# Mounting USB drive



## lotech (Jul 17, 2019)

Hi there,

I came from Linux and quite new to FreeBSD, currently I am testing some different 'distro', since I am quite fresh to it so I still need GUI support. I found 2 distro from the very few available that are user friendly with a workable GUI, namely GhostBSD and Trident Project. I constantly switch between the two due to the usability of them. GhostBSD has a better and easy to use GUI, but has some flaw in the package manager it keeps halting loading the list while Trident is stable, but the installer on and off works, sometimes the mouse not working sometimes black screen, old problem keeps coming back with new version of the distro this is very annoying. For the moment I am running Trident and it worked fine, but I need USB support, Trident is using the Limunia Desktop, I can't find a way to mount my USB flash drive in the GUI, I know I can install other desktop and I tried, that worked but that ruined the icons, some icons became huge size on the desktop I don't know why. I also installed Dolphin file manager but still there is no way to mount USB flash drive, could someone shed some light ?


----------



## SirDice (Jul 17, 2019)

lotech said:


> I found 2 distro from the very few available that are user friendly with a workable GUI, namely GhostBSD and Trident Project.


Neither are supported here.

PC-BSD, FreeNAS, XigmaNAS, and all other FreeBSD Derivatives


----------



## ralphbsz (Jul 17, 2019)

As SirDice already stated, we talk about basic FreeBSD on this forum. While both of your "distro" (that word is not actually commonly used in the FreeBSD world, they are modified versions of FreeBSD) are based on FreeBSD, they have so many modifications that it is silly or difficult for FreeBSD users to try to help.

Secondly, I do not (and have never) run a GUI on FreeBSD (matter-of-fact, not on any *BSD operating system). So for problems like "mouse not working" or "black screen" or "ruined the icons" or "icons became huge size", I can't help. But I have a suggestion. Go back to basics. Ignore all the GUI for now, open a shell window, and try to mount the USB drive. You can use the `mount` command, and should probably read the mount() man page first. Then use CLI command (like ls and more) to work with the files on the USB drive. At first, try doing this as root (using `su` or `sudo` for example), and then configure it so you can do it as your regular user. Learn how to debug if it doesn't work, like working with error messages and various system logs. If reading the USB drive doesn't work from the command line, then the GUI has no chance.

Underlying this is the following observation. While about 99% of all desktop computer usage is Windows and Macintosh, the various Linux distributions have a significant community of GUI users. FreeBSD on the other hand is mostly a server operating system, and relatively few people use it as a GUI. Matter-of-fact, a significant fraction of the core FreeBSD (and in general *BSD) developers use Macintoshes as their desktop machines. This even has logical reasons: the Mac has a highly usable GUI surface, but underneath is a Unix OS that is derived from and closely related to FreeBSD. Matter-of-fact, from the CLI the Mac is nearly undistinguishable from a FreeBSD CLI.

A related observation is the following: Linux distributions are created by a variety of companies, the biggest being RedHat (now a division of IBM). They take the components that constitute a Linux system (such as the basic kernel, utilities, the init system, configuration mechanisms, display drivers, and the GUI and user environment), integrate tune and adapt them, and package them together. Most distribution providers are commercial for-profit companies, which survive (rather well in some cases, see the market value of RedHat) by creating an integrated OS experience, both for server users, as well as for GUI users, and then selling support for that package. FreeBSD is very different. To begin with, FreeBSD itself is not a for-profit company (same applies to OpenBSD and NetBSD). Second, the product of FreeBSD is the base OS, which provides only a CLI, not a GUI. If you are running a GUI, you are running a set of volunteer-maintained packages that you selected to install, on top of the FreeBSD product. And so GhostBSD and other "distributions" are nothing but pre-selected sets of packages.

If you want to use FreeBSD as a GUI platform, you have to understand that all the user interface stuff on it will be installed and configured by you, not by a provider or vendor. Given that understanding, it is your responsibility to tune and tweak your installation until mounting USB drives works to your taste.


----------



## Sevendogsbsd (Jul 17, 2019)

Ralphbsz: that is probably the best answer to a former Linux user I have seen. Well worded!


----------



## Deleted member 30996 (Jul 17, 2019)

lotech said:


> I came from Linux and quite new to FreeBSD, currently I am testing some different 'distro', since I am quite fresh to it so I still need GUI support.



You can set up your own FreeBSD desktop using x11-wm/fluxbox as a Window Manager:









						Beginners Guide - How To Set Up A FreeBSD Desktop From Scratch
					

I'm going to guide you though the process of getting a fully functional FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE desktop up and running, complete with system files and security settings, step-by-step as if you've never used UNIX or the command line. Now let's get started:  Insert your boot media and at the Welcome...




					forums.freebsd.org
				




I have screenshots from different forum members who use FreeBSD with different DE and WM on my site in addition to the tutorial and wallpapers.



lotech said:


> I also installed Dolphin file manager but still there is no way to mount USB flash drive, could someone shed some light ?



I mount and unmount my USB drives from the Fluxbox desktop through the terminal as root by using these commands:


```
# mount -v -t msdosfs /dev/da0s1 /media/da0s1

# umount -v -t msdosfs /dev/da0s1 /media/da0s1
```

Then call the File Manager as root from the same terminal and work with my drive, quit the FM, unmount the drive and exit my root account when finished.


----------

