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I want to mount a partition to an auxiliary folder via mount to fix a damaged grub.

I used the command.

sudo /dev/sdb2 /home/ubuntu/temp

and got as error:

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

Why?

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1 Answer

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You need to add the -t FILESYSTEMTYPE argument to the command, replacing FILESYSTEMTYPE with your filesystem type. This specifies the filesystem type of the filesystem to be mounted. In your case, this would be /dev/sdb2. Some common, valid filesystem types are:

  • auto - this is a special one. It will try to guess the fs type when you use this.
  • ext4 - this is probably the most common Linux fs type of the last few years
  • ext3 - this is the most common Linux fs type from a couple years back
  • ntfs - this is the most common Windows fs type or larger external hard drives
  • vfat - this is the most common fs type used for smaller external hard drives
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But normally, it will guess the correct filesystem. I don't think I usually need to specify the file system type. There may be some other problem preventing it from recognizing the type in this case. – Marty Fried May 29 '12 at 16:25
Given that the OP seems to be trying to fix a damaged filesystem, it may not be detected correctly. – reverendj1 May 29 '12 at 16:44
I only see a damaged grub configuration, with a UUID that doesn't exist; but what I was gettting at is to suggest that this may not be the problem (not so much for you as for the OP). The problem may well be something like an incorrect partition specifier, but I didn't want to get too detailed because his question was not well done (note he didn't even specify the mount command at all), plus he's already started other topics on the subject, it seems. I didn't want him to be too surprised if it still didn't work. – Marty Fried May 29 '12 at 16:52

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