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I am dual booting Ubuntu 11.10 and Windows 7 so I created a partition where I can store all my documents and open them through both systems. Everything seemed like it worked out well, I found out how to change the default locations of Documents, Videos etc. but whenever I restart my laptop, they reset. This is what my user-dirs.dirs looks like after I've edited it and it works well with all shortcuts and save locations working correctly:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/l6Gwo.png

and after a restart, this is what happens to the file:

https://i.stack.imgur.com/nvb7I.png

Is there any way to make permanent changes to this file?

Zach
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  • Did you ever manage to find a solution to this? I have the same problem – Frikster Feb 18 '16 at 20:08
  • I see you haven't been on Ask Ubuntu in years. Either way, I've reasked this question with new points to anyone who also hit a dead-end with this problem: http://askubuntu.com/questions/736406/editing-config-user-dirs-dirs-does-not-permanently-change-user-directory-loca – Frikster Feb 18 '16 at 21:22

2 Answers2

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Most likely it removes those entries because the directories do not exist at the moment when you log in. So I'm guessing /media/storage isn't mounted at that point.

geirha
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  • That's very likely to be true, is there a way to mount the drive on login or on startup? – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 12:51
  • Yes. This might help https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AutomaticallyMountPartitions – geirha Feb 25 '12 at 13:06
  • Thank you, I will look into this and see if I can get it to work. – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 16:30
  • I got it to mount on start up but it did not help, it still resets unfortunately. – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 18:27
  • @Zach which approach did you use? running udisks via Startup Applications? If so, it's possible it is being run after /etc/xdg/autostart/user-dirs-update-gtk.desktop. I'm not sure how to specify the order of those. It used to be possible from Startup Applications, but that has been removed in newer gnome versions. If you go with an /etc/fstab entry instead, it should work though. – geirha Feb 25 '12 at 19:28
  • Yes I ran udisks via Startup Applications, I thought using symbolic links got it to work but it hasn't made a difference. How do I go about editing my /etc/fstab order? – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 21:01
  • @Zach The wiki-page also covers that, under Systemwide Mounts. It's a bit of a long read though. – geirha Feb 26 '12 at 12:59
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Did you try to use symbolic links? So the media don't have to be mounted.

ohno
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    I have not tried this, would this be easier than mounting it at startup? If so, could you instruct me on how to do it? Thanks! – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 16:29
  • Got it running perfectly, used this: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/16226/complete-guide-to-symbolic-links-symlinks-on-windows-or-linux/ – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 18:37
  • Seems like it has started to not work again..strange. – Zach Feb 25 '12 at 21:00
  • I tried making a Documents folder that linked to my other drive and then I tried modifying the user-dirs.dirs file. Upon reboot however the Documents shortcut had vanished from nautilus and in fact the normal Documents folder now had some error message that I didn't record when I tried to go to it. xdg-user-dirs-update --force reset Documents back to its default. But now I still haven't been able to link my Documents folder to a Documents folder on a separate drive. – Frikster Feb 18 '16 at 20:11