[PROBLEM] Read only ext3 HDD with smb access

[ggmero67]

Hello everyone,

I finally post this bug after having read all (?) other topics concerning my problem without managing to solve it:
Xbian automounts my external HDD formated in ext3. Using xbmc I can read/write to it without any issue. By connecting to my raspberry with ssh, i can also rw to the disk without issue.
Problem comes when I try to write to the disk using my Win PC on the same network.

I already went to usbmout.conf and allows SHARESMB, SHARERW and SHARELT. I also went to xbmc and tried to allow "write for outside world" or something like that. Unfortunately this option wont stay active, i don't know why...
I also reinstall to xbian-package-samba...

Nothing works, and I am quite annoyed because transmission is downloading my torrents very well, but I have to launch ssh to copy them to the right folder, which is not quite handy.

PS: I have Xbian RC3, updated last week (for some strange reason i cannot update anymore)

Best regards and thanks in advance!

[GastonBA]

Hello,
I just finish a second clean install of Xbian on my Cubox and when accessing the external drives I get only read access. I set Xbian to expert mode and select options from menu to make disks writable, but there is no way. The drives are always read only. They are both EXT3 formatted.
I try editing Samba Conf and the options SHARESMB and SHARERW are both set to "yes".
Please help. I´m newbie in linux so please give me detailed instructions.
Thanks,
Gastón

[GastonBA]

Hi, had you solved this? I´m having the same issue with no solution! Thanks

[Nachteule]

@GastonBA

Just tested. Having full access to my ext4 formatted external disk.

Terminal

xbian@kmxbilr2 /media $ ls -la /media
insgesamt 8
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 22 Mai 27 14:34 .
drwxr-xr-x 1 root root 176 Mai 21 02:20 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 14 Mai 27 14:34 usb0 -> /media/usb500g
drwxrwxrwx 6 root root 4096 Mai 27 14:36 usb500g
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media $ cd usb500g/
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media/usb500g $ mkdir x
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media/usb500g $ cd x
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media/usb500g/x $ touch y
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media/usb500g/x $ ls -la
insgesamt 8
drwxr-xr-x 2 xbian xbian 4096 Mai 27 14:40 .
drwxrwxrwx 7 root root 4096 Mai 27 14:39 ..
-rw-r--r-- 1 xbian xbian 0 Mai 27 14:40 y
xbian@kmxbilr2 /media/usb500g/x $

This is my /etc/usbmount/usbmount.conf

Code:

# Configuration file for the usbmount package, which mounts removable
# storage devices when they are plugged in and unmounts them when they
# are removed.

# Change to zero to disable usbmount
ENABLED=1

# start UDisks daemon?
STARTUDISKS=0

# Filesystem types: removable storage devices are only mounted if they
# contain a filesystem type which is in this list.
FILESYSTEMS="btrfs ntfs vfat ext2 ext3 ext4 hfsplus exfat msdos iso9660 xfs jfs"

# Directory where static name mountpoints (consisting of LABEL and UUID) will be created
MNTPNTDIR="/media"

# Include partition UUID in mountpoint folder name
UUIDNAME=no

# Dorectory where USBx symlinks will be created
LINKDIR="/media"

# Share via Samba to access through RPI from other Windows installed PC on the same network
SHARESMB=yes
SHARERW=no
SHARELT=no

# Set spindown for rotational disks (minutes 1-20), 0 to disable
SPINDOWN=0

#############################################################################
# WARNING!                                                                  #
#                                                                           #
# The "sync" option may not be a good choice to use with flash drives, as   #
# it forces a greater amount of writing operating on the drive. This makes  #
# the writing speed considerably lower and also leads to a faster wear out  #
# of the disk.                                                              #
#                                                                           #
# If you omit it, don't forget to use the command "sync" to synchronize the #
# data on your disk before removing the drive or you may experience data    #
# loss.                                                                     #
#                                                                           #
# It is highly recommended that you use the pumount command (as a regular   #
# user) before unplugging the device. It makes calling the "sync" command   #
# and mounting with the sync option unnecessary---this is similar to other  #
# operating system's "safely disconnect the device" option.                 #
#############################################################################
# Mount options: Options passed to the mount command with the -o flag.
# See the warning above regarding removing "sync" from the options.
MOUNTOPTIONS="sync,noexec,nodev,noatime,nodiratime,rw"

# Filesystem type specific mount options: This variable contains a space
# separated list of strings, each which the form "-fstype=TYPE,OPTIONS".
#
# If a filesystem with a type listed here is mounted, the corresponding
# options are appended to those specificed in the MOUNTOPTIONS variable.
#
# For example, "-fstype=vfat,gid=floppy,dmask=0007,fmask=0117" would add
# the options "gid=floppy,dmask=0007,fmask=0117" when a vfat filesystem
# is mounted.
FS_MOUNTOPTIONS="-fstype=ntfs,gid=xbian,uid=xbian,umask=0,big_writes,allow_other \
                 -fstype=vfat,gid=xbian,uid=xbian,umask=0 \
                 -fstype=hfsplus,gid=xbian,uid=xbian,umask=0,force \
                 -fstype=exfat,gid=xbian,uid=xbian,umask=0 \
                 -fstype=btrfs,compress=lzo,subvol=/"

# If set to "yes", more information will be logged via the syslog
# facility.
VERBOSE=no

USESWAPS=no

BUT

if you want to access already existing folder and files, you have to make sure that user xbian has write permissions! I'm supposing this is your problem

[GastonBA]

Yes! The disks where already in use with OpenElec. So I think the last line is my problem. "xbian has write permissions"
How do I do this?
I´m not a linux user

---

Thanks! I solved it with your help as I know what I was looking for.
Thanks!!!

[Nachteule]

sudo chown -R xbian:xbian /media/<externaldisk>/

<externaldisk> is mountpoint of you external disk/ext3 partition