I have a USB external HDD that has decided not to mount on Zorin17.3 core. With windows, it would scan to correct, but how do we do this on Zorin?
In the disks app Select the partition and then from the gear (
) options select filesystem check/repair.
You may alsocheck for bad sectors in the drive, from the same disks app run the SMART test to check. Bad sectors are the sign for failing drive which could lead to drive not mounting.
In your disks app, when you select your external drive, and click on 
, does it mount?
In which file system is the external drive formatted (ntfs, ext4, fat32, exfat...)?
ntfs, used to be the spinner drive in the laptop, until SSD bought and installed.
It mounted in /media/bruce/recovery ?
Can you access it now when you open your filemanager (other places) or are permissions missing?
If it's an external drive, the /media directory is used by default (inside this directory every user will have its own dedicated directory). But you don't have to worry about where it is exactly, it should be visible through the file manager:
1 Like
It opens, but not with the original internal folders. I did repair files and it said it did but instantaneously. Still won't mount normally?
Most likely, because of the type of partition, the file manager is ignoring it. But as mentioned above, going through Other Locations should work once its mounted. It looks like it's working fine now?
I wouldn't recommend messing with any files from the recovery partition. If you need some files from there and still have access to a Windows computer that can read this, it's best to retrieve those files from there and save them to a separate drive.
No joy after "recovery" mount. Other locations does not find it mounted, and after unmounting recovery, it will not normally mount to file system. I had better plug it into a windows computer.
NTFS is a Windows only partition, you will discover struggles making that work in Linux. Linux uses the EXT4 filing system.
Also, when you go into the "DISKS" utility, select your drive from the list on the left, then click the double gear icon, then you want to edit your mount options. Make sure you have your toggles set like this please...
(1) User session defaults off
(2) Check mount at system startup
(3) Check show in user interface
(4) Now finally, click on the on the previous screen, which you should see, if your drive is indeed, not mounted.
OK, pity I didn't get to read this prior to now. I resorted to a windows machine to repair the drive, which is good again. I have a client coming to pick up her converted laptop which is now using Zorin 17.3 core. I will save your solution for future issues, thanking you Startreker.