and the remainder for /home.
6. The package selection and installation was fairly straightforward.
7. Configuration of System
This was section was straightforward with one warning:
     USB had to be added to the HOOKS in the /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file!
I found this to be essential for my external USB HDD to function as a bootable device. Otherwise I got the same sorts of errors relating to unrecognisable file system types that other people have reported in the forum.
The relevant line from the end of the edited /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file is below:
HOOKS="base udev autodetect pata scsi sata usb filesystems"
8. Installation of GRUB was the other point where caution and/or correction was necessary.
When it asked where GRUB should be installed, I had to select sdb (my external USB HDD) and not any of the particular partitions on sdb. If the root partition sdb1 was selected then the laptop won't boot from the external USB HDD.
The GRUB /boot/grub/menu.lst as written by the installation routine specifies hd(1,0) which doesn't work when you try to reboot from the external USB HDD. When you boot Arch from the external USB HDD, as far as Arch is concerned - at that point in time - the external USB HDD is the first drive in the system. To fix this:
     (a) When the Arch boot menu comes up, press e to edit the grub entries.
     (b) Change the first line to hd(0,0)
     (c) To the end of the kernel line add rootdelay=8
     (d) Press b to boot the system with these temporary corrections.
     (e) Once your Arch system has booted, edit the /boot/grub/menu.lst to make the above changes permanent.
The relevant portion of my /boot/grub/menu.lst looks like the following:
# (0) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26.img
# (1) Arch Linux
title  Arch Linux Fallback
root   (hd0,0)
kernel /boot/vmlinuz26 root=/dev/disk/by-uuid/... ro rootdelay=8
initrd /boot/kernel26-fallback.img
9. The laptop happily and consistently boots Arch Linux from the external USB HDD when it's plugged in before startup/booting.
Running Arch from the external USB HDD seems as quick as running Debian from the internal HDD.
So if there is a performance penalty associated with using an external USB HDD, my wife and I haven't noticed.
In summary, the three essential points to address during installation to an external USB HDD are:
     Remember to set the bootable flag for the first partition.
     Add USB to the HOOKS for /etc/mkinitcpio.conf file.
     Correct the /etc/grub/menu.lst file.
I hope this is helpful.
Ted

Hi Rookie,
As you say, it is worth remembering the rootfstype= option for the kernel line just in case someone still has problems with GRUB after making all the other changes.
I was working with the most recent Arch 2009.2 release.
I only got messages about unrecognisable file system type when I tried booting with the "stock" or "as-installed" GRUB (before I edited /boot/grub/menu.lst). After editing /boot/grub/menu.lst to identify the drive correctly and add rootdelay, GRUB was able to do the rest and everything worked OK without any error messages.
Best wishes,
Ted

Similar Messages

  • HT4889 Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive, it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive. Why is it looking for other computers?

    I'm trying to use Migration Assistant to update my new Mountain Lion iMac from an external USB hard disk drive. I told it to look for a drive, yet it is constantly saying that it is "looking for other computers". It doesn't find the external drive ... it just endlessly looks for other computers. Why is it looking for other computers at all, when I told it not to?

    Wow, the wording in Migration Assistant is misleading. I've never used it before, so I thought I would try to copy my files from the external drive ... my old iMac died, but I managed to get everything I need off it, using the 'cp' command in single-user mode. So I guess I'll just have to manually copy the files from the external drive to the new machine. I was hoping that Migration Assistant might help somehow, but obviously not.
    Thanks for the quick reply!

  • Access external USB hard disk drive with REISERFS Linux filesystem.

    I recently bought second-hand an older MBP Pro (2006 model) with Tiger installed, which I use as a desktop system at home and I would like to be able to connect an external IOMEGA 500 GB hard disk drive to it and have read/write access to its contents (mostly video / picture / music files). I spent a while searching on the Internet for solutions - nothing usefule came up. Does anyone in here have any ideas on how to do this? Is it possible at all after all?
    P.S.: Apart from this older MBP Pro, I also have a newer model (bought in early 2008) with Leopard installed - I wouldn't mind finding some solution on my problem on that OS instead...

