Ubuntu

How to correct mount point error on external backup drive?

Asked by jgregoryjones

I have been using ubuntu hardy for three weeks with great success. I have completely dropped Vista on my Compaq F572US.

However, I have inadvertently created a problem with my backup drive. While revisiting my partition settings using gparted on my Maxtor 500GB drive, I changed the mount point this external drive to "/". Now, the drive won't mount.

I tried creating a new partition with the same result: "The volume 'MAXTOR' uses the / file system which is not supported by your system."

I also tried wiping the partition, creating a new single partition, and in a fit of desperation, reformatted the drive using Mac OSX but as a FAT 16 drive. I'm concerned because I do not have a backup now for a heavily used, often carried laptop.

I now realize that I can reformat this drive forever, and it will never mount.

Obviously, I need a backup drive. I've searched many forums and can't find anyone who mistakenly formatted a drive to mount at /, which I now assume is the boot position?

How can I get this drive to mount?

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Andre Mangan (kyphi) said : 		#1

First a bit of information is needed before advising on a course of action.

When you say "backup drive", I assume that you mean a partition on your hard drive.

Would you please type the following command into a terminal window and post the output:

       cat /etc/fstab

That command will show your file-sytem-table and list your partitions and mount points.

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jgregoryjones (jgregoryjones) said : 		#2

Andre--
Thank you for your response. Actually, my Maxtor is an external drive that I completely wiped. I'm not sure why anyone would choose to backup to the same drive, even in a different partition.

At any rate, I found a solution to modify a bad mount point at

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=5530231&postcount=44

Thanks again.