Why Can't I Change Permissions on My External Drive in Linux?
Asked by
TechieWizard42
I'm trying to set up my own Media Server using a laptop and external drive, and after battling with it for a while, I got my drive mounted to a folder in the '/media/' directory through the '/etc/fstab' method. However, I'm facing an issue where Linux won't let me change the permissions for the folder I created using commands like chmod and chown. My laptop's internal drive is formatted as ext4, while the external drive is formatted as exFAT. I'm using Linux Mint—any advice on what to do here?
Answers
The problem you're encountering is due to your external drive being formatted as exFAT. Unlike ext4, exFAT doesn't support Unix-style permissions and ownership, which is why chmod and chown aren't working for you. Instead of changing permissions, you'll need to set them when mounting the drive. You can use mount options like `uid=`, `gid=`, and `umask=` in your fstab to configure how the drive behaves permission-wise when it's mounted.
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CuriousNoob23: Oh, that's really helpful! If exFAT is the issue, do you think I should reformat the drive to something else? I don't have much stored on it yet, and I could back it up to my PC. I’m still learning Linux.