#1 2026-05-18 22:57:12

Sector11

Mod Squid Tpyo Knig

From: Upstairs

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 8,221

[SOLVED] pmount problems

SOLVED: see here

I'm having fun with external USB drives, I have 2

/dev/sdb1/ and /dev/sdc1/

they are not mounted automatically, they are not in /ect/fstab that's why I want to use pmount.  However I get this:

 2026·05·18 @ 19:11:06 ~
   $ sfdisk -l
sfdisk: cannot open /dev/sda: Permission denied
sfdisk: cannot open /dev/sdb: Permission denied
sfdisk: cannot open /dev/sdc: Permission denied
 
 2026·05·18 @ 19:11:24 ~
   $ pmount /dev/sdb1/
bash: pmount: command not found
 
 2026·05·18 @ 19:12:14 ~
   $ ser pmount
alias ser = aptitude search
p   pmount                          - mount removable devices as normal user   
 
 2026·05·18 @ 19:14:24 ~
   $ 

Colour me confused.

Anyone got any ideas?

Not just pmount.  On occasions I'll get

bash: something_here: command not found

be it a bash script in ~/bin or something installed

IF I open Thunar and mount the drives I can run my bash scripts to backup my system to them.

 2026·05·18 @ 19:44:24 ~
   $ s11bk
    Syncing /home
      to /media/sector11/disk/S11-May/
    Syncing /media/5/
      to /media/sector11/disk/M5/
    Syncing /media/10/
      to /media/sector11/disk/M10/
    Syncing /media/11/
      to /media/sector11/disk/M11/

backup.ROOt.txt        M10  M5	     S11-May	      Sector11-readme.txt
config.openbox.my.old  M11  S11-Aug  S11-Sep	      up2.lillydog.usblive.txt
d11-root	       M12  S11-Mar  scrot_conky.png
 
 To remove a directory
 use rm command: rm -f -r /media/sector11/disk/S11-MONTH
 
 
 2026·05·18 @ 19:44:56 ~
   $ 

 2026·05·18 @ 19:45:32 ~
   $ s11bk1
    Syncing /home
      to /media/sector11/1TB1/S11-May/
    Syncing /media/5/
      to /media/sector11/1TB1/M5/
    Syncing /media/10/
      to /media/sector11/1TB1/M10/
    Syncing /media/11/
      to /media/sector11/1TB1/M11/

backup.ROOt.txt        M10  M5	     S11-May	      Sector11-readme.txt
config.openbox.my.old  M11  S11-Mar  scrot_conky.png  up2.lillydog.usblive.txt
 
 To remove a directory
 use rm command: -f -r /media/sector11/1TB1/S11-MONTH
 
 
 2026·05·18 @ 19:47:31 ~
   $ 

---

Debian 12 Beardog, SoxDog and still a Conky 1.9er

PackRat

jgmenu user Numero Uno

Registered: 2015-10-02

Posts: 2,938

Re: [SOLVED] pmount problems

bash: pmount: command not found

That could mean pmount is not located on your $PATH. Where does it install?

pmount /dev/sdb1/

Do you need that final "/"
Try

pmount /dev/sdb1

---

You must unlearn what you have learned.
    -- yoda

Sector11

Mod Squid Tpyo Knig

From: Upstairs

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 8,221

Re: [SOLVED] pmount problems

EDIT:  Sorry for the book

NOTE: I had previously tried "pmount -h" and got the help output so it was installed

 2026·05·19 @ 10:15:41 ~
   $ pmount -h
Usage:

pmount [options] <device> [<label>]

  Mount <device> to a directory below /media/ if policy requirements
  are met (see pmount(1) for details). If <label> is given, the mount point
  will be /media/<label>, otherwise it will be /media/<device>.
  If the mount point does not exist, it will be created.

pmount --lock <device> <pid>
  Prevent further pmounts of <device> until it is unlocked again. <pid>
  specifies the process id the lock holds for. This allows one to lock a device
  by several independent processes and avoids indefinite locks of crashed
  processes (nonexistent pids are cleaned before attempting a mount).

pmount --unlock <device> <pid>
  Remove the lock on <device> for process <pid> again.

