Configure /etc/fstab for external hard drive

Question

In my /etc/fstab I have the line

UUID=c99...04c4  /media/myExtDrive  ext4    defaults,user,nobootwait  0   0

for my external hard drive. But when I plug it in and try to mount it with the DeviceNotifier of my KDE Plasma 5, I get the message that the device cannot be mounted. This was no problem in my Kubuntu 14.04 with KDE 4. When I delete the above line in /etc/fstab, the DeviceNotifier is able to mount the hard drive - however to /media/user/myExtDriveName instead to /media/myExtDrive as I wish. How do I need to configure the line in /etc/fstab so that it will be mounted automatically if present, but still allows me to use the DeviceNotifier to mount to /media/myExtDrive?

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EDIT 1: I just tried to mount the external hdd with sudo mount --all with the line in fstab, but that did not allow me to mount either. Not quite sure why.

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EDIT 2: In Kubuntu 14.04, the folder /media/myExtDrive had to be created. Now, I also created /media/myExtDrive. If I don't I get the error message, did get the message that it is missing. But somehow I am not quite sure anymore in which situation and have trouble reproducing this.

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EDIT 3: When trying to mount with sudo mount -va I get

Incorrect filesystem type, invalid options, /dev/sdd1 superblock is damaged, encoding page missing or some other error.

However, I do not have any issues mounting to /media/user/myExtDriveName if I remove the above line in /etc/fstab and mount via DeviceNotifier.

Whether I have the folder /media/myExtDrive created beforehand or not seems not to make any difference either way.

The command tail -f /var/log/messages just returns that the file /var/log/messages cannot be found and thus can't be opened.

Answer 1

I had some problems with Plasma and fstab too. I couldn't mount it automatically, so I created an script to run in startup.

There are multiple ways of achieving it, I'd suggest to create a system service, to make the script to run as root when the computer starts:

First: Go to the systemd scripts folder:

$ cd /etc/systemd/system

Second: Create a script file

$ sudo touch Automount.sh

Third: List the storage devices you have connected and identify your desired disk to mount.

$ sudo fdisk -l

The output will be generated as follows (just illustrative example):

#######################---------Example output-----------#####################

Disk /dev/sda: 931,51 GiB, 1000204886016 bytes, 1953525168 sectors
Disk model: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 4096 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 4096 bytes / 4096 bytes
Disklabel type: gpt
Disk identifier: XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Device     Start        End    Sectors   Size Type
/dev/sda1     34      32767      32734    16M mydisktoo
/dev/sda2  32768 1953521663 1953488896 931,5G mydisk

#######################---------Example output-----------#####################

Fourth: Edit the script to mount the file

$ sudo nano Automount.service

Write this inside the file:

[Unit]
Description=Here you detail what you want to detail about the created service

[Service]
ExecStart=/etc/systemd/system/Automount.sh

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

And save it pressing [Ctrl] + [X], and then [Y]

Fifth: Edit the mounting script

$ sudo nano Automount.sh

and paste your favorite mount configuration.

#!/bin/bash
sudo mount /dev/YOURDRIVEIDENTIFIER /media/MYEXTERNALDRIVE 

Fifth: Make the script executable for all users

$ sudo chmod 777 Automount.sh Autorun.service

Sixth Test your script by starting your new service

$ systemctl start Automount.service

Finally: Enable autorun at system startup

$ systemctl enable Automount.service

Hope it helps