Ok, Well, make sure nothing has exclusive use on that drive. In terminal issue the following commands: umount /dev/sdx (whatever the number is for that drive/fs) If there is more than one partition on that drive, unmount them as well. Then, to erase the drive, I use dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sdx (this will blow away all partition map info, boot sector and the like) Lastly: mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdx (you can replace the .ext3 with other FS types if you prefer) When done, mount the FS as normal and you should be good to go. -Eric From the Central Offices of the Technomage Guild, Drive recyclers Dept. > On Jan 31, 2019, at 4:46 PM, Michael wrote: > > I am trying to format it to a native > > > On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 6:44 PM Eric Oyen > wrote: > Ugh! > NTFS. No wonder you are having such issues. Any way to move stuff off there and reformat to a more appropriate FS (like ext4, MurderFS or the like)? > > One thing I have found when dealing with NTFS, I would rather do so inside a file image that gets synced from a physical drive. This way, even the partition info is retained. I also do that with my Mac here when operating time machine backups. I created a file that was then formatted with OSX extended FS, setup a few perms and let fly. This way, one of my external drives can handle backups from multiple Macs without running into machine confusion as to which backup belongs to what. > > -Eric > From the Central Offices of the Technomage Guild, Backups-R-us Dept. > > >> On Jan 31, 2019, at 12:31 PM, Michael > wrote: >> >> Its been running for about four minutes now and the drive is just flashing. >> This is what I ran: >> bmike1@MikesBeast:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/test >> [sudo] password for bmike1: >> Mount is denied because the NTFS volume is already exclusively opened. >> The volume may be already mounted, or another software may use it which >> could be identified for example by the help of the 'fuser' command. >> >> bmike1@MikesBeast:~$ sudo umount /dev/sdc1 >> bmike1@MikesBeast:~$ sudo mount /dev/sdc1 /mnt/test >> bmike1@MikesBeast:~$ find /mnt/test -type f -exec cp "{}" /dev/null \; >> >> Is this correct? >> >> On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 12:41 PM > wrote: >> > Nope. I'm thinking the external drive is dieing. >> Do: >> mount /dev/ /some/where >> find /some/where/ -type f -exec cp "{}" /dev/null \; >> dmesg|grep '/dev/' >> >> You'll find a bunch of errors to validate your hunch or you'll fine none to >> rule it out. >> ET >> >> PS: I didn't 'sticking up for you'. >> I want to have you around so I can harass you at will! ;-) >> You are a good man Mike, and you have my appreciation and utmost respect. >> >> >> >> Michael writes: >> >> > Nope. I'm thinking the external drive is dieing. >> > >> > On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 9:19 AM Eric Oyen > wrote: >> > >> >> No problem. Btw, did you ever figure out that latest little issue (I think >> >> it was with rsync)? >> >> >> >> -Eric >> >> >> >> >> >> On Jan 31, 2019, at 6:35 AM, Michael > wrote: >> >> >> >> ET and Eric.... thanks for sticking up for me. >> >> >> >> On Thu, Jan 31, 2019 at 7:10 AM Eric Oyen > wrote: >> >> >> >>> No. He is definitely not a troll and like me, he has some challenges that >> >>> can get in the way of properly dealing with the world. So, yeah, his brain >> >>> is wired differently. SO what! So is min, incidentally. On top of having to >> >>> deal with the lifelong effects of a traumatic brain injury (courtesy of a >> >>> hit and run driver in 1989), I am also totally blind. Does this make me any >> >>> less a person? Hell no! Does it mean I might require extra help from time >> >>> to time? You betcha! >> >>> >> >>> So, before you go applying that label, please consider the mind behind >> >>> the post before making that judgement. >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> -Eric >> >>> From the central Offices of the Technomage Guild, Special Services and >> >>> activities Dept. >> >>> >> >>> > On Jan 30, 2019, at 7:55 AM, kitepilot@kitepilot.com wrote: >> >>> > >> >>> > No Alexander, Michael is not trolling. >> >>> > I know Michael personally and he is a great guy. >> >>> > He faces some challenges that most of us don't even know exist, and he >> >>> overcomes most of them remarkably. >> >>> > I will not extend about the challenges he faces, but I will indicate >> >>> that he deserves the patience, the help and the respect. >> >>> > Not all hackers are created equally... :) >> >>> > Best! >> >>> > Enrique A. Troconis >> >>> > >> >>> > Snyder, Alexander J writes: >> >>> >> I often wonder if the vague emails from "Michael" are just trolling the >> >>> >> Plug Distro... testing our patience and willingness to help! "I can't >> >>> log in" .... >> >>> >> "How do I print" ... Thanks, >> >>> >> Alexander. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S8+ >> >>> > --------------------------------------------------- >> >>> > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> >>> > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> >>> > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> >>> >> >>> --------------------------------------------------- >> >>> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> >>> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> >>> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> -- >> >> :-)~MIKE~(-: >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> >> >> >> >> >> --------------------------------------------------- >> >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> > >> > >> > >> > -- >> > :-)~MIKE~(-: >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss >> >> -- >> :-)~MIKE~(-: >> --------------------------------------------------- >> PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org >> To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: >> https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > > -- > :-)~MIKE~(-: > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > https://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss