Score:0

file properties all question mark on NTFS partition

cd flag

Ubuntu 20.04, when I backup my disk, I found files on C partition (the partition for the dual OS Windows, and only in this partition), have permission and attribute all set to question mark(?). e.g:

$ pwd
/windows/c/Program Files/WindowsApps/Microsoft.LanguageExperiencePacken-US_17763.14.14.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe/Windows/System32/driverstore/en-US
$ ls -l .
.....
-rwxrwxrwx   3 root root 2230 1月  28  2019 netbvbda.inf_loc
-rwxrwxrwx   2 root root  298 1月  28  2019 netimm.inf_loc
-rwxrwxrwx   6 root root 2924 1月  28  2019 netl160x.inf_loc
-?????????   ? ?    ?       ?             ? netl1c63x64.inf_loc
......

I checked, that dir is mounted to user root, group root, mode: 0777, and tried following steps:

  1. mkdir a; # OK
  2. touch a.txt ; # OK
  3. sudo ls -l . ; # those files properties are still all question mark.
  4. re-mount the partition in Ubuntu, still question mark.
  5. boot into Windows, cd to that dir, and those files are normal, not shortcut file.
  6. in Windows, use chkdsk.exe to check partition, no error found.

Please, any idea why those file properties are all question mark ? Thanks!

ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Do not mount the Windows system partition in Ubuntu, do NOT write to it from outside Windows or you risk having an unbootable Windows in no time. And with any dual-boot with Windows 8 or newer, disabling the Windows Fast Startup feature is a MUST.
cd flag
@ChanganAuto Thanks! Just curious why only C partition has this problem, yes, just as you point out, maybe related to some Windows features, however, why other files in same directory look good? I have other NTFS partitions and also good, not found question marks. If this is disk error, but chkdsk can not find any error, I tried mount C partition read-only by command $ sudo mount -r /dev/sda2 /windows/c; same question mark. just considering if need to backup some data from it...
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Again, start by disabling Fast Startup. It keeps the (NTFS) partitions in an hibernated state that in turn creates all sorts of problems when accessing it from outside the running Windows. Also NTFS isn't and was never compatible with POSIX permissions. It's unclear why this is a problem for you now and/or what do you expect to achieve if it were otherwise.
cd flag
I tried even disable Fast Boot, the question marks still exist. I remember, not very clearly that from 18.04, if try to mount a NTFS in hibernate state, Ubuntu will prompt error.
ChanganAuto avatar
us flag
Any Linux will give a warning/error if you try to mount such partition in r/w.
mangohost

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