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15.10. Troubleshooting

15.10.1. Active VFS Mounts Are Invisible

If your active VFS mounts are invisible, it means that your application is not a native GIO client. Native GIO clients are typically all GNOME applications using GNOME libraries (glib, gio). There is a service, gvfs-fuse, provided as a fallback for non-GIO clients.
To find the cause of an active but invisible VFS mount, check whether the gvfs-fuse process is running. Since gvfs-fuse runs automatically and it is not recommended to start it by yourself, try logging out and logging in as a first option.
Alternatively, you can start the VFS compatibility mount manually in the terminal:
  1. Find the UID (system user ID) for the /run/user/UID/gvfs/ path by running the id command (the gvfsd-fuse daemon requires a path it is supposed to expose its services at).
    Or, when the /run/user/UID/gvfs/ path is unavailable, gvfsd-fuse uses a .gvfs path in your home directory.
  2. Start the gvfsd-fuse daemon by running the /usr/libexec/gvfsd-fuse -f /run/user/UID/gvfs command.
  3. Now, the VFS mount is available and you can manually browse for the path in your application.

15.10.2. Connected USB Disk Is Invisible

Under certain circumstances, when you connect a flash drive, the GNOME Desktop may not display it. If the drive is invisible, it means that:
  • You cannot see the device in the Disks application.
  • You have run the udisksctl dump command, which lists the current state of the udisks daemon and shows information about all objects, but your flash drive is not among them.
  • You have run the dmesg command. Towards the end of the log, there are messages related to USB device detection and a list of detected partitions, but your flash drive is not among them.
If your flash drive is not visible, you can attempt to set the Show in user interface flag in Disks:
  1. Open Disks by pressing the Super key to enter the Activities Overview, typing Disks, and then pressing Enter.
  2. In the Volumes actions menu, click Edit Mount Options....
  3. Click Show in user interface.
  4. Confirm by clicking OK.
If the flash drive is still not visible, you may try to remove the drive and try connecting it again.
For more information about the storage, see the Storage Administration Guide.

15.10.3. Nautilus Shows Unknown or Unwanted Partitions

Check whether the device is listed in the /etc/fstab file as the devices are not shown in the user interface by default. The /etc/fstab file typically lists disk partitions that are intended to be used in the operating system, and indicates how they are mounted. Certain mount options may allow or prevent displaying the volume in the user interface.
One of the solutions to hide a volume is to uncheck Show in user interface in the Mount Options window in the Disks application:
  1. Open Disks by pressing the Super key to enter the Activities Overview, typing Disks, and then pressing Enter.
  2. In the Volumes actions menu, click Edit Mount Options....
  3. Uncheck Show in user interface and confirm by clicking OK.

15.10.4. Connection to Remote File System Is Unavailable

There is a number of situations in which the client is unexpectedly and unwillingly disconnected from a virtual file system (or a remote disk) mount, afterwards is not reconnected automatically, and error messages are returned. Several causes trigger these situations:
  • The connection is interrupted (for example, your laptop is disconnected from the Wi-Fi).
  • The user is inactive for some time and is disconnected by the server (idle timeout).
  • The computer is resumed from sleeping mode.
The solution is to unmount and mount again the file system, which reconnects the resource.

Note

Should the connection be disabled more often, check the settings in the Network panel in the GNOME Settings.

15.10.5. What to Do If the Disk Is Busy?

If you receive a notification about your disk being busy, determine the programs that are accessing the disk. Then, you may regularly end the programs you are running. Or, you can use the System Monitor to kill the programs forcefully.

Where and How to View System Processes?

  • Run the lsof command to get the list of open files alongside with processes. If lsof is not available, run the ps ax command that also provides the list of running processes.
  • Alternatively, you can use the System Monitor application to display the running processes in a GUI.
  • Make sure that you have iotop installed by running the following command: 
    # yum install iotop
    Then run iotop as root to view the system processes.
When you have determined the programs, end or kill them as follows:
  • On the command line, execute the kill command.
  • In the System Monitor, right-click the line with the program process name, and click the End Process or Kill Process drop-down menu item.