KDE won't see the shortcuts/widgets from other partitions/hard disks

Question

I was using Ubuntu default until yesterday when I installed KDE to try it out and I kind of like it,it's very customizable,but there's one problem...

I added 3 other desktops in order to set up 4 of them total,each with a different wallpaper and for different environments (fun,work/study,etc etc).On the second desktop I've set up a "Folder View" panel to a folder on another partition of the same hard disk on which Ubuntu is installed.

The thing is that when I restart the computer,the panel says that the folders don't exist at the location where it should be,but it actually exists there.If I go to the settings there and I select "Specify Folder" and re-select the folder,it re-appears,without me modifying the path or anything (it actually is already selected when I enter the settings,but I need to re-click on it to re-appear).

The same thing happens with my hard disk shortcuts on the first desktop page,if I click on them,I get an error saying that they don't exist,but they do.

If i select the file manager and click on the hard disk from there,it recognizes them without problem...and after I do that,the hard disk shortcuts are also recognized.

Is there a way for me to solve this and not having to re-enter all hard disks and enter the setup of the "folder view" on the second desktop all the time?

Answer 1

It sounds like the partition your files are on is not automatically mounted when your computer boots. When you go to the settings and select "Specify Folder" and navigate to the folder, or when you open up the file manager and click on the drive, the computer mounts the partition, which gives you access to all of the files on it.

To fix it so you don't have to do this anymore, you should add the drive to your fstab file. Here's a way to do it so you don't have to re-adjust your shortcuts and folder views:

Find the UUID of the Partition

1. Open up the file manager and click on the drive. This will mount the partition. We will use this to find some information about the drive.

2. Open a terminal and type the command mount. This command will show you everything that is mounted on your computer. Your partition will probably be the one on the bottom. That line will look something like

   /dev/sda3 on /media/98cab7eb-ceb8-47f9-8a39-cccecbe4e134 type ext4 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=udisk),

   except you will have different jibberish instead of the bold jibberish for my example, and it probably won't start with sda3. That jibberish is the UUID of your drive. We need to copy the UUID, so select it, right-click, and choose "Copy"

3. Go back to the file manager, and on the drive in the list of drives on the left, right-click and choose Unmount.

   

Now back to the terminal!!

5. First, create the directory to be the mount point:

   sudo mkdir /media/98cab7eb-ceb8-47f9-8a39-cccecbe4e134

6. Backup /etc/fstab:

   sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.bak
   

7. Next, open your /etc/fstab file: Open /etc/fstab with an editor, such as nano.

   sudo nano /etc/fstab
   

8. Add the following line to the end of your /etc/fstab file

   UUID=98cab7eb-ceb8-47f9-8a39-cccecbe4e134 /media/98cab7eb-ceb8-47f9-8a39-cccecbe4e134 ext4 defaults 0 0

   the spaces between entries should be tabs, and make sure the part that says ext4 matches what you got from the mount command earlier.

9. Reload fstab:

   sudo mount -a
   

   If you get any errors at this point, go back and double-check the line in your /etc/fstab file.

10. Now your shortcuts and folder views should work.

---

Note:

This is not exactly the "correct" to do this, but it will work without negative consequences. The /media directory is normally used by your system for mounting devices dynamically. The correct way to accomplish what you seek is to create the mount point directory as /mnt/98cab7eb-ceb8-47f9-8a39-cccecbe4e134 and adjust the fstab file. But then you'd have to change all your shortcuts and folder views.