    Hi,
    The two ways I can see to possibly do it are to network the Linux machine & Drive, then use Samba to access it.
    By using the Mac OS X Virtual File System (VFS) capability and writing kernel extensions, you can add support for other file systems. Examples of file systems that are not currently supported in Mac OS X but that you may wish to add to the system include the Andrew file system (AFS) and the Reiser file system (ReiserFS). If you want to support a new volume format or networking protocol, you’ll need to write a file-system kernel extension.
    http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Fil esystem/chapter12_section1.html

  • Unable to boot MBA from external USB hard disk

    I'm trying to boot an Air from an external hard disk, but the partition is not being recognized when I boot up and hold down the OPTION key. I've tried making bootable clones with Disk Utility (Restore), Carbon Copy Cloner and SuperDuper and none of the three pop up as an available boot partition. The external drive was properly partitioned as a GUID disk. Any ideas what the problem could be?

    Did you also format the drive Mac OS X Extended, Journaled? As follows:
    Extended Hard Drive Preparation
    1. Open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder. If you need to reformat your startup volume, then you must boot from your OS X Installer Disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger or Leopard.)
    2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
    3. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (only required for Intel Macs) then click on the OK button. Set the number of partitions from the dropdown menu (use 1 partition unless you wish to make more.) Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the volume(s) mount on the Desktop.
    4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
    5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
    6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
    Steps 4-6 are optional but should be used on a drive that has never been formatted before, if the format type is not Mac OS Extended, if the partition scheme has been changed, or if a different operating system (not OS X) has been installed on the drive.

  • How to setup external 500GB Hard disk drive in enclosure

    How easy is it too setup an external 500GB Hard disk drive (HDD) in enclosure? HDD is a brand new Western Digital 500GB HDD in an enclosure which has FireWire ports. The drive is not formatted.

    Plug it in and use the Disk Utility in the /Applications/Utilities/ folder to format it as a Mac OS Extended (Journaled) disk.
    (46625)

  • The finder window for an external USB hard disk suddenly started separating files by time (today, yesterday, etc.) and stopped allowing me to change column width, order, etc. Also the header bar shifted to flat white from gray.

    The finder window for an external USB hard disk suddenly started separating files by time (today, yesterday, etc.) and stopped allowing me to change column width, order, etc. Also the header bar shifted to flat white from gray.
    All was normal until the icon for the disk stopped showing up on the desktop when I would plug it in. I rebooted the computer, and the disk icon now shows up but this new look to the finder window started as a result. The hard disk does not have this problem when I use it on another Mac running Snow leopard. Also, two other external hard disks that I use on this computer running lion 7.4 still have the normal header bars with columns that can be reordered, etc.
    I have tried looking in preferences and other places but have not seen this discussed. 

    Well duh - I finally figured out that somehow in the View options for the hard drive, the "arrange by" option had been changed to "by date" from "none". Not sure how that happened, I had never used the "view options" menu tem before. Changing "arrange by" back to "none" gets the gray column headers and the collapsible folder icons back. 

  • Satellite L20-100 can be booted from external USB hard drive?

    I recently bought Toshiba Satellite L20-100 and I wonder if:
    1. is there any possibility to boot this machine from external usb hard drive?
    2. it is possible to attach another internal hard drive?
    Supposing that the both answers above are 'no', how can I solve the following problem: I need hdd space, I need to boot 3 separate Wxp Operating Systems onto the same machine (Toshiba Satellite L20-100).

    Booting from external USB HD - "No" would be the official, mcrsoft sponsored, answer. However, it is possible. Not easy but it can be done. I've seen it done with my own eyes and there are guides how to do this. Just look for it with search engine. But if you have enough disk space you better do what was suggested here - create 3 partitions and use boot manager.

