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The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 21 Sep 2022, 17:43
by roro
Hi users,
I use Porteus from the USB device and everything works very well.
There is a lot of free space on the hard drive /mnt/sda4 : 480 GiB left (676 GiB total)
But I can't use the storage space.
I cannot create folders and files.
guest@porteus:/mnt/sda4$ mkdir folder
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘folder’: Read-only file system
Read only ?
I don't understand that, because under Windows I can use this Hard disk space normally.
What can I do?
Many Thanks
Note: Windows 8.1 is installed
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 21 Sep 2022, 18:00
by Rava
The most obvious thing is that the partition is marked by Windows as "dirty" and therefore Porteus only opens it in read-only mode.
There is a certain way to tell Windows to do a chkdsk of that partition at the next boot. Since I not use Windows for some years now, I cannot recall how you get your Windows to do that certain check. It is not the regular one you do while you run W. That check can only be done during bootup when W. itself is not using that partition. It only works when W schedules that chkdsk for the next boot. I found about it on some generic Windows sites or on forums specialized in Windows, but I am sure one of our fellow Porteosians who still uses W. will know what I am talking about and is able to tell you how you get your W. to do that certain chkdsk at bootup.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 21 Sep 2022, 18:40
by babam
Turn off Fast Startup in Windows
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 21 Sep 2022, 20:44
by Ed_P
roro wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 17:43
mkdir: cannot create directory ‘folder’: Read-only file system
I've experienced that also.
Reboot to Windows, open a Command Prompt with Admin Rights. That requires you Right click the Command Prompt icon and select Run as Admin. Then enter
where X is the drive letter Windows has assigned to the sda4 drive. If the drive is active in Windows you will get a prompt to unmount it or to run the chkdsk command the next time you reboot.
I've never had that happen before and it only happened that 1 time if I recall.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 21 Sep 2022, 20:47
by Rava
Ed_P wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 20:44
Reboot to Windows, open a Command Prompt with Admin Rights. That requires you Right click the Command Prompt icon and select Run as Admin. Then enter
where X is the drive letter Windows has assigned to the sda4 drive. If the drive is active in Windows you will get a prompt to unmount it or to run the chkdsk command the next time you reboot.
As far as I recall, Ed_P hits it spot on, that is what will solve your issue.
Please report back here if that did indeed help.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 08:58
by burdi01
babam wrote: ↑21 Sep 2022, 18:40
Turn off Fast Startup in Windows
and/OR do a cold start (not a reboot!) when leaving Windows for e.g. a Linux distribution -- Porteus, Slackware, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch and all the others.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 13:09
by roro
It did as Ed_P suggested
but it didn't work.
As before: read only
And now??
When I upgrade from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, could this problem then be solved automatically?
Thanks
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 13:33
by Rava
roro wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 13:09
It did as Ed_P suggested
but it didn't work.
Did you schedule a chkdsk at boottime, that means: it will happen in a graphics environment similar to the one you get when you install Windows, Windows itself is not loaded and Windows is able to chkdsk partitions that is otherwise not able to check.
Look what chkdsk in Windows gives you as info, there might be a parameter where you force Windows to do the check at next boot even when it tells you it could check the partition when it's running.
The most safe way to get rid of the issue is by
doing a chkdsk at bootup. You have to schedule that chkdsk and you have to reboot Windows.
What did the chkdsk during boot report to you? Did it report any issues with the partition?
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 14:44
by Ed_P
roro shut the pc down for a minute, then turn it back on and boot.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 19:49
by nanZor
Heh, this is one reason why I just use Porteus as intended - from the USB drive itself. Save a lot of hair-pulling, even though there may be loads of empty space on the drive in Windows.
Sometimes this happens if your Windows machine shuts down after a power-save, or recovers from a hibernation state and is not truly shut down manually. Many weird ways.
One solution would be that if you need to transfer files, and the problem still exists, boot Windows, and pull your needed file(s) *from* the Porteus usb drive, rather than booting Porteus. This is assuming your thumbdrive is fat32, and not custom-partitioned with something Windows won't recognize, like an ext format...
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 22 Sep 2022, 20:44
by Ed_P
nanZor wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 19:49
or recovers from a hibernation state and is not truly shut down manually.
I think this is how it happened to me.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 23 Sep 2022, 02:59
by Rava
nanZor wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 19:49
and not custom-partitioned with something Windows won't recognize, like an ext format...
There are programs that enable Windoofs to actually open and read/write to Linux partitions, I even used these back in my own W. days, but then stopped using these programs/drivers for ext[234] for W. - since I deemed it more safe when W. is kept stupid in accessing anything Linux-partition-related and just ignores all partitions it not knows by itself.
For the security of the data on my Linux partitions, because of such reasons like
nanZor wrote: ↑22 Sep 2022, 19:49
Windows machine shuts down after a power-save, or recovers from a hibernation state and is not truly shut down manually. Many weird ways.
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 23 Sep 2022, 09:08
by roro
Windows 8.1 was extremely slow on my notebook. The boot time was also catastrophic.
So now I've upgraded to Windows 10.
But Windows 10 is also very slow, programs start slowly.
After using Windows twice now, the problem is solved now.
I can now use sda4, read and write.
Many thanks for the help
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 23 Sep 2022, 09:46
by babam
Are you using HDD?
The Windows hard disk (sda4) cannot be used
Posted: 24 Sep 2022, 04:03
by Rava
roro wrote: ↑23 Sep 2022, 09:08
Windows 8.1 was extremely slow on my notebook. The boot time was also catastrophic.
So now I've upgraded to Windows 10.
But Windows 10 is also very slow, programs start slowly.
I presume Porteus is pleasantly quick compared to W8.1 or W10?
What DE ("Desktop Environment", aka KDE, Mate, Openbox, XFCE or such) did you choose for Porteus?