Options:
  -r          : force <device> to be mounted read-only
  -w          : force <device> to be mounted read-write
  -s, --sync  : mount <device> with the 'sync' option (default: 'async')
  -A, --noatime
                mount <device> with the 'noatime' option (default: 'atime')
  -e, --exec  : mount <device> with the 'exec' option (default: 'noexec')
  -t <fs>     : mount as file system type <fs> (default: autodetected)
  -c <charset>: use given I/O character set (default: 'utf8' if called
                in an UTF-8 locale, otherwise mount default)
  -u <umask>  : use specified umask instead of the default (only for
                file systems which actually support umask setting)
  --fmask <fmask>
                use specified fmask
  --dmask <dmask>
                use specified dmask
  -p <file>, --passphrase <file>
                read passphrase from file instead of the terminal
                (only for LUKS encrypted devices)
  -d, --debug : enable debug output (very verbose)
  -h, --help  : print this help message and exit successfully
  -V, --version
                print version number and exit successfully
 
 2026·05·19 @ 10:44:54 ~
   $ 

NO MENTION OF /etc/pmount.allow

bash: pmount: command not found

That could mean pmount is not located on your $PATH. Where does it install?

Where does it install?  No clue where apt puts files. 

Well this was interesting, I REinstalled pmount as I was looking in /etc/p* area with thunar and I saw the list "blink" and

pmount.allow

popped up.  So I looked at it with mouse pad, can't do any damage I'm not "sudo'd" and I see:

# /etc/pmount.allow
# pmount will allow users to additionally mount all devices that are
# listed here.

Looking at the -help file I see:

pmount [options] <device> [<label>]

So I edited the file as sudo:

# /etc/pmount.allow
# pmount will allow users to additionally mount all devices that are
# listed here.
/dev/sdb1
/dev/sdc1

My "lable I'm guessing now would have been:

/media/sector11/disk/

and

/media/sector11/1TB1/

EDIT:  WRONG!  pmount [lables] are not allowed to have "/" in them. {sigh}

BUT dumb dumb here hovered the mouse over [TB1] and saw

/dev/sdb1

and [disk] and saw

/dev/sdc1

so in a terminal I punched in

pmount /dev/scb1

and

pmount /dev/sdc1

and they were mounted
BUT: {there is always a but} It changed my /media/ listings:

/media/5
/media/10
/media/11
/media/BD-H
/media/BD-R
/media/sdb1 <-> was: /media/sector11/1TB1
/media/sdc1 <-> was: /media/sector11/disk

I no longer have
/media/sector11/disk/
/media/sector11/1TD1/

pmount /dev/sdb1/

Do you need that final "/"
Try

pmount /dev/sdb1

YUP!  That works, I do not need that final "/"

So here I am, in thunar, under Devices

File System
1TB - (not mounted)
225 GB Volume
225 GB Volume
225 GB Volume
35 GB Volume
40 GB Volume
Disk (not mounted)

but under: "/media/ " I see:

/media/5
/media/10
/media/11
/media/BD-H
/media/BD-R
/media/disk
/media/sdb1
/media/sdc1

s11bk (bash script)
has two new line at the top:

#!/bin/bash
## 12 Jan 2012
## 23 Feb changed to 'rsync' from 'cp'
## bunch of instructions - my forgetter fighter

pmount /dev/sdc1
sleep 2s &&

MON=%b
##{blah blah}
##and ends with:

cd /media/sector11/disk
sleep 3s &&
echo ""
ls /media/sector11/disk
echo " "
echo " To remove a directory"
echo " use rm command: rm -f -r /media/sector11/disk/S11-MONTH"
echo " "

cd ~/
umount /media/sector11/disk
exit

and "s11bk1" have the same

Last comment but because of these:
Thunar, under Devices

File System
1TB - (not mounted)
225 GB Volume
225 GB Volume
225 GB Volume
35 GB Volume
40 GB Volume
Disk (not mounted)

AND again in Thunar under /media/ I see

/media/5
/media/10
/media/11
/media/BD-H
/media/BD-R
/media/disk  <<- THIS
/media/sdb1
/media/sdc1

I feel like it's a jerry-rigged timebomb.
BUT IT WORKS

Bot scrits mount the resoective drives, do the backup, and unmount before exiting.

