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Im using Ubuntu 14.04LTS 64bit. Everytime I switch on my laptop during boot time I get a message saying Failed to mount Elements(My External HardDrive) press T to retry S to skip and M to manually mount. This only happens if my external is not plugged to the laptop which is most of the time as I only use my external to Back up import files. My question is: How can I stop Ubuntu from asking me 'that' when booting? Please note: I still want to be able to connect my External Hard Drive in the future with no problems. Thank you.

William
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2 Answers2

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Remove it from /etc/fstab (that file is used for fixed mounts).

From command line use either of these:

sudo nano /etc/fstab
sudo gedit /etc/fstab
sudo vim /etc/fstab

and put a # in front of the line that mounts that disk. Save and next reboot it will not prompt for it. If correct you can next time just remove that line from /etc/fstab since the paritions in here are supposed to be fixed partitions.

When you insert the cable for the disk next time it will mount in /media/ and show a pop-up with the contents.

more /etc/fstab

will list the file. Example:

# /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=06ec14b4-1c86-4b9d-88e0-aad0e6e236bc /               ext4    errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /discworld was on /dev/sdb6 during installation
UUID=f35b4bfe-1366-4990-bedb-643626359728 /discworld      ext4    defaults  0       2
# /home was on /dev/sdb5 during installation
UUID=4fa0af65-4c30-4ec4-b627-fdd8e69b93f9 /home           ext4    defaults 0       2
# swap was on /dev/sda6 during installation
UUID=76aa372f-f358-48d8-b084-c934c2405d1f none            swap    sw    0       0
Rinzwind
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  • when I try save it i get this error (gedit:32018): Gtk-WARNING **: Calling Inhibit failed: GDBus.Error:org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.ServiceUnknown: The name org.gnome.SessionManager was not provided by any .service files – William Dec 27 '14 at 19:38
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    It's a warning. Those are not important ;) – Rinzwind Dec 27 '14 at 19:39
  • If it does not work use sudo nano /etc/fstab Or (much better) sudo vim /etc/fstab – LittleByBlue Dec 27 '14 at 19:40
  • @LittleByBlue thanks. I added those 2 :D Though vim might be a bit daunting to new users. – Rinzwind Dec 27 '14 at 19:43
  • In vim, just press "i" to edit the file and when you are done, press: "ESC" then ":", type "wq", and then press "enter" to save and exit the file. – mchid Dec 27 '14 at 23:34
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    Or (to beat this horse dead) sudoedit, which is the "sensible" abstraction, and is nice in that it uses tempfiles, etc. – wchargin Dec 27 '14 at 23:34
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Edit /etc/fstab and add the noauto option after in the options column. See more details here: How can I prevent Ubuntu from mounting particular partitions/devices?

Community
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ATAKAMA
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  • no, fstab is for partitions to be mounted at boot time. He should delete the complete entry, as Rizwind answered. He will be able to mount it if he plugs it into his machine using his gui. – LittleByBlue Dec 27 '14 at 19:39
  • Yes, the question is about a partition that Ubuntu tries to mount at boot time, too. noauto prevents that. – ATAKAMA Dec 27 '14 at 19:42
  • Yap. fstab makes only problems with external media or (nooby) network mounts. – LittleByBlue Dec 27 '14 at 19:42