  • C30: Booting from external USB hard drive

    I carry my OS on an external portable USB drive, and then make use of whatever hardware is available where I visit.
    I recently attempted to boot a Lenovo C30 Thinkstation with this external drive, and was unable to do so.  In looking at the BIOS settings, there is no option to boot from USB (other than floppy(?!?) or memory stick).
    Is it possible to boot from an external USB hard drive, and if not, why?
    jerry

    The boot sequence section of our setup menus has been troublesome to say the least (at least through the development phase).  There are various reasons why it is the way it is now....from spec requirements to customer requirements.  So long story short it really needs to be this way, even though situations like the one you encoutered is inconvenient. 
    The USB issue is actually done for security reasons.  For example, many large customers don't want users to have the ability to just walk up and plug in a USB device and allow the system to detect that and attempt to boot to it right away as it is a risk to their image/security.  For this reason, USB devices don't automatically get added to the boot order, and must be added throught he setup menu if needed.

  • External USB hard disk fails to boot

    I installed Arch Linux on an external USB Lacie 1 TB Hard Disk. I followed instructions on WiKi: "install from exisiting linux", method 2, since I already have Linux installed
    on the internal HDD of my laptop (dual boot with Windows, also with Grub as bootloader).
    Problem: The external HDD stalls during boot right after the "Welcome to Grub!" - message. I can only hard-reset my laptop from there.
    The external HDD has msdos Partition Table.  It is recognized by BIOS just fine, since I can choose to boot from it. It has following (very simple) partition setup:
    [root@arch-laptop chris]# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
    Disk /dev/sdb: 931.5 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
    Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disklabel type: dos
    Disk identifier: 0x000c9610
    Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
    /dev/sdb1 * 2048 40962047 20480000 83 Linux
    So there's just the root partition, no boot or home partition defined. Grub installed to the external HDD with no errors.
    Here's the grub.cfg auto-generated, without anything adapted.  The UUID of the external HDD /dev/sdb1 is correct.
    [root@arch-laptop grub]# cat grub.cfg
    # DO NOT EDIT THIS FILE
    # It is automatically generated by grub-mkconfig using templates
    # from /etc/grub.d and settings from /etc/default/grub
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
    insmod part_gpt
    insmod part_msdos
    if [ -s $prefix/grubenv ]; then
    load_env
    fi
    if [ "${next_entry}" ] ; then
    set default="${next_entry}"
    set next_entry=
    save_env next_entry
    set boot_once=true
    else
    set default="0"
    fi
    if [ x"${feature_menuentry_id}" = xy ]; then
    menuentry_id_option="--id"
    else
    menuentry_id_option=""
    fi
    export menuentry_id_option
    if [ "${prev_saved_entry}" ]; then
    set saved_entry="${prev_saved_entry}"
    save_env saved_entry
    set prev_saved_entry=
    save_env prev_saved_entry
    set boot_once=true
    fi
    function savedefault {
    if [ -z "${boot_once}" ]; then
    saved_entry="${chosen}"
    save_env saved_entry
    fi
    function load_video {
    if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
    else
    insmod efi_gop
    insmod efi_uga
    insmod ieee1275_fb
    insmod vbe
    insmod vga
    insmod video_bochs
    insmod video_cirrus
    fi
    if [ x$feature_default_font_path = xy ] ; then
    font=unicode
    else
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='hd1,msdos1'
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    else
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    fi
    font="/usr/share/grub/unicode.pf2"
    fi
    if loadfont $font ; then
    set gfxmode=auto
    load_video
    insmod gfxterm
    set locale_dir=$prefix/locale
    set lang=en_US
    insmod gettext
    fi
    terminal_input console
    terminal_output gfxterm
    if [ x$feature_timeout_style = xy ] ; then
    set timeout_style=menu
    set timeout=5
    # Fallback normal timeout code in case the timeout_style feature is
    # unavailable.
    else
    set timeout=5
    fi
    ### END /etc/grub.d/00_header ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_archlinux ###
    menuentry "Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel" --class arch-linux --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
    fi
    set gfxpayload=keep
    insmod ext2
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    else
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    fi
    echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel ...'
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
    echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel initramfs ...'
    initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
    menuentry "Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel (fallback initramfs)" --class arch-linux --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
    if [ x$feature_all_video_module = xy ]; then
    insmod all_video
    fi
    set gfxpayload=keep
    insmod ext2
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    else
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    fi
    echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel ...'
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
    echo 'Loading Arch Linux pkg-linux kernel fallback initramfs ...'
    initrd /boot/initramfs-linux-fallback.img
    ### END /etc/grub.d/10_archlinux ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
    menuentry 'Arch Linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-simple-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
    load_video
    set gfxpayload=keep
    insmod gzio
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='hd1,msdos1'
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    else
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    fi
    echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
    echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
    submenu 'Advanced options for Arch Linux' $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-advanced-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
    menuentry 'Arch Linux, with Linux linux' --class arch --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os $menuentry_id_option 'gnulinux-linux-advanced-5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348' {
    load_video
    set gfxpayload=keep
    insmod gzio
    insmod part_msdos
    insmod ext2
    set root='hd1,msdos1'
    if [ x$feature_platform_search_hint = xy ]; then
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root --hint-bios=hd1,msdos1 --hint-efi=hd1,msdos1 --hint-baremetal=ahci1,msdos1 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    else
    search --no-floppy --fs-uuid --set=root 5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348
    fi
    echo 'Loading Linux linux ...'
    linux /boot/vmlinuz-linux root=UUID=5fe1d28c-2640-4b5c-b98b-75d147479348 rw quiet
    echo 'Loading initial ramdisk ...'
    initrd /boot/initramfs-linux.img
    ### END /etc/grub.d/10_linux ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
    ### END /etc/grub.d/20_linux_xen ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
    ### END /etc/grub.d/30_os-prober ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
    # This file provides an easy way to add custom menu entries. Simply type the
    # menu entries you want to add after this comment. Be careful not to change
    # the 'exec tail' line above.
    ### END /etc/grub.d/40_custom ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
    if [ -f ${config_directory}/custom.cfg ]; then
    source ${config_directory}/custom.cfg
    elif [ -z "${config_directory}" -a -f $prefix/custom.cfg ]; then
    source $prefix/custom.cfg;
    fi
    ### END /etc/grub.d/41_custom ###
    ### BEGIN /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
    ### END /etc/grub.d/60_memtest86+ ###
    the internal HDD (/dev/sda) also has GRUB installed, without any problems, with a graphical console menu.
    GRUB version is 2.02
    laptop: dv6-6b41ed
    Legacy BIOS  (no EFI / UEFI).
    Any ideas on how to solve / troubleshoot this?
    Last edited by christopher72 (2014-04-21 15:05:21)

