Doing it manually
Mount the 2nd Distro with these commands
sudo mkdir /mnt/MyOtherDistro
sudo mount -t auto -v /dev/sdb5 /mnt/MyOtherDistro
Now you will be able to use Nautilus or any other file manager to navigate to the directory /mnt/MyOtherDistro
to view / copy / delete files, etc.
You can also change to a directory in the 2nd Distro:
cd /mnt/MyOtherDistro/home/Me/Documents
When you are done unmount the partition and delete the directory:
sudo umount -l /mnt/MyOtherDistro
sudo rm -d /mnt/MyOtherDistro
Doing it with a bash script
As luck would have it I was just working on two scripts tonight to mount and unmount partitions via a command line scroll box.
Mount a partition
To mount a partition run the bash script sudo mount-menu.sh
:
Highlight an unmounted partition and press Enter. It will be mounted and some basic information about the partition will be displayed:
=====================================================================
Mount Device: /dev/nvme0n1p8
Mount Name: /mnt/mount-menu.b9yZf
File System: ext4
ID: Ubuntu
RELEASE: 18.04
CODENAME: bionic
DESCRIPTION: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
Size Used Avail Use%
24G 17G 5.2G 77%
To create the script, copy the following to a file called /usr/local/bin/mount-menu.sh
:
#!/bin/bash
# NAME: mount-menu.sh
# PATH: /usr/local/bin
# DESC: Select unmounted partition for mounting
# DATE: May 9, 2018. Modified May 11, 2018.
# $TERM variable may be missing when called via desktop shortcut
CurrentTERM=$(env | grep TERM)
if [[ $CurrentTERM == "" ]] ; then
notify-send --urgency=critical \
"$0 cannot be run from GUI without TERM environment variable."
exit 1
fi
# Must run as root
if [[ $(id -u) -ne 0 ]] ; then echo "Usage: sudo $0" ; exit 1 ; fi
#
# Create unqique temporary file names
#
tmpMenu=$(mktemp /tmp/mount-menu.XXXXX) # Menu list
tmpInfo=$(mktemp /tmp/mount-menu.XXXXX) # Mount Parition Info
tmpWork=$(mktemp /tmp/mount-menu.XXXXX) # Work file
MountName=$(mktemp -d /mnt/mount-menu.XXXXX) # Mount directory name
#
# Function Cleanup () Removes temporary files
#
CleanUp () {
[[ -f $tmpMenu ]] && rm -f $tmpMenu # If temporary files created
[[ -f $tmpInfo ]] && rm -f $tmpInfo # at various program stages
[[ -f $tmpWork ]] && rm -f $tmpWork # remove them before exiting.
}
#
# Mainline
#
lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,LABEL,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT > $tmpMenu
i=0
SPACES=' '
DoHeading=true
AllPartsArr=() # All partitions.
# Build whiptail menu tags ($i) and text ($Line) into array
while read -r Line; do
if [[ $DoHeading == true ]] ; then
DoHeading=false # First line is the heading.
MenuText="$Line" # Heading for whiptail.
FSTYPE_col="${Line%%FSTYPE*}"
FSTYPE_col="${#FSTYPE_col}" # FS Type, ie `ext4`, `ntfs`, etc.
MOUNTPOINT_col="${Line%%MOUNTPOINT*}"
MOUNTPOINT_col="${#MOUNTPOINT_col}" # Required to ensure not mounted.
continue
fi
Line="$Line$SPACES" # Pad extra white space.
Line=${Line:0:74} # Truncate to 74 chars for menu.
AllPartsArr+=($i "$Line") # Menu array entry = Tag# + Text.
(( i++ ))
done < $tmpMenu # Read next "lsblk" line.
#
# Display whiptail menu in while loop until no errors, or escape,
# or valid partion selection .
#
DefaultItem=0
while true ; do
# Call whiptail in loop to paint menu and get user selection
Choice=$(whiptail \
--title "Use arrow, page, home & end keys. Tab toggle option" \
--backtitle "Mount Partition" \
--ok-button "Select unmounted partition" \
--cancel-button "Exit" \
--notags \
--default-item "$DefaultItem" \
--menu "$MenuText" 24 80 16 \
"${AllPartsArr[@]}" \
2>&1 >/dev/tty)
clear # Clear screen.
if [[ $Choice == "" ]]; then # Escape or dialog "Exit".
