A problem with my /etc/fstab file

[elder73]

Wanting to mount Windows I made a change to my /etc/fstab file and now Grub loader will not load Kubuntu. I just brings up a screen with Kubuntu on it but that is as far as it goes.

Restarting and selecting the choices on Grub, I got through to the root prompt.

Thinking I had everything in hand I loaded nano thus: nano /etc/fstab This brought up the fstab file and I could remove the offending line, The only problem is I am prevented from saving the change. So fstab remains unchanged and I am left knocking on Kubuntu's door but it wont let me in.

Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

[vinnywright]

what was the change you made to the /etc/fstab and maby more important how did you make the change to it in the first place ?

VINNY

[Buddlespit]

Could you copy and paste the offending /etc/fstab?

[elder73]

This all started with me wanting to mount Windows and found the following site:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fstab

Reading through it I came to the following. It was from Ubuntu so I thought the following would probably work:

"ntfs
This example is perfect for a Windows partition.

/dev/hda2 /media/windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0"

The above is a verbatim clip and so I took them at their word, and I think I wrote it to Fstab with Knotes as sudo.

Thank you all, I hope this helps.

[vinnywright]

This all started with me wanting to mount Windows and found the following site:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Fstab

Reading through it I came to the following. It was from Ubuntu so I thought the following would probably work:

"ntfs
This example is perfect for a Windows partition.

/dev/hda2 /media/windows ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0"

The above is a verbatim clip and so I took them at their word, and I think I wrote it to Fstab with Knotes as sudo.

Thank you all, I hope this helps.

that is just a generic line,,,,,,you would half to change "/dev/hda2" to the location of the actual NTFS partition on your system and make the mount point "/media/windows" .

you have probably messed up the permissions in your /home/you directory(folder) by using a GUI app. as root with sudo instead of kdesudo .

all this is fixable however.

is your system set to auto login after grub ?

VINNY

[elder73]

Thank you Vinny, it is nice to know that it is fixable.

No there is no auto login. When I choose Kubuntu on Grub it goes to the login screen, needing user and password.

[Snowhog]

We need to 'see' your fstab file. Press Alt+F2 and type: kate /etc/fstab. When it opens, copy the contents and paste it in your reply.

[elder73]

At the present time I cannot get into Kubuntu at all. When I select it at the Grub screen all I get is a blank screen with Kubuntu written in the middle of it. So I can't copy fstab or paste it any email message at all. That is my problem. If you re-read my first message you can see what happens.

[kubicle]

The only problem is I am prevented from saving the change.

Try to remount the root filesystem in read-write mode before editing:
1. Boot into recovery mode root prompt
2. run "mount -o rw,remount /"
3. edit fstab with "nano /etc/fstab"

[elder73]

Try to remount the root filesystem in read-write mode before editing:
1. Boot into recovery mode root prompt
2. run "mount -o rw,remount /"
3. edit fstab with "nano /etc/fstab"

Thank you I will give this a try later today. I tried a number of things but kept running up against the fact that the xserver was not running.

[Detonate]

This is exactly the reason I always keep at least two distros on my computer, each mounting the file system of the other. You could also boot up with a live CD and edit your fstab file from there.

[elder73]

1. Boot into recovery mode root prompt
2. run "mount -o rw,remount /"
3. edit fstab with "nano /etc/fstab"

With high hopes I did the above and the main result was a page on "Mount".
Frustrated I went back to "Kubuntu Recover" The first choice is "Boot Normally". I had nothing to lose so I chose it and the following came up. First it told me that /media/windows was not ready of not present. Then it offered "S" to skip what I was doing of "M" for Manual Recovery. I chose "M" and a mess of stuff flew by on the screen and surprise of surprises, my login screen came up. So I logged on,went to a terminal screen and entered sudo kate /etc/fstab, it came up, I removed the offending line and was able to save it.

It only goes to prove that blind blunderers can sometimes get it right,

Now all I need is a line that will allow me to mount my Windows partition.

A big thank you to everyone who responded to my problem.

[vinnywright]

post the output of

sudo parted -l

and

sudo blkid

and post your /etc/fstab as it is now ........and we will get your windows partition mounted.

VINNY

[elder73]

Number Start End Size Type File system Flags
1 1049kB 106MB 105MB primary ntfs boot
2 106MB 118GB 118GB primary ntfs
3 118GB 160GB 42.1GB extended
5 118GB 158GB 39.9GB logical ext4
6 158GB 160GB 2110MB logical linux-swap(v1)

sudo blkid

/dev/sda1: LABEL="System Reserved" UUID="1A8235DE8235BF57" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda2: UUID="B0CA38E1CA38A60E" TYPE="ntfs"
/dev/sda5: UUID="416bf55c-8bb6-4e28-876e-a11091a04a42" TYPE="ext4"
/dev/sda6: UUID="d906b49c-e548-4ce7-b936-9cd15fd1757b" TYPE="swap"

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# Use 'blkid' to print the universally unique identifier for a
# device; this may be used with UUID= as a more robust way to name devices
# that works even if disks are added and removed. See fstab(5).
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
# / was on /dev/sda5 during installation
UUID=416bf55c-8bb6-4e28-876e-a11091a04a42 / ext4 errors=remoun$
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=d906b49c-e548-4ce7-b936-9cd15fd1757b none swap sw $

Thank you Vinny.

[jlittle]

My windows partition gets automounted at login, and is not in /etc/fstab. System settings, hardware section, Removable devices, under device overrides, attached devices, check automount on login for the partition with windows. It's helpful if the partitions have labels.
Seems a simpler approach than modifying /etc/fstab, but only works for uses after KDE starts; I have a small boot partition that I want a boot script to update, it had to go in fstab.

Regards, John Little