    Any hooks in particular? I don't know which hook to add other then the 'blocks' hook, which is there already:
    HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block filesystems keyboard fsck"
    Also, I don't think that could be the problem since loading the initramfs image takes place after choosing something from the Grub Menu.  That menu never appears, I just get "welcome to grub!" with a blinking cursor underneath.
    I did add "insmod usbms" in grub.cfg,  but that didn't change anything.
    What strikes me as odd is that in grub.cfg, the disk is referred to as "hd1", where I think it could just as well be "hd0" if that's the first hard disk the BIOS boots from. But I'm not sure if that really matters since the search is done with the UUID.
    Another thing I tested earlier:  I dd 'd the Arch Live image to the external usb HDD, and then it boots fine...

  • Trouble connecting to external USB hard disk through PC

    I've had AirPort Extreme 802.11n for a few months which I use to connect to a printer and to share a USB hard disk between my eMac and my thinkpad. For a while everything was working beautifully. The disk showed up on my eMac desktop and in my Windows XP file explorer. Then recently the USB disk stopped connecting at all to either computer even after trying the old remedy of connecting directly to my Mac, dismounting it, and reconnecting. Then today a bunch of updates for the AirPort Utility became available and after updating to 5.3.1 on my eMac the disk shows up on my eMac again. But on my PC here's the situation: the disk appears in the AirPort Utility for Windows (5.3.1) but I can't find it in Windows file explorer. I tried the alternative ways of connecting shown here:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306119
    but no dice.