Last edited by Sector11 (Yesterday 16:12:56)

---

Debian 12 Beardog, SoxDog and still a Conky 1.9er

PackRat

jgmenu user Numero Uno

Registered: 2015-10-02

Posts: 2,938

Re: [SOLVED] pmount problems

Where does it install?  No clue where apt puts files.

Usually /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin which are typically on the PATH by default. Sometimes system admin programs get installed to /usr/sbin or /usr/local/sbin which may not be on PATH so you either have to use the full path to the command, or modify your $PATH.

Looks like you have it figured out.

---

You must unlearn what you have learned.
    -- yoda

Sector11

Mod Squid Tpyo Knig

From: Upstairs

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 8,221

Re: [SOLVED] pmount problems

Where does it install?  No clue where apt puts files.

Usually /usr/bin or /usr/local/bin which are typically on the PATH by default. Sometimes system admin programs get installed to /usr/sbin or /usr/local/sbin which may not be on PATH so you either have to use the full path to the command, or modify your $PATH.

Looks like you have it figured out.

Aaaaaaaaand there we are:

/usr/bin/pmount

---

Debian 12 Beardog, SoxDog and still a Conky 1.9er

Sector11

Mod Squid Tpyo Knig

From: Upstairs

Registered: 2015-08-20

Posts: 8,221

Re: [SOLVED] pmount problems

OK  Got it figured out.
Power on and the two external drives are not mounted but Thunar can mount/unmount them both.
And I can mount/unmount them in my backup scripts with pmount and pumount, without sudo, so glad I found out about pumount today as well.

s11bk backsup to /dev/sdc1 (disk) - my 250 MB external HDD
s11bk1 backsup to /dev/sdb1 (1TB) - my 1Tbyte external HDD

Shown is: s11bk

#!/bin/bash
## 12 Jan 2012
## 23 Feb changed to 'rsync' from 'cp'

pmount -w /dev/sdc1 disk
sleep 1s &&

MON=%b
TARGET="/media/disk/S11-$(date +"$MON")"

echo "    Syncing /home"
echo "      to $TARGET/"
  rsync -avh --progress --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from '/home/sector11/bin/rsync_home_exclude.txt' /home/sector11/ > "/dev/null" "$TARGET"

echo "    Syncing /media/5/"
echo "      to /media/disk/M5/"
  rsync -avh --progress --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from '/home/sector11/bin/rsync_s11bk_exclude.txt' /media/5/ > "/dev/null" /media/disk/M5

echo "    Syncing /media/10/"
echo "      to /media/disk/M10/"
  rsync -avh --progress --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from '/home/sector11/bin/rsync_s11bk_exclude.txt' /media/10/ > "/dev/null" /media/disk/M10

echo "    Syncing /media/11/"
echo "      to /media/disk/M11/"
  rsync -avh --progress --delete --delete-excluded --exclude-from '/home/sector11/bin/rsync_s11bk_exclude.txt' /media/11/ > "/dev/null" /media/disk/M11

cd /media/disk
sleep 1s &&
echo ""
ls /media/disk
echo " "
cd ~/
pumount /dev/sdc1
exit

It mounts the drive - does it's work - then unmounts the drive.

Results:

 2026·05·19 @ 19:56:11 ~
   $ s11bk
    Syncing /home
      to /media/disk/S11-May/
    Syncing /media/5/
      to /media/disk/M5/
    Syncing /media/10/
      to /media/disk/M10/
    Syncing /media/11/
      to /media/disk/M11/

backup.ROOt.txt        M10  S11-Mar	     Sector11-readme.txt
config.openbox.my.old  M11  S11-May	     up2.lillydog.usblive.txt
d11-root	       M5   scrot_conky.png
 
 2026·05·19 @ 19:57:52 ~
   $ 

and if you're interested: /home/sector11/bin/rsync_home_exclude.txt

.cache
.fontconfig
lost+found
.s11bk-logs
.thumbnails
.Trash-0
.Trash-1000
.local/share/Trash

The other partitions are easier:

.Trash-0
.Trash-1000
lost+found

## 12 Jan 2012 - WOW started it 14 years ago.  It looks a LOT different now.  Back then it used "cp"

Thanks PackRat!

---

Debian 12 Beardog, SoxDog and still a Conky 1.9er