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I am new to Linux and don't know anything about mounting. This question is related to df -h doesn't show /dev/sda. What comments teach me is the partition is not mounted. So, how to do that, since I have no idea of it. I am scared of damaging something accidentally.

Output of lsblk is :

NAME    MAJ:MIN  RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
 sda        8:0    0   100G  0 disk
 vda      253:0    0    60G  0 disk 
  vda1    253:1    0    60G  0 part /
  vda15   253:15   0     1M  0 part

The o/P of sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda is:

Disk /dev/sda: 107.4 GB, 107374182400 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 13054 cylinders, total 209715200 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x727b8bb7

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System

I don't understand why the 100G of sda isn't available. If I have to mount it then HOW?

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    What does sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda or sudo parted -l /dev/sda report?
    – muru
    Oct 25, 2016 at 6:38
  • I have modified the ques with o/p of sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda Oct 25, 2016 at 8:49

2 Answers 2

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/dev/sda is a disk, not a partition. A partition identifier contains a number, e.g. /dev/sda1. It looks like you have no partitions on your sda drive. You have to create at least one partition on the empty disk, format it and then mount.

There is a well-written guide at https://help.ubuntu.com/community/InstallingANewHardDrive mentioning all the options, just follow it carefully.

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The name /dev/sda represents the first HDD in your system. If you had to hard disk drives in your system, the next one would be called /dev/sdb and so on. However, when ever you use your computer to access files, to install operating systems, to manipulate and/or store files on your hard disk, you are actually manipulating "Partitions" instead of the entirety of the disk. Partitions are portions of the hard disk i.e. /dev/sda which have a starting point and ending point and each partition has it's own filesystem which in layman's terms is a table which contains the name of the file and the starting and ending addresses of the bits that comprise the file.

Now partitions have a similar nomenclature as disks but, they have a number at the end of each name. for example, the first partition of the first hard disk of your system might be called /dev/sda1. Now if you are coming to linux from windows you probably know this process as "formatting a disk". But in linux, to make your disk ready for use, you have first to create a partition table on your disk. to learn how to create a GPT partition table on your disk using gparted, read the guide on this link . After creating the GPT partition table(scheme) - or an MSDOS one if you prefer - you need to create a partition on the disk. Just follow the guide I have linked above for the creating a partition table and follow the steps I have listed below to create a partition, a filesystem and mount the filesystem. Notice what I just said, ONE MOUNTS A FIELSYSTEM - NOT A PARTITION.

1. Creating a Partition

To create a partition, click on the Partition menu of the Gparted window and Choose "New"

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after doing so just click on add on the next windows that pops up.

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then go to the "edit" menu of the gparted window and click on "Apply All Operations" then follow that with a click on "Apply" on the confirmation windows that pops up next. You now have a partition table, a partition and a filesystem. To mount the filesystem, you can just click on the new "100 GB Volume" addition to the left hand side of your file manager's window.

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