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Can't paste files to external HDD in Ubuntu, but can edit and delete files on it and some programs can still write to it

cn flag
Piggy

I just did a fresh install of Ubuntu on a new computer, and my external HDD (internal in an ext case) is read only and I can't seem to be able to change that.

Some programs, however, like youtube-dl, can still write to it, and I can create folders and even edit, rename and delete files from it, but I can't transfer any files to it.

cp seems to work in Terminal but when I try to just copy/paste a file into the drive, "Paste" is grayed out.

On Windows 10 I can write to it normally with no issue. (I have dual boot)

Windows 10 have fast startup off so it's not that, and I tried formatting the drive in every file system, NTFS, exFAT, even FAT32, both in Ubuntu and Windows. Formatting works in both, but the drive is still read only in Ubuntu, so it doesn't seem to be that either.

Can anyone help?

Thank you very much in advance.

EDIT: Tried some other USB drives and turns out all have the same problem, so it's not a problem with this specific drive but with USB drives in general.

ls -la /media/piggy/External returns:

total 224
drwxrwxrwx  1 piggy piggy   4096 Dec 14 13:40 .
drwxr-x---+ 3 root  root    4096 Dec 14 13:31 ..
-rwxrwxrwx  1 piggy piggy 218543 Dec 14 13:40 GGedited.txt

snap list returns:

Name               Version             Rev    Tracking         Publisher   Notes
bare               1.0                 5      latest/stable    canonical✓  base
core18             20211028            2253   latest/stable    canonical✓  base
core20             20211129            1270   latest/stable    canonical✓  base
gnome-3-34-1804    0+git.3556cb3       77     latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
gnome-3-38-2004    0+git.cd626d1       87     latest/stable    canonical✓  -
gtk-common-themes  0.1-59-g7bca6ae     1519   latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
snap-store         3.38.0-66-gbd5b8f7  558    latest/stable/…  canonical✓  -
snapd              2.53.4              14295  latest/stable    canonical✓  snapd

mount returns this wall of text (the ext drive is /dev/sdc1):

sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,size=3991924k,nr_inodes=997981,mode=755,inode64)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,nosuid,noexec,relatime,gid=5,mode=620,ptmxmode=000)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=804932k,mode=755,inode64)
/dev/sdb5 on / type ext4 (rw,relatime,errors=remount-ro)
securityfs on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,inode64)
tmpfs on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=5120k,inode64)
tmpfs on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (ro,nosuid,nodev,noexec,mode=755,inode64)
cgroup2 on /sys/fs/cgroup/unified type cgroup2 (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,nsdelegate)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,xattr,name=systemd)
pstore on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
none on /sys/fs/bpf type bpf (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,mode=700)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpuset type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpuset)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/cpu,cpuacct type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,cpu,cpuacct)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/net_cls,net_prio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,net_cls,net_prio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/freezer type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,freezer)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/rdma type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,rdma)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/perf_event type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,perf_event)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/devices type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,devices)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/memory type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,memory)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/blkio type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,blkio)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/hugetlb type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,hugetlb)
cgroup on /sys/fs/cgroup/pids type cgroup (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,pids)
systemd-1 on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type autofs (rw,relatime,fd=28,pgrp=1,timeout=0,minproto=5,maxproto=5,direct,pipe_ino=16871)
hugetlbfs on /dev/hugepages type hugetlbfs (rw,relatime,pagesize=2M)
tracefs on /sys/kernel/tracing type tracefs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
mqueue on /dev/mqueue type mqueue (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
debugfs on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
configfs on /sys/kernel/config type configfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
fusectl on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_2128.snap on /snap/core18/2128 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-34-1804_72.snap on /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/72 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-34-1804_77.snap on /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/77 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core20_1270.snap on /snap/core20/1270 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/core18_2253.snap on /snap/core18/2253 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/bare_5.snap on /snap/bare/5 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gtk-common-themes_1519.snap on /snap/gtk-common-themes/1519 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gnome-3-38-2004_87.snap on /snap/gnome-3-38-2004/87 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snap-store_547.snap on /snap/snap-store/547 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snap-store_558.snap on /snap/snap-store/558 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_14295.snap on /snap/snapd/14295 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/snapd_12704.snap on /snap/snapd/12704 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/var/lib/snapd/snaps/gtk-common-themes_1515.snap on /snap/gtk-common-themes/1515 type squashfs (ro,nodev,relatime,x-gdu.hide)
/dev/sdb2 on /boot/efi type vfat (rw,relatime,fmask=0077,dmask=0077,codepage=437,iocharset=iso8859-1,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro)
tmpfs on /run/user/1000 type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,size=804932k,mode=700,uid=1000,gid=1000,inode64)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
/dev/fuse on /run/user/1000/doc type fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=1000,group_id=1000)
tmpfs on /run/snapd/ns type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev,noexec,relatime,size=804932k,mode=755,inode64)
nsfs on /run/snapd/ns/snap-store.mnt type nsfs (rw)
/dev/sdc1 on /media/piggy/External type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,relatime,user_id=0,group_id=0,default_permissions,allow_other,blksize=4096,uhelper=udisks2)
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Nmath avatar
ng flag
Nmath
When you say you tried formatting the drive, are you unable to format the drive at all? Or are you saying that file system is read-only no matter what file system you choose? What method are you using to format and what file system types have you tried?
1
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Bodo avatar
pt flag
Bodo
Please [edit] your question, copy&paste the output of `mount`, and if it's not obvious tell us which device is the external HDD. Show the output of `ls -la /path/to/some/directory` specifying a directory where you can create subdirectories but not files. If the drive was mounted readonly, then no process should be able to write to it. Apart from this, the possible permissions depend on the file system. There might be directories and files that are writable for a specific user and others that are not writable.
1
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cn flag
Piggy
@Bodo: Edited the post with additional information, but I don't really understand the second thing. I'm still kinda new in Ubuntu.
0
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cn flag
Piggy
@Nmath: The latter, I edited the post to clarify it. On Ubuntu I formatted it using Disks. On Windows, I just right click on the drive and select Format.
0
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cn flag
Piggy
@Bodo: I also just discovered that I can delete files in the drive, just not transfer files to it. Weird.
0
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nobody avatar
gh flag
nobody
Can you add `cp /path/to/some/file /media/piggy/External/` Or are you trying to add files from a program that is installed as snap?
1
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cn flag
Piggy
@nobody: Tried it and the file copied to the drive with no problem.
0
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Bodo avatar
pt flag
Bodo
Please show the output of `ls -la /media/piggy/External`. Please tell us exactly what operation failed. Which source file did you try to copy to which destination file? Please show the exact error message. Base on the `fuseblk` I assume the partition is formatted as NTFS, right?
1
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cn flag
Piggy
@Bodo: I added what the ls -la thing returns, don't know if it will be any helpful. There is no error message or anything, Paste is just grayed out whenever I try to paste any file anywhere in the drive. cp works in Terminal, and I can still edit or delete the files that are in the drive. The format is, indeed, ntfs.
0
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nobody avatar
gh flag
nobody
I really think, that some programs you use are snaps. check it with `snap list`
0
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cn flag
Piggy
@nobody: I will when I get home from work, but if anything, programs seem to write to the drive just fine from some reason. The problem is I can't right click paste any file into it because Paste is grayed out. I can move files with no problem anywhere in my internal drives, but not in the external USB one.
0
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oldfred avatar
cn flag
oldfred
I have seen this as suggested parameters: `UUID=XXXXXXXXXXX /media/piggy/External ntfs nofail,noatime,windows_names,nosuid,uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,async,big_writes 0 0` Better to also use UUID. To see UUID. `lsblk -f` and external drives should use extra parameters so if not plugged in, you do not have to wait for timeout. For external devices, add the nofail option, so boot continues whent device noy available. The nofail option is best combined with the x-systemd.device-timeout option like `nofail,x-systemd.device-timeout=4` Also systemd-automount or autofs can be used.
1
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cn flag
Piggy
@oldfred Thank you for the answer, but I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea how to do any of that, or what they even mean. ^^" I just want to be able to move files to my USB drive, this honestly shouldn't be so complicated.
0
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cn flag
Piggy
@nobody: Updated it with the results of snap list. The problem persists with any USB drive I connect and not just this drive.
0
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nobody avatar
gh flag
nobody
and which program do you exactly use? I see gnome is as snap installed. even in 2 versions. Can you discribe it? a file manager or something else?
0
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cn flag
Piggy
@nobody: I use the default file manager that Ubuntu installed with.
0
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