    Uhmmmmmm, you meant to say the Macbook Air DOES have (2)  USB PORTS 
    GENEDI, yes, you can connect a 2.5" USB external HD to your Mac AIR, ...... done it a 1000 times 

  • Install OSX 6 from External USB Drive

    I have a Macbook running OSX 5.8 with a broken superdrive. I want to upgrade to Snow Leapord. I want to copy the installer to an external USB HD and install from it. Another alternative would be to install from another external Macbook or Macbook Air. Would that be possible? I also have an IBook with a CD Drive. Which way is best? How do I go about doing it?
    TIA

    I don't see that model listed so I have no idea what it does and does not support or what hardware it has.  If it has a floppy drive you could try making the boot floppies to boot from (it will start the process then access the install files from the CD).  http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310994
    If you don't post your COMPLETE model number it's very difficult to assist you. Please try to post in complete sentences with punctuation, capitals, and correct spelling. Toshiba does NOT provide any direct support in these forums. All support is User to User in their spare time.

  • How to delete files from external ntfs hard disk [Solved]

    Hi guys
    first, sorry for my bad English.
    I have an external hard disk ( WD 500GB ) with ntfs file system and i have installed ntfs-3g package.
    3 days ago, when i wanted to delete some files, i get a problem with it,
    look the output :
    [jahangir@Arch New Metal]$ sudo rm *
    [sudo] password for jahangir:
    rm: cannot remove '02 - Korn - Love and Meth.mp3': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove '30Seconds To Mars': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove '30Seconds To Mars 1': Is a directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia 1': Is a directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Avantasia 2': Is a directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Behemoth': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Behemoth 1': Is a directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Hanging Garden - At Every Door - 2013': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Hanging Garden - At Every Door - 2014': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Rosetta': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Rosetta 1': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Sepultura': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Sepultura 1': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Slipknot': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Slipknot 1': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Tokio Hotel': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'Tokio Hotel 1': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'T\303\275r': No such file or directory
    rm: cannot remove 'neww': No such file or directory
    [jahangir@Arch New Metal]$
    Who can help me ?
    I wanted to delete .trash-1000 file from my main directory hard dist and i confront with this error :
    [jahangir@Arch My Passport]$ sudo rm .Trash-1000
    [sudo] password for jahangir:
    rm: cannot remove '.Trash-1000': No such file or directory
    [jahangir@Arch My Passport]$
    In the event that it is there.
    also in main directory of my hard disk i have 1 mp3 file that i can't view it in file manager and it will be displayed in Windows OS and with ls command in terminal :
    [jahangir@Arch My Passport]$ ls
    ls: cannot access 01 - Lost.mp3: No such file or directory
    ls: cannot access 02 - Surrendered To The Decadence.mp3: No such file or directory
    01 - Lost.mp3 In The Name Of God Videos ZzZ - IMAN winold
    02 - Surrendered To The Decadence.mp3 New Metal World of Warcraft Cataclysm 4.3.4 enGB navid wow wrath
    [jahangir@Arch My Passport]$
    what is this file and how can i delete .Trash-1000 and this files and content of "New Metal" directory ?
    Last edited by jiros (2013-12-23 20:57:05)

