Wrong fs type bad option bad superblock Just installed Lubuntu 24.04

Question

I have just clean installed Lubuntu 24.04 LTS from Lubuntu downloads to my HP 255 G1 laptop. Now I cannot access my external hard drive.

Error mounting /dev/sdb1 at/media/name/Transcend:  
wrong fs type,bad option,bad superblock on /dev/sdb1,missing codepage  
or helper program,or other error.

I can access the NTFS formatted external drive from another laptop.

The answer which worked for me has been deleted for some reason. The answer is:

I did this using Windows 10.

Run Disk Error Checking

Plug in your external hard disk.

Open File Explorer by pressing the Windows keys button + E.

Go to This PC.

Right-click your external hard disk under Devices and drives.

Select Properties

Go to Tools tab.

Under Error checking, click Check.

If prompted, click Yes or enter the administrator password.

Click Scan drive > Repair drive.

Wait for the process to finish.

The scanning process may take a while depending on the size of your external hard disk

and the specifications of your PC.

Was the disk in question last used on a Windows system with the "Fast boot" setting enabled?
The Windows "Fast Boot" (Windows defaults to "ON") setting leaves the disk partition in an undocumented, proprietary state that Linux isn't permitted to recognize. Boot back into Windows and disable "Fast Boot". Be prepared to have to re-disable "Fast Boot" - Windows updates have been known to turn it back on. See https://www.windowscentral.com/how-disable-windows-10-fast-startup — waltinator, May 03 '24 at 16:00
No, I backed up all my data to the drive before installing Lubuntu 24.04LTS with the intention of reinstalling my data afterwards, unfortunately I can't do that because of the error as I have described. Should I try sudo ntfsfix -b /dev/sdb1 or could this damage my data? — Marty, May 03 '24 at 16:23
As NTFS is a windows file-system, I'd perform checks and apply fixes on windows. Does the drive work correctly on other windows machines? as windows fastboot/hibernate etc. unclean drives can be used normally on the windows system that left the file-system unclean, but you'll have problems on other machines (regardless of OS where file-system is unclean). Providing command you used & full output of what you see maybe helpful (or if you use GUI tools, what you did maybe inc. tool used). Message implies unclean fs OR incorrect mount command to me. — guiverc, May 04 '24 at 01:54
Yes the drive works on a windows 11 laptop. I connected the drive to a usb port & the error message comes up. In (disks) the drive is shown but I get the same error when I select mount. — Marty, May 04 '24 at 08:46
When I use Windows to access the drive, it says there is a problem with the drive. When I select fix/repair the drive windows says it is unable to but still lets me access all of the data on the drive. — Marty, May 05 '24 at 10:02
This is still very annoying as I use Lubuntu, any further help would be much appreciated. — Marty, May 06 '24 at 08:58

ENIAC · Answer 1 · 2025-09-19T17:22:07.810

98

Occasionally, I'm facing the same issue with Ubuntu 24.04. The following steps helped me:

Run Disks app.
Select the problematic disk.
Click the cog wheel.
Edit Mount Options….
Turn off User Session Defaults.
Change other parameters as required (I've noticed that this issue resets the list of options).

edited Sep 19 '25 at 17:22

answered Jun 12 '24 at 16:55

ENIAC

1,139

20

this worked for me. I did not change any parameters just turned off user session defaults. – Dariyoush Jun 23 '24 at 09:34
@Dariyoush, I just added the possibility to move the files to the Trash, because, as I noticed, this issue resets a list of options. – ENIAC Jun 23 '24 at 09:46
1

Worked like a charm – crazyim5 Sep 09 '24 at 06:50
Just updated to 24.04 and was having this issue. This solution solved it. – Ventolinmono Sep 15 '24 at 20:48
1

Just moved permanently to Linux Mint Cinnamon from a dual-boot with Windows 11. Faced the same issue when I first plugged in my external HDD, above solution worked like a charm. – Karthik Thrikkadeeri Oct 05 '24 at 11:35
1

It worked. Thanks! – Rosamunda Dec 13 '24 at 23:02
2

Worked! 24.04 is really really bad.. – trilisser Jun 02 '25 at 08:45
@trilisser, I completely agree with you. – ENIAC Jun 02 '25 at 18:36
1

It worked. in 24.04. Thanks – Joo Nice Jun 10 '25 at 05:24
"Edit mount options" is greyed out - you have to select a partition first. Ok after selecting a partition and turning off "User Session Defaults" now the mount error is "Error mounting system-managed device /dev/sda2: Unknown error when mounting /mnt/Blahblahblahdiskname-partX" – Peter Kionga-Kamau Sep 19 '25 at 16:27

score 50 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 22 '24 at 15:45

50

If you're encountering an issue while trying to mount a disk and getting the error "mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock" on Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, here’s a possible solution:

sudo fdisk -l
sudo apt install nfs-common
sudo apt install cifs-utils
sudo ntfsfix -d /dev/sdb1

answered Sep 22 '24 at 15:45

eaitfakir

599

8

worked. but for ntfsfix you have to sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g – Talha Anwar Oct 13 '24 at 15:10
3