CleanUp
exit 1;
fi
DefaultItem=$Choice # whiptail start option.
ArrNdx=$(( $Choice * 2 + 1)) # Calculate array offset.
Line="${AllPartsArr[$ArrNdx]}" # Array entry into $Line.
# Validation - Don't wipe out Windows or Ubuntu 16.04:
# - Partition must be ext4 and cannot be mounted.
if [[ "${Line:MOUNTPOINT_col:4}" != " " ]] ; then
echo "Partition is already mounted."
read -p "Press <Enter> to continue"
continue
fi
# Build "/dev/Xxxxx" FS name from "├─Xxxxx" menu line
MountDev="${Line%% *}"
MountDev=/dev/"${MountDev:2:999}"
# Build File System Type
MountType="${Line:FSTYPE_col:999}"
MountType="${MountType%% *}"
break # Validated: Break menu loop.
done # Loop while errors.
#
# Mount partition
#
echo ""
echo "====================================================================="
mount -t auto $MountDev $MountName
# Display partition information.
echo "Mount Device=$MountDev" > $tmpInfo
echo "Mount Name=$MountName" >> $tmpInfo
echo "File System=$MountType" >> $tmpInfo
# Build Mount information (the partition selected for cloning to)
LineCnt=$(ls $MountName | wc -l)
if (( LineCnt > 2 )) ; then
# More than /Lost+Found exist so it's not an empty partition.
if [[ -f $MountName/etc/lsb-release ]] ; then
cat $MountName/etc/lsb-release >> $tmpInfo
else
echo "No LSB-Release file on Partition." >> $tmpInfo
fi
else
echo "Partition appears empty" >> $tmpInfo
echo "/Lost+Found normal in empty partition" >> $tmpInfo
echo "First two files/directories below:" >> $tmpInfo
ls $MountName | head -n2 >> $tmpInfo
fi
sed -i 's/DISTRIB_//g' $tmpInfo # Remove DISTRIB_ prefix.
sed -i 's/=/:=/g' $tmpInfo # Change "=" to ":="
sed -i 's/"//g' $tmpInfo # Remove " around "Ubuntu 16.04...".
# Align columns from "Xxxx:=Yyyy" to "Xxxx: Yyyy"
cat $tmpInfo | column -t -s '=' > $tmpWork
cat $tmpWork > $tmpInfo
# Mount device free bytes
df -h --output=size,used,avail,pcent "$MountDev" >> $tmpInfo
# Display partition information.
cat $tmpInfo
CleanUp # Remove temporary files
exit 0
Unmount a partition
To unmount the partition setup by mount-menu.sh
run the command sudo umount-menu.sh
. The same screen shown above appears except the partition is already mounted and you select it to unmount it. First you need to create the script /usr/local/bin/umount-menu.sh
and copy in the lines below:
#!/bin/bash
# NAME: umount-menu.sh
# PATH: /usr/local/bin
# DESC: Select mounted partition for unmounting
# DATE: May 10, 2018. Modified May 11, 2018.
# $TERM variable may be missing when called via desktop shortcut
CurrentTERM=$(env | grep TERM)
if [[ $CurrentTERM == "" ]] ; then
notify-send --urgency=critical \
"$0 cannot be run from GUI without TERM environment variable."
exit 1
fi
# Must run as root
if [[ $(id -u) -ne 0 ]] ; then echo "Usage: sudo $0" ; exit 1 ; fi
#
# Create unqique temporary file names
#
tmpMenu=$(mktemp /tmp/mount-menu.XXXXX) # Menu list
#
# Function Cleanup () Removes temporary files
#
CleanUp () {
[[ -f "$tmpMenu" ]] && rm -f "$tmpMenu" # at various program stages
}
#
# Mainline
#
lsblk -o NAME,FSTYPE,LABEL,SIZE,MOUNTPOINT > "$tmpMenu"
i=0
SPACES=' '
DoHeading=true
AllPartsArr=() # All partitions.
# Build whiptail menu tags ($i) and text ($Line) into array
while read -r Line; do
if [[ $DoHeading == true ]] ; then
DoHeading=false # First line is the heading.
