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Procedure to mount your windows partitions in Fedora / Linux at boot time itself !!

30 Sep 2009 5 Comments

by Shadab Wadiwala in fedora linux, linux Tags: boot time, fedora linux, fstab, linux, mount drives, Tutorial, windows

Now use the following procedure to mount your windows partitions in Fedora / Linux at boot time itself

 

Also avoid entering root user password every time while Mounting your Windows Partitions   in Fedora
( In Fedora/Linux the process is called Mounting )

 

Open a Shell ( command prompt )
Type the following
su
<password>

 

rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/free/fedora/rpmfusion-free-release-stable.noarch.rpm

rpm -ivh http://download1.rpmfusion.org/nonfree/fedora/rpmfusion-nonfree-release-stable.noarch.rpm

yum install fwfstab

Next execute the following command on the command prompt (Shell )

tail /var/log/messages

****  For this tutorial, lets assume that the label of your C drive ( Windows Drive ) is Drive_C

 

Now Open File Manager from Start Menu/ Fedora Menu ( F- Menu )

Now click on the Drive_C  icon on the Left side Menu .
It will ask for root password.
Type in the password

Then immediately again Execute the following command

tail /var/log/messages  ( You can simply use the UP arrow keys to avoid the typing work again )

Just notice the last line .
In the last line you will see something like ( /dev/sda<no>  )

Remember it by heart or note it down..  Its the device name used by Linux for your ” Drive_C “  Partition  

Now again in the File Manager right click the ” Drive_C  ” icon then click UNMOUNT …

It will ask for root password .. so please type it .. 

Now type the following command :-

mkdir /media/Drive_C    (   /media/Drive_C  will be a mount point where you will be mounting your  Windows “Drive_C” Drive )

All your contents of “Drive_C” drive will be visible under /media/Drive_C as it going to be defined as mount point in /etc/fstab  file

**For safety lets take a backup of the original “fstab” file .

**  A little bit about “fstab” file  **

This “fstab” file in /etc  directory contains the information and settings for the partitions you want to mount at boot time

So its better that you keep a backup of the original fstab file ( as we are gonna modify it now )

On the Shell, type

cd /etc   (Enter )
cp fstab fstab.old   ( Enter )

Above command will make a copy of your present fstab file

For backup we used the name fstab.old, which will also reside in /etc directory as our PWD ( present working Directory ) is still  /etc

Next type the following word on the Shell ( Remember Shell ?? the CMD ) 

fwfstab

This will open a window

Click on new entry

Under Device select Manual

Then type  /dev/sda<no>   ( Did you note that string { for eg.  /dev/sda3 }  on your Notes Plasma Widget from /var/log/messages output ?? )

Under File System, select Manual and type  ntfs-3g

Under Mount Point select the Mount point ( Remember we created /media/Drive_C  ????  )

Then click OK

Now click the File Menu and APPLY Changes …

There after click the Mount button .

 

The Windows partition Drive_C will be mounted in the Mount point directory /media/Drive_C

 

Now, even if you reboot your Fedora machine,  Drive_C will be always mounted at the boot time and there will be no requirement of root password being asked everytime  !!!

 

Hurrah !!!!!

 

Please Note :- It is not at all necessary that the name of the mount point directory ( created under /media ) should be same as the Windows Partition label.

 

Please revert back to us for any queries, and we will be happy to assist you.

 

Regards,
Shadab I. Wadiwala