Worked. As above commenter said. Also, ntfs-3g was already installed, so I just needed to install cifs-utils. – Nighto Nov 08 '24 at 10:58
Worked for me. Thank you – Hannes Dec 01 '24 at 09:10
Why are you asking users to install nfs-common or cifs-common? It seems to me that those two packages have nothing to do with ntfsfix. – TSJNachos117 Dec 19 '24 at 17:06
2

Thank god this worked. I unplugged my HD from one computer and plugged it into another and couldn't access any of my files. Then I plugged it back into the original computer and that couldn't access the files anymore either. – Charles Clayton Feb 01 '25 at 00:52
worked for me.. – Mohammad Mehdi Sarfejoo Feb 20 '25 at 09:23
THANK You, Windows 11 had corrupted the superblock of my external hdd. This fixed and all the data is intact – nabeel May 25 '25 at 11:22
This worked for me after my machine was unintentionally restarted using the physical reset button – Jonno_FTW Aug 18 '25 at 07:44
NOTE: you need to use sudo fdisk -l to identify the drive that you want to modify - it's probably not /dev/sdb1 - replace that with the path you find with fdisk. After doing that, this solution works. I did wonder why install nfs-common and cifs-utils though, they seem irrelevant. – Peter Kionga-Kamau Sep 19 '25 at 16:34

score 7 · Answer 3 · edited May 07 '25 at 15:56

7

Problem mounting NTFS external drives is a known bug in 24.04.

Solution : blacklist the ntfs3 driver from running.

From command line :

echo 'blacklist ntfs3' | sudo tee /etc/modprobe.d/disable-ntfs3.conf

Then reboot.

SOURCE : https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ntfs-3g/+bug/2062972

edited May 07 '25 at 15:56

R3uK

107

answered Nov 06 '24 at 13:21

PJW

81

this was what i needed – Dani Nov 09 '24 at 14:47
This simple method and work – pije76 Jan 31 '25 at 10:29
After reboot, I faced another error error mounting /dev/sdb1 at /media/: Unknown error when mounting /dev/sdb1; I must run sudo ntfsfix /dev/sdb1 to fix the error utterly. – minh quý lê Aug 27 '25 at 02:36

score 2 · Answer 4 · edited May 12 '24 at 02:38

2

To fix the disk run on Windows chkdsk /f D:. Change the drive letter with the letter the disk is named on Windows.
This should fix the issue.

Not required: I also noticed that "mount" can mount the disk anyway: Try to do lsblk to get the disk path. Make a temp directory before and change /dev/sda2 with the path to the disk. And then:

sudo mount /dev/sda2 ~/temp

edited May 12 '24 at 02:38

rzickler

185

answered May 09 '24 at 18:37

Davide

21

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please [edit] to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community May 10 '24 at 06:20
I have error mounting /dev/sdb1 So why would I try sudo mount /dev/sda2 ~/temp? Where should I create the temp directory and what is it for? On Windows what should I change the disk letter to? – Marty May 10 '24 at 09:48
to fix the issue in any case go on windows check the letter associated to the disk you want to check (e.g. for my case the disk was in D:) and run the command chkdsk /f D: (replace D with the letter of where is the disk on windows). I just noticed that sometimes "mount" works anyway from command line, but this is less important. just fix the disk from windows and everything should work – Davide May 11 '24 at 21:46

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Sep 29 '24 at 23:12

2

For me what worked was the following:

Open the Disks application.
Select the disk with the problem in the left panel.
Select the partition with the problem.
Click the configuration gear icon at the bottom left.
Click Edit mounting options.
Disable the User Session Defaults toggle option.

edited Sep 29 '24 at 23:12

karel

122,695
134
305
337

answered Sep 29 '24 at 18:49

JRU

21

ANIKET MISHRA · Answer 6 · 2024-11-22T18:25:13.143

1

For me, the error message indicated that the directory /media/usrname/PART II does not exist, so the mount command is failing because there’s no target directory for it.

I fixed it like so:

sudo mkdir -p "/media/usrname/PART II"
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sda5 "/media/usrname/PART II"

edited Nov 22 '24 at 18:25

answered Nov 22 '24 at 18:24

ANIKET MISHRA

11
2

This solution helped to mount NTFS on Ubuntu 24. – Vishal Kumar Sahu Sep 01 '25 at 21:26

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Aug 10 '24 at 08:25

0

Much simpler. Just start "disks" app and press the little black arrow ("mount disk"). That's all.