    I believe you used ntfs for a reason. As far as I know, Windows isn't friendly with hdd filesystems others than fat or ntfs, so once you format your external harddrive to ext4, windows won't talk to it at all, unless you install some additional driver or software.
    You have several possibilities to do:
    1) You could use FAT32, it's kind of a dumb filesystem, linux, mac and windows can read and write to it, there are some limitations like file permisions or 4GB file size limit.
    2) You could make multiple partitions on your external harddrive, one with ntfs (for windows) and the other with some fs that is support natively in Linux and Mac, I believe only option would be HFS+. I'm not an expert, maybe somebody will correct me. Anyway, if you aren't going to connect your disk to Mac, than ext4 would be a good choice. But this approach with two different partions is kind of dumb, because usually you need the same data available on whatever platform.
    3) If I were you, I would continue using NTFS or FAT32. It's not ideal, but it's a price you have to pay for dealing with Windows systems.
    4) If there is any other smarter solution, I believe somebody will add it to responses bellow.
    Anyway, it's weird that your problem persists. There has to be something wrong with your filesystem, otherwise ls wouldn't show you question marks in its output. Did you perform chkdisk via GUI? It has to say that either there wasn't any error with your fs, or that there was some error. We live (unfortunatelly) in binary computer world. I mean you can perform that command from shell, or however microsoft calls it, and if you run it in a proper configuration, it will tell you whether your fs is bad or not and perform needed repairs.
    And how to format disk to ext4?
    Backup your data, run as root fdisk /dev/yourexthdd (fdisk /dev/sdd), delete all partitions, create new ones, once you are done, write changes down. fdisk is pretty easy to use, don't be afraid of it. Then you have to create filesystem on each partition you created with fdisk, so if you created only one, run mkfs.ext4 /dev/yourexthddwithpartnumber (mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdd1). There are nice articles about doing these things on Arch Wiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/File_Systems), don't be worried to read them

  • 'Lombard' PowerBook won't see external USB hard disk?

    I connect an external hard disk to a 'Lombard' PowerBook (Mac OS X 10.3.9) via USB and get the message "You have inserted a disk containing no volumes that Mac OS X can read." I connect the same disk to my MacBook Pro via USB and it mounts fine. I've run DiskWarrior on it, but it still won't mount on the 'Lombard'. Other USB devices work fine, e.g. USB flash drive. I know the 'Lombard' won't boot from an external USB disk, but will it also simply not read it at all?

    HandyMac,
    You are caught between a rock and a hard place. MacOS X 10.3.9 or earlier cannot mount/read a volume that has been partitioned using the GUID Partition Scheme adopted by the Intel Macs. PowerPC Macs use the older Apple Partition Scheme. You can reformat the USB HD on your Lombard (a PowerPC) using the Apple Partition Scheme and it will also mount/read/write on the MacBook Pro. However, if you are also using this HD as a bootable volume for the MBP, the HD must remain in the GUID Partition Scheme. The tech article below is discussing FireWire Target Disk Mode but I assume the same restriction applies also to removable media. I would confirm this on either the MBP Discussions or the Tiger Discussions.
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303118
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=303220

  • Backup to external USB hard disk

    I've been trying to use rsync to backup my internal HD to an external USB one. I'm attempting to backup everything from /Users/ on down. There are two users on this G5, and attempts to access the other user's directories/files are being blocked with "permission denied" message.
    Hoping root could reign with access privileges to all users, I've used "sudo -u root crontab -e" to set up a crontab entry to invoke a file containing the actual backup command itself:
    "rsync -av --exclude-from=/Volumes/'Macintosh HD'/Users/jdorin/SysBackupExclude --progress /Volumes/'Macintosh HD'/Users /Volumes/MacBack > echo -n"
    The SysBackupExclude file contains just:
    /Macintosh HD/Users/user1/Library/Caches
    /Macintosh HD/Users/user1/.Trash/Caches
    /Macintosh HD/Users/user2/Library/Caches
    /Macintosh HD/Users/user2/.Trash/Caches
    I'm "user1," and my files are getting backed up. But the emailed backup status report tells me "permission denied" for each directory under "user2," as:
    rsync: opendir "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/user2/.Trash" failed: Permission denied (13)
    rsync: opendir "/Volumes/Macintosh HD/Users/user2/Desktop" failed: Permission denied (13)
    How can I backup all users on my Mac?

    I never unplug the external harddrive, and the error message comes up only occassionaly upon startup.  Maybe the USB connection gets disrupted enough to cause the computer to see it as disconnected and then reconnected while the iMac is powered.

  • WRT160NL: Automatic spin-down of external USB hard disks?

    Hello,
    do external hard disks automatically spin down after a period with no access/use when connected with the USB port of the WRT160NL?

    In reference to your post could you please let me know that when you say "spin down" do you mean that does the hard drive goes into sleep mode when it is not in use?
    Did you try to connect another hard drive and check whether it is the same case or not?

Maybe you are looking for