Ubuntu – Partition mount point keeps changing

mount

The system changes my partition mount name with a numeric suffix dynamically (Example: Name becomes Name1, Name2, and so on).

I appreciate all your suggestions to fix this problem in my Ubuntu 16.04 LTS.

Thanks

Best Answer

This seems to happen when three conditions are met:

You mount the partition using the GUI (Nautilus or otherwise)
- In the backend, this seems to use udisksctl mount
There is no entry for the partition in the filesystem table (/etc/fstab)
- If there were an entry, it would specify the mount point
There is already a directory at the default mount point
- The default mount point is /media/$username/$partition_label, so in this case, probably /media/dinesh/Name
- I'm not sure why this happens. Maybe if the machine is not properly shut down?
- It could also be a file not a dir, but practically, that doesn't happen

So, there are three solutions:

1. Delete the existing dir(s)

This is quick and dirty - more of a workaround than a solution.

With the drive unmounted, run this command:

sudo rmdir /media/$USER/Name*

Note that rmdir will only delete empty dirs, so if you accidentally run this while the drive is mounted, it shouldn't do any harm.

2. Create an entry for the partition in /etc/fstab

From nathwill's answer on a related question:

For a long-term fix, you could add the drive to /etc/fstab with a designated mountpoint. I recommend using the UUID to identify the drive.

Bonus tip: If you want the icon to be displayed when the drive is mounted, set the mountpoint somewhere within /media/. If you don't, set the mountpoint somewhere else, such as /mnt/.

If you prefer GUI, you can use Disks (gnome-disks) to set up an fstab entry:

From the Dash, type "Disks" then open it
- Or from a terminal, run gnome-disks
Select the disk
Select the partition
Click the gear icon (for more actions)
Click Edit Mount Options
Disable Automatic Mount Options
Set Identify as to UUID=(uuid)
Set the Mount point

3. Mount the partition using CLI

This uses sudo mount, which IMO is way more hassle than the other two options, so I won't even bother explaining it.

More details

When using udisksctl mount, if the default mount point already exists, it will append 1. If the mount point with 1 already exists, it will iterate the number (2, 3, etc). It seems like earlier versions of Ubuntu used udisks --mount in the backend, which would mount to /media/$partition_label, and append an underscore if the mount point already existed. For example, see Why does the mount point keeps changing, and how can I prevent it?

Related Solutions

Ubuntu – Mount Hfsplus partition of a disk image

I wanted to do the same and got the same issue with the method you used.

Here's another approach which I used successfully:

sudo losetup --find --show ./MacImage.img
/dev/loop9
sudo partprobe /dev/loop9
sudo mount /dev/loop9p2 /mnt/Mac-part-2

Hope this helps.

Mount Point – Resolve Name Change Issue

Changing your mountpoint needs three actions: changing the entry in /etc/fstab (be careful), creating the directory where it should be mounted (if necessary, but in your case it possibly exists already), and you will probably want to change the partition label as well (if necessary), to have the right name appear in the devices overview in nautilus.

No need to say that you ALWAYS need to make backups before you change anything.

if it is a data only partion:

1. Edit the existing entry in fstab

Run in terminal:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

Lookup the entry with mountpoint: "stuff1", change it to "stuff" (check first if there is no entry with "stuff" already), do not touch the rest. In the line, you can see in what directory the partition is mounted (the section that ends with "stuff").

2. Create a directory to mount into

Create (if necessary) in the same directory a folder named "stuff", but as said, it probably exists already":

sudo mkdir /path_to_stuff/stuff

On next restart, you will find your documents in "stuff".

3. Changing the partition label:

There is a chance that you need to change the partition label. You can check that by looking in the device overview in nautilus. If that is "stuff" already, skip step 3. If not: the best is to do it with Gparted, which you will have to install. Open Gparted. In the partition overview, right-click on the partition with label "stuff1", choose "unmount". When it is unmounted, right-click again and choose "label". Rename it to "stuff". After renaming the label of the partition, close Gparted and run:

sudo mount -a.

Probably you will also have to rename the nautilus bookmark: open a nautilus window, from the menu, choose Bookmarks > Bookmarks. Rename the bookmark.