answered Aug 10 '24 at 08:25

nikosal

181

Your answer could be improved with additional supporting information. Please [edit] to add further details, such as citations or documentation, so that others can confirm that your answer is correct. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. – Community Aug 10 '24 at 08:29
The gnome-disk-utility app is a GNOME package, and isn't found on a LXQt or Lubuntu system. As LXQt is a Qt5 desktop, the closest would be KDE Partition Manager but it isn't found with the term 'disks' – guiverc Aug 10 '24 at 09:09

score 0 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 01 '24 at 07:32

Run this bash script after changing "/dev/sdb2" to your disk device

#!/bin/bash

Script to troubleshoot and repair issues with mounting /dev/sdb2
PARTITION="/dev/sdb2"
MOUNT_POINT="/mnt"
echo "Starting troubleshooting for $PARTITION"
Step 1: Perform a file system check
echo "Running fsck on $PARTITION..."
sudo fsck $PARTITION
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "fsck encountered errors on $PARTITION."
else
echo "fsck completed without errors."
fi
Step 2: Attempt to repair NTFS file system
echo "Running ntfsfix on $PARTITION..."
sudo ntfsfix $PARTITION
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "ntfsfix encountered errors on $PARTITION."
else
echo "ntfsfix completed without errors."
fi
Step 3: Attempt to mount the partition
echo "Attempting to mount $PARTITION to $MOUNT_POINT..."
sudo mount $PARTITION $MOUNT_POINT
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Failed to mount $PARTITION to $MOUNT_POINT."
else
echo "$PARTITION successfully mounted to $MOUNT_POINT."
fi
Step 4: Check for bad blocks
echo "Checking for bad blocks on $PARTITION..."
sudo badblocks -v $PARTITION > badblocks_output.txt
if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then
echo "Bad blocks check encountered errors. Please review the badblocks_output.txt file."
else
echo "Bad blocks check completed. Results saved in badblocks_output.txt."
fi
echo "Troubleshooting completed for $PARTITION."

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Sep 23 '24 at 18:46

In Kubuntu plasma I solved this by going KDE Partition Manager (which you can search it from the main menu)

In the left sidebar I clicked the hard drive (disk) that I wasn't able to mount and it showed me the details in the right window, from that I did a right click on the specific drive and selected "edit mount point"

I found out that there was no mount point specified "none", at first I typed a path manually as /mnt/toshibadrive and applied the changes but it didn't work, then after some other tries which didn't work, I came back to "edit mount point" and I clicked the button "select" then I was able to select that same folder I specified before! once I saved it worked.

I am just writing this answer here in case it helps anyone who is under kde plasma.

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Sep 27 '24 at 13:34

0

Run Disks (app) from utilities. [It is pre-installed]
Select your disk (& partition if needed).
Below the graph-like figure, open Settings by clicking on settings (gear) icon.
Click on Repair FileSystem. [Took me 1 second for 1.5 TB drive.]
Click on play button besides settings button to mount.

Hope this helps.

answered Sep 27 '24 at 13:34

Chainsaw Man

1

1

There is no Disks app pre-installed; KDE Partition Manager is pre-installed as Lubuntu uses a LXQt desktop (ie. Qt5 based). The app you mention is found on GNOME systems such as Ubuntu Desktop, not Lubuntu. – guiverc Sep 27 '24 at 21:57

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Nov 24 '24 at 17:34

I had the same problem with an external hard drive. I could solve it pretty quickly by:

Open the Disks application (Ubuntu default).
Select the desired disk.
Click the cogwheel button and use the option "Check Filesystem".
Click on it again and now use "Repair Filesystem".
Done.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Nov 30 '24 at 08:16

Everything was solved for me quite simply, I think the problem is caused by the fact that I use two operating systems. Apparently, at some point I did not correctly remove the USB flash drive from the windows operating system, that's where everything broke. After that, linux did not open the flash drive and displayed an error from the problem header. Solution: insert the USB flash drive into windows, a window will appear stating that you need to restore the USB flash drive and restore it, do this and extract it after completion. Then it should work fine on linux.

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 19 '24 at 13:13

I faced the same issue a few days back, while my external disk was working fine but suddenly it stopped working so did same as follows

Open the Disks application (Ubuntu default)
Select the desired disk.
Click the cogwheel button and use the option "Check Filesystem".
Click on it again and now use "Repair Filesystem". it shouldn't take long, mine was done within 1-2 sec.

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jun 03 '25 at 06:27

I recently upgraded to Ubuntu 25.04 and was copying file from nvme0n1(exFAT) to sdb1 (SanDisk CruzerBlade Pendrive)(NTFS) when suddenly my PC ran out of battery, the operation was terminated obviously but when I restarted the PC and tried mounting my Pendrive again, I ran into this issue.

Yeah, I tried sudo mount and what not, but only this terminal workaround was helpful.

sudo fdisk -l
sudo apt install nfs-common
sudo apt install cifs-utils
sudo ntfsfix -d /dev/sdb1

I'd recommend trying this if you encounter a similar issue.

PS: In my case, the Pendrive just had the System Volume Information Folder (created by Windows), so I had the guts to bear a data wipe, although the contents are preserved and data wasn't lost in the above workaround, but be cautious during the operation.

Wrong fs type bad option bad superblock Just installed Lubuntu 24.04

14 Answers14

Script to troubleshoot and repair issues with mounting /dev/sdb2

Step 1: Perform a file system check

Step 2: Attempt to repair NTFS file system

Step 3: Attempt to mount the partition

Step 4: Check for bad blocks