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I, my family, my friends and colleagues have all abandoned Elementary OS for a return to Ubuntu for one simple reason: automounting of external media and devices. It isn't just the bother of have to mount each via the file browser, it's how it stuffs up things like Rhythmbox with stupid crashes.

The question we have is will the Elementary developers please consider providing an optional automount of Audio CDs, Video DVDs, mp3 players and the like? We are prepared to live with the security risks.

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  • Creating fstab entry does solve the purpose. If you aren't into tweaking files by yourself then the answer below mentions a good tool as well. Additionally, it would be better to post the feature request in their forum, etc.
    – Paritosh
    Commented Nov 29, 2016 at 19:44

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I'm not a developer, so I can't answer your specific question. However it is easy to get automount. There are several ways to do it the easiest is to install usbmount

sudo apt-get install usbmount

I't will automount hfsplus, vfat, and ext file systems. If you need to automount other file systems you can add them to /etc/usbmount/usbmount.conf. It works well out of the box. Just run the one install command and you are probably good to go, but you can change mount options in the config file if you need to.

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  • Thank you for the suggestion. While it's something I've tried in the past, it's not something which my less technically proficient friends, family and colleagues would be happy doing. Which is a shame because the simplified Elementary is a distro for those who might otherwise be reluctant to try a linux desktop. It's just missing the option to automount discs and assorted peripherals.
    – Smecki
    Commented Nov 30, 2016 at 12:29
  • I forgot to add that I've tried nautilus but there's still no automount. The problem is systemic. It's a deliberate decision to remove the mounting stuff in the background. Apparently the seamless mounting of Pink Floyd's greatest hits CD is a massive security risk.
    – Smecki
    Commented Dec 1, 2016 at 11:32
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There's an open bug for this feature, so it is on the developers' radar. (See also this related bug.) In the meantime, you could install a file manager that offers auto-mounting, such as Nautilus.

If you'd like, you can mark yourself as affected on the bug or post a bounty.

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  • Thanks for the link. Though I've actually seen it before. Along with a few similar requests. The thing to note is that it was originally posted in 2012. Which doesn't suggest the developers are especially keen on listening.
    – Smecki
    Commented Nov 30, 2016 at 12:27

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