How to copy a file from USB drive

Question

How can I copy, or just access a file on the USB drive from Ubuntu Server? This answer here does not work, I am getting

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

which no one explained how to solve. This happens after I type

sudo mount /dev/sdc /media/usb

where /dev/sdc is supposedly my USB.

How can I do it?

because I also have a windows PC, on which I made that USB.. — Sartheris Stormhammer, Jun 05 '15 at 20:18
First thing you need to do is to show what command line you used to generate that error. Otherwise, nobody can tell you what you might be doing wrong. It may be a simple syntax error. — Marty Fried, Jun 05 '15 at 20:40
That you created it on Windows doesn't mean it's FAT32. It could also be NTFS or even FAT16 (though that's unlikely). Please [edit] your question and include the output of sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc. — terdon, Jun 05 '15 at 22:39
sudo mount /dev/sdc /media/usb is not the same than sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb — solsTiCe, Jun 05 '15 at 23:59

score 4 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 05 '15 at 22:41

You specify the filesystem type with the -t option. As described in man mount:

   -t, --types fstype
          The argument following the -t is used to indicate the filesystem
          type.  The filesystem types which are currently supported depend
          on the running  kernel.   See  /proc/filesystems  and  /lib/mod‐
          ules/$(uname  -r)/kernel/fs  for a complete list of the filesys‐
          tems.  The most common are ext2, ext3, ext4, xfs,  btrfs,  vfat,
          sysfs, proc, nfs and cifs.

So, to mount a FAT32 (vfat) drive, you would run:

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdc /media/usb

However, you don't mount devices, you mount partitions. What you're after is probably:

 sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /media/usb

Or, if it still complains:

sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdc1 /media/usb

For more details, update your question with the output of sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 05 '15 at 21:10

0

Launch the app gnome-disk-utility, find your usb on the sidebar, and click the triangle play button under the filesystem graph and it should mount it.

Like this: mountusb:

answered Jun 05 '15 at 21:10

SnorriChinchilla

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I am on ubuntu server, sorry forgot to mention it in the tags – Sartheris Stormhammer Jun 05 '15 at 21:18

How to copy a file from USB drive

2 Answers2