Cannot access or save to newly installed and mounted SSD

new to Linux and Ubuntu (and any system really so ELI5 level answers much appreciated).

OS: Ubuntu 20.04.2 LTS, GNOME 3.36.8

I just installed a new WD 1TB hard drive. I partitioned it using GParted, one primary partition, ext4.

I created a mount point with:

sudo mkdir /media/nvme01n1p1 

(which terminal tells me is the logical name) (I've just realised I might have tried to create two mount points as when I tried sudo mkdir /dev/nvme01n1p1 it says 'cannot create directory... file exists' - maybe this is the problem?)

I edited the fstab file with

/dev/sdb1    /media/nvme01n1p1   ext4    defaults     0        2

Now the volume is showing up in Files, with one folder titled 'lost+found' with a red cross over it. But it says I don't have permission to access that folder, and I'm unable to save anything to the volume.

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong?

Thanks!

The /dev/sdb1 location that you’ve identified in fstab is not the location of the NVMe device you’ve installed. In the image you shared, the new SSD is at /dev/nvme0n1p1, which is already mounted to /media/samuel/{guid}.

What you will need to do is first unmount the device, perhaps by pressing the “Stop” button in Disks, then mounting it to the location of your choice. Once confirmed, then you can update your /etc/fstab file.

1. Unmount the new NVMe device
2. In Terminal, mount the device to your preferred location

   sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/nvme0n1p1 /media/nvme0n1p1
   

3. Test that you can read and write files to the location
4. If everything is good, set the record in /etc/fstab:

   /dev/nvme0n1p1 /media/nvme01n1p1   ext4    defaults     0        2
   

5. Reboot just to confirm everything works correctly

As an aside, you may want to choose a different mount point from /mount/nvme01n1p1. There’s nothing “wrong” with it, but something like /home/samuel/western (ideally named better than this) would allow the device to be accessible to Snaps without a bunch of workarounds.

If you are using ext4 (if you don't know, then you are), the file system cannot go across physical drives. If it is a dual boot, I suggest putting one OS on one drive, and the othe on the other. This way, they both have optimum breathing room.

You can try to create a volume on the new drive and mount it, but I don't think it will work either.

I know that LVS file systems can use multiple disks/SSDs, but you will need to look into that technology, as it requires understanding to use. It isn't like most file systems. It imposes another layer over the physical volume, which is what makes it so flexible.