HD Drive ownership issues on AMD Brazos MSI E-350

Hi everyone, i’m very new in the forum, though i’m long time openSUSE user, usually i managed to get things going by searching the net and wiki, but it seems with the wiki in revamp and i’m just getting back to openSUSE after using ubuntu for a while because of certain software that i needed, i guess i’m a little bit out of touch with openSUSE. So please forgive me if i’m in the wrong thread, i tried to search for amd brazos in the forum and haven’t find anything, so here i am pleading for answers.

I downloaded the live cd and 64 bit dvd the first day it came out, the live cd runs great on this laptop, didn’t even needed to download any drivers and the wide screen display was detected after install, but somehow this instalation has issues with nvdia repo, don’t know why. But that is not my question. My problem is with the AMD Brazos MSI E-350 i purchased recently. I’m trying to use it as a file server in a multi-OS environment and a multimedia server using xbmc.

I installed opensuse 12.1 64 bit with all 4 HD plugged in, and i used custom partitioning to mount other disks too. Every part of instalation works well, from multimedia, vga driver, and repo switch to packman, but the frustrating part comes after that. When i tried to move data from my external hard drive to empty disks i plugged in the brazos, somehow i wasn’t able to do anything on the drive, and when i checked, all the hard drives were owned by root, i tried changing the owner and permissions by going to terminal and opened up dolphin in super user mode, “kdesu dolphin”, i tried changing the owner three times, and the permissions three times too, it seemed processed, but after it’s finished, there seems nothing has changed, the owner is still root, and the permission for others are still read only.

i wanted to use it as a file server, but with how things are going, i can’t even write to my hard drives without switching to root, i know it’s still a few more steps ahead, but i wanted to try out samba and nfs, and i’m still not sure which one is a better solution for file sharing. i had to have a file server since my data is growing and using external hard drive readers are not enough anymore.

to sum it up, my problems with openSUSE 12.1 on AMD MSI e-350 e-45 are these :

  1. HD ownership and permissions, how to change it actually ? command line is fine, havent tried the chmod though, since i think the GUI should be able to do so too.
  2. Which one to use to share files properly ? samba or NFS ?

few pointers about where to get the proper instruction would be very helpful, thanks in advance.

Anyone got experience in multimedia server too ? any info would be great ^^, since i havent been able to play 1080p properly even though the hardware specs said it have the ability to do so.

How about telling us.

  1. Do the Partitions you are sharing have a mount point? If yes, what are they. (Full path, but usually it’s on the root tree, Eg: /mediaserver
  2. What is your login/username

I only use Linux so use ssh/fish
But this site might assist: openSUSE SuSE Linux HOWTOs and Tutorials by Swerdna

HI cafm thx for the quick reply.

  1. yes, i mentioned it earlier, i set up the mount points when i used custom partitioning in install process, the full path is as you said “/2TB1” , “/port1” and “/port2”.
  2. my login is chan .when i tried changing the owner name it appears, but clicking apply and seeing it processed never made it mine either.

thx for the tip on swerdna, founded it earlier, but since i’m still struggling with this root ownership, i haven’t tried it yet.

Open a terminal
Become su -

I’ll give you one, you’ll be able to figure it from there

chown -R chan /2TB1

I think that’s right

It might be worth check in fstab and see what the settings are there

cat /etc/fstab

Will show you the contents quickly

Thx, i’ll try it as soon as i am able to get my hands on it again, had some other things to do for now.

i don’t mind using command lines, it’s just sometimes sad or rather silly when GUI and the underlying systems do not work together nicely, have had the same experience on other distros too.

chwon -R doesnt work, -hR either.
the drive and all the folder within is still owned by root, i’m starting to feel like formatting the whole system again…

i just realized that i had a similar situation with this laptop, a mount point which belongs to root, tried the chown and it worked right away. i’m really confused why it did not work in the AMD ??

Let us see fstab

cat /etc/fstab

post it here

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part2 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part1 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA415030-part1 /2TB1 ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part4 /data ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part3 /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA811542-part5 /mov2TB ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part1 /port1 ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part2 /port2 ntfs-3g users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0

btw this is the fstab for this laptop, which the chown worked.

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Hitachi_HTS545050B9A300_110714PBN4031733UTTE-part1 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Hitachi_HTS545050B9A300_110714PBN4031733UTTE-part2 / ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Hitachi_HTS545050B9A300_110714PBN4031733UTTE-part5 /data ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-Hitachi_HTS545050B9A300_110714PBN4031733UTTE-part3 /home ext4 acl,user_xattr 1 2
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs noauto 0 0
debugfs /sys/kernel/debug debugfs noauto 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0

On 11/27/2011 12:06 PM, oraclecow wrote:


/dev/disk/by-id/[blah]-part1 /2TB1	ntfs-3g
/dev/disk/by-id/[blah]-part5 /mov2TB	ntfs-3g
users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/[blah]-part1 /port1	ntfs-3g
users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/[blah]-part2 /port2	ntfs-3
gusers,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0

i do not think it is possible to chown any Microsoft file system…

but, i could be wrong as i really don’t know a lot about their systems…


DD http://tinyurl.com/DD-Hardware http://tinyurl.com/DD-Software
openSUSE®, the “German Engineered Automobiles” of operating systems!

/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part2 swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part1 /                    ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA415030-part1 /2TB1                 ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part4 /data                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part3 /home                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA811542-part5 /mov2TB               ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part1 /port1                ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part2 /port2                ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
proc                 /proc                       proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                       sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs             /sys/kernel/debug   debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb          usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts                 devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0

I edited it above

change yours to that and see if that helps

You are correct DD. Every time somebody here complains about not being able to change ownership of files inside a particular file system, you can bet it is a non Linux file system.

To the OP:
You should mount those file systems with the parameter default instead of all those *users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 *or what you have.

Also, please post computer text, like your* fstab*, between CODE tags a it is now next to unreadable: Posting in Code Tags - A Guide

okay, this is certainly new for me, the whole thing wont boot now, it just get past the BIOS and now the only thing on my screen is the blinking cursor on the top left corner, i’ll try using the backup fstab i created before replacing it.

Please post both fstabs (before and after) so we can try to find what happens. But if what you describe is exactly and precise what you experience, your system does not even reach to interpreteing /etc/fstab, thus there is no connection between the not booting and fstab.

This is before, which i just used to rewrite my fstab and faild, no it says error: file not found. grub rescue>



/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part2 swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part1 /                    ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA415030-part1 /2TB1                ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part4 /data                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part3 /home                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA811542-part5 /mov2TB              ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part1 /port1               ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part2 /port2               ntfs-3g    users,gid=users,fmask=133,dmask=022,locale=en_US.UTF-8 0 0
proc                 /proc                proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                 sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs              /sys/kernel/debug    debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb        usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts             devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0


This is after, which is the fstab i copied fromcaf4926](http://forums.opensuse.org/members/caf4926.html)



/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part2 swap                 swap       defaults              0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part1 /                    ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 1
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA415030-part1 /2TB1                 ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part4 /data                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD7500AADS-00M2B0_WD-WCAV50792183-part3 /home                ext4       acl,user_xattr        1 2
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD20EARX-00PASB0_WD-WCAZAA811542-part5 /mov2TB               ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part1 /port1                ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
/dev/disk/by-id/ata-WDC_WD6400AACS-00G8B1_WD-WCAUF2990959-part2 /port2                ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
proc                 /proc                       proc       defaults              0 0
sysfs                /sys                       sysfs      noauto                0 0
debugfs             /sys/kernel/debug   debugfs    noauto                0 0
usbfs                /proc/bus/usb          usbfs      noauto                0 0
devpts               /dev/pts                 devpts     mode=0620,gid=5       0 0


so, if it’s not fstab, what did happen ? i really did not change anything other than fstab. well if formatting solves it then i dont mind, since this is a new system, well, not entirely new, i already finished installing the vga, change repo, and installed multimedia, dang, i should have just clone the system when i had the chance.

On 2011-11-27 05:26, oraclecow wrote:
> nd when i checked, all the
> hard drives were owned by root, i tried changing the owner and
> permissions by going to terminal and opened up dolphin in super user
> mode, “kdesu dolphin”, i tried changing the owner three times, and the
> permissions three times too, it seemed processed, but after it’s
> finished, there seems nothing has changed, the owner is still root, and
> the permission for others are still read only.

My guess is that those partitions are fat or ntfs. You have to set the
permissions for those at mount time, in fstab.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

On 2011-11-27 16:06, hcvv wrote:

> Please post both fstabs (before and after) so we can try to find what
> happens. But if what you describe is exactly and precise what you
> experience, your system does not even reach to interpreteing /etc/fstab,
> thus there is no connection between the not booting and fstab.

A bad fstab would get you to the rescue prompt.


Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)

yup, they’re all NTFS, i created those back then when i used win 7 and i needed space for 4gb ++ files, and win can’t read ext, so i had to use ntfs back then, never thought there would be some trouble like these.
ok, it’s bad copy from previous fstab then T_T, i’ll try my luck next morning, it’s almost twelve here, midnight i mean.

All you need to do is edit the ntfs lines
As I previously showed

Some of the posts above are a bit late and confirm the issue with non Linux file systems.

You first said you hardly passed the BIOS when booting and then it stopped. Now you say you get a GRUB error. Would you be please so kind to tell next time (and all the times thereafter) exactly and precise what you do and see. It is the only way we can know what happens as long as we have no crystal balls.

And like caf4926 said, only think you should do is changing the parameter parts of those ntfs entries from … to default). You should not touch the entries that are working, There can allways be some edit error and whoops, you go.