Member Avatar for tarunkumar1

When I inserting an usb device,I was getting an error notice like "Unable to mount <device name> Unauthorized".

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The message "Unable to mount <device> Unauthorized" most often signals a desktop permission/policy issue (udisks + polkit) or a filesystem/drive problem — not a Windows virus. 's idea of scanning for malware is unlikely to help here; correctly pointed toward permissions. Useful next steps are to confirm the kernel sees the device, try mounting as root, and check whether a polkit authentication agent is running in your session.

Try these diagnostics (replace /dev/sdX1 with the actual partition reported by lsblk):

dmesg | tail -n 50
lsblk -f
udisksctl monitor
udisksctl mount -b /dev/sdX1
sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt
ps aux | grep -i polkit
groups
sudo journalctl -b | grep -i "udisks\|polkit\|mount"

How to read the results and common fixes:

  • If sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt works but udisksctl mount or the GUI fails, the kernel and filesystem are fine and the problem is a missing/blocked polkit authentication agent. Install/run the agent appropriate for your desktop (for example, policykit-1-gnome for many GTK desktops, polkit-kde-agent-1 for KDE) or ensure your session starts the agent. On Debian/Ubuntu systems adding the user to plugdev can also affect legacy setups: sudo adduser $USER plugdev (log out/in after).
  • If sudo mount fails or dmesg shows I/O errors, treat it as a hardware/filesystem issue: try a different cable/port, run fsck for ext filesystems or ntfsfix for NTFS (careful: back up first), and consider ddrescue for failing drives.
  • If blkