Mx21 -- copy files to external hdd

[Huckleberry Finn]

Yes, but "for the very reason" all the above.. to give the ownership (and permission) to "user" .

[pbear]

... right click on the folder, and then click on "Open Root Thunar here", and then I can paste into the folder.

As Huck says, you need to make yourself "owner" of the folder and its contents. Perhaps this will be easier. Copy this command:

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /media/$USER/*

Open Terminal; select Edit > Paste; hit Enter; type in your password when prompted.
No need to modify or customize anything. Run that command, exactly as given, and your problem will be solved.
Only thing you need to be sure of: The folder has to be mounted. In the left pane of File Manager, look for a little triangle next to the folder.

[fehlix]

All got advice's so far. But as OP has not mentioned what file system is involved,
this chmod/chown attempts to fix permissions will not survive a reboot on filessystem which don't hold permissions/ownership like NTFS, exFAT or FAT.
So suggets, some information needed like - as already requested - what file system is involved.
And also content of /etc/fstab, incase it's mounted through fstab.

[rdotex]

Also, I would like to know how this got 'screwed up'? I have been using this ext hdd for several years and have never had this trouble before, so what changed?

Ron

[Huckleberry Finn]

If you had done (re)partitioning etc. : GParted gives the ownership to root by default.

(However you still didn't tell anything about the format. If it's ntfs, simply use the "Disk Manager" from menu.)

[m_pav]

Also, I would like to know how this got 'screwed up'? I have been using this ext hdd for several years and have never had this trouble before, so what changed?

As you have not assisted us to assist you by telling us what partition type is used on the drive, we can only toss out guesses and nothing more. Please re-read my earlier response on page 1 of this thread. If it's a Microsoft type of partition, dirty flag caused by improper dismount or other is the MOST probably response, followed by a failing drive. It is possible to write data to a "dirty" Microsoft type partition as root in Linux, but it almost inevitably will be at great risk to content already on the drive and entirely possible the data you wrote as root may be compromised.

If it's a Linux type filesystem, permissions is the most probable response, and they're drop dead easy to change, and we have all tried to assist, but can go no further until we know what we're dealing with.

[rdotex]

... right click on the folder, and then click on "Open Root Thunar here", and then I can paste into the folder.

As Huck says, you need to make yourself "owner" of the folder and its contents. Perhaps this will be easier. Copy this command:

Code: Select all

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /media/$USER/*

Open Terminal; select Edit > Paste; hit Enter; type in your password when prompted.
No need to modify or customize anything. Run that command, exactly as given, and your problem will be solved.
Only thing you need to be sure of: The folder has to be mounted. In the left pane of File Manager, look for a little triangle next to the folder.

I've tried this several times just now, but it doesn't seem to work for me!

[rdotex]

Also, I would like to know how this got 'screwed up'? I have been using this ext hdd for several years and have never had this trouble before, so what changed?

As you have not assisted us to assist you by telling us what partition type is used on the drive, we can only toss out guesses and nothing more. Please re-read my earlier response on page 1 of this thread. If it's a Microsoft type of partition, dirty flag caused by improper dismount or other is the MOST probably response, followed by a failing drive. It is possible to write data to a "dirty" Microsoft type partition as root in Linux, but it almost inevitably will be at great risk to content already on the drive and entirely possible the data you wrote as root may be compromised.

If it's a Linux type filesystem, permissions is the most probable response, and they're drop dead easy to change, and we have all tried to assist, but can go no further until we know what we're dealing with.

It shows to be an 'ext4' file type. I have only Linux type files, no Windows at all.

[Huckleberry Finn]

... I've tried this several times just now, but it doesn't seem to work for me!

... It shows to be an 'ext4' file type...

Ok, but as I mentioned in post #7: You need to type the path according to wherever it is mounted. And also "when" it is mounted.

So: First simply click and open it using the file manager (just to make it mounted).

Then also have a look where it gets mounted: Look at the address bar in file manager, or in a terminal: lsblk


Cause, say, if I do any of these :

sudo chown -R huck:huck /media/huck/*

sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /media/huck/*

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /media/$USER/*


when i.e. my sdb gets mounted somewhere else , say under /mnt/.../

it won't work.. as this command aims at /media/... (as generally it is so)

[pbear]

I've tried this several times just now, but it doesn't seem to work for me!

Was there any message or error report? Had you made sure the partition was mounted?

Consistent with Huck's last post, please report the output of lsblk -f. Again, be sure the partition is mounted.
And confirm which partition in the lsblk report is the one you're having trouble with.

Finally, further to m_pav's hypothesis of a failing drive, please report the output of sudo mount | grep ro, (use copy-and-paste, and be sure to include the comma).