MenuText="$Line" # Heading for whiptail.
MOUNTPOINT_col="${Line%%MOUNTPOINT*}"
MOUNTPOINT_col="${#MOUNTPOINT_col}" # Required to ensure mounted.
continue
fi
Line="$Line$SPACES" # Pad extra white space.
Line=${Line:0:74} # Truncate to 74 chars for menu.
AllPartsArr+=($i "$Line") # Menu array entry = Tag# + Text.
(( i++ ))
done < "$tmpMenu" # Read next "lsblk" line.
#
# Display whiptail menu in while loop until no errors, or escape,
# or valid partion selection .
#
DefaultItem=0
while true ; do
# Call whiptail in loop to paint menu and get user selection
Choice=$(whiptail \
--title "Use arrow, page, home & end keys. Tab toggle option" \
--backtitle "Mount Partition" \
--ok-button "Select unmounted partition" \
--cancel-button "Exit" \
--notags \
--default-item "$DefaultItem" \
--menu "$MenuText" 24 80 16 \
"${AllPartsArr[@]}" \
2>&1 >/dev/tty)
clear # Clear screen.
if [[ $Choice == "" ]]; then # Escape or dialog "Exit".
CleanUp
exit 1;
fi
DefaultItem=$Choice # whiptail start option.
ArrNdx=$(( $Choice * 2 + 1)) # Calculate array offset.
Line="${AllPartsArr[$ArrNdx]}" # Array entry into $Line.
if [[ "${Line:MOUNTPOINT_col:15}" != "/mnt/mount-menu" ]] ; then
echo "Only Partitions mounted by mount-menu.sh can be unounted."
read -p "Press <Enter> to continue"
continue
fi
# Build "/dev/Xxxxx" FS name from "├─Xxxxx" menu line
MountDev="${Line%% *}"
MountDev=/dev/"${MountDev:2:999}"
# Build Mount Name
MountName="${Line:MOUNTPOINT_col:999}"
MountName="${MountName%% *}"
break # Validated: Break menu loop.
done # Loop while errors.
#
# Unmount partition
#
echo ""
echo "====================================================================="
umount "$MountName" -l # Unmount the clone
rm -d "$MountName" # Remove clone directory
echo $(tput bold) # Set to bold text
echo $MountDev mounted on $MountName unmounted.
echo $(tput sgr0) # Reset to normal text
CleanUp # Remove temporary files
exit 0
Make them executable
After creating the files, both scripts must be marked executable:
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/mount-menu.sh
sudo chmod a+x /usr/local/bin/umount-menu.sh
In the man fstab
page we find the noauto
parameter...
The fourth field (fs_mntops).
This field describes the mount options associated with the
filesystem.
It is formatted as a comma-separated list of options. It con‐
tains at least the type of mount (ro or rw), plus any additional
options appropriate to the filesystem type (including perfor‐
mance-tuning options). For details, see mount(8) or swapon(8).
Basic filesystem-independent options are:
defaults
use default options: rw, suid, dev, exec, auto, nouser,
and async.
noauto do not mount when "mount -a" is given (e.g., at boot
time)
user allow a user to mount
owner allow device owner to mount
comment
or x-<name> for use by fstab-maintaining programs
nofail do not report errors for this device if it does not ex‐
ist.
Using sudo blkid
you can easily determine the proper UUIDs to use.
You'll need to create these entries in /etc/fstab...
sudo -H gedit /etc/fstab
UUID=xxxx-xxxx /media/me/ESP vfat ro,noauto,nofail 0 0
UUID=xxxx-xxxx /media/me/DIAGS vfat ro,noauto,nofail 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx /media/me/WINRETOOLS ntfs ro,noauto,nofail 0 0
UUID=xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx /media/me/OS ntfs ro,noauto,nofail 0 0
Update #1:
OP replaced Nautilus file manager with Thunar, and Thunar has a separate option to mount external drives. Disable that, and this all works as expected. Not a standard configuration.
Best Answer
You can't unmount it, because it's being used. From the error message,
/dev/sda1
is the location of your root directory/
. Instead, create a gparted live CD, then boot from that. Then, you should be able to resize the (now-unused) root partition.Make sure you back everything up before resizing!