Nautilus suggests option for mounting hibernated ntfs partitions that could lead to data loss

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

The messages comes from ntfs-3g:

"static const char *hibernated_volume_msg =
"The NTFS partition is hibernated. Please resume and shutdown Windows\n"
"properly, or mount the volume read-only with the 'ro' mount option, or\n"
"mount the volume read-write with the 'remove_hiberfile' mount option.\n"
"For example type on the command line:\n"
"\n"
" mount -t ntfs-3g -o remove_hiberfile %s %s\n"
"\n";
"

Trying to mount a Windows 8 partition results in this bug no matter if the partition is shut down or hibernated.

The mounting denial is not a bug. It is a feature preventing you from losing data.

Also please see http://jp-andre.pagesperso-orange.fr/advanced-ntfs-3g.html#windows8

Similarly, this bug was not filed because of the mounting denial, but
rather because the denial lists the command for a potential dangerous
action without explaining what it would do and the data loss it could cause.

On Friday, September 21, 2012, Jean-Pierre <email address hidden>
wrote:
> The mounting denial is not a bug. It is a feature preventing you from
> losing data.
>
> Also please see http://jp-andre.pagesperso-orange.fr/advanced-ntfs-
> 3g.html#windows8
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1008117
>
> Title:
> Nautilus suggests option for mounting hibernated ntfs partitions that
> could lead to data loss
>
> Status in NTFS-3G:
> New
> Status in “ntfs-3g” package in Ubuntu:
> Confirmed
>
> Bug description:
> --- What happens: ---
> If a user tries to open an ntfs partition that has been hibernated
while using Nautilus they will be presented with this dialog:
> ------------------------------------------
> Unable to mount XP
>
> Error mounting: mount exited with exit code 14: Windows is hibernated,
refused to mount.
> Failed to mount '/dev/sda3': Operation not permitted
> The NTFS partition is hibernated. Please resume and shutdown Windows
> properly, or mount the volume read-only with the 'ro' mount option, or
> mount the volume read-write with the 'remove_hiberfile' mount option.
> For example type on the command line:
>
> mount -t ntfs-3g -o remove_hiberfile /dev/sda3 /media/XP_
> -------------------------------------------
>
> The last suggestion, "mount the volume read-write with the
> 'remove_hiberfile' mount option," is problematic because doing this
> would delete the 'hiberfile.sys' file and cause the user to lose all
> information on the saved session--potentially including unsaved work.
> Here is a selection from the ntfs-3g manpage explaining this option:
>
> remove_hiberfile
> Unlike in case of read-only mount, the read-write
 mount is
> denied if the NTFS volume is hibernated. One needs
either to
> resume Windows and shutdown it properly, or use this
 option
> which will remove the Windows hibernation file.
Please note,
> this means that the saved Windows session will be
 completely
> lost. Use this option under your own responsibility.
>
> The fact that the exact command to do this is prominently displayed
> (and is the only command displayed) without any warning that this will
> delete the saved Windows session only aggravates the risk of data
> loss.
>
> --- What should happen: ---
>
> 1. If a command is to be prominently displayed it should be the
> command to mount the partition in read-only mode (see command
> below)--this is the only completely safe way to mount a hibernated
> ntfs-partition without risking data loss.
>
> mount -t ntfs-3g -o ro /dev/sda3 /media/XP_
>
> 2. A warning should be included in the Nautilus dialog which explains
> that using the 'remove_hiberfile' option to mount the drive in read-
> wri...

This looks fixed. I am no longer presented with the dangerous option:

Error mounting /dev/sda2 at /media/stub/0123456789ABCDEF: Command-line `mount -t "ntfs" -o "uhelper=udisks2,nodev,nosuid,uid=1000,gid=1000,dmask=0077,fmask=0177" "/dev/sda2" "/media/stub/0123456789ABCDEF"' exited with non-zero exit status 14: Windows is hibernated, refused to mount.
Failed to mount '/dev/sda2': Operation not permitted
The NTFS partition is in an unsafe state. Please resume and shutdown
Windows fully (no hibernation or fast restarting), or mount the volume
read-only with the 'ro' mount option.

Huh, I would have expected the fix to just involve changing the ezxample to use "ro" instead of "remove_hiberfile"; its not so harmful to just *mention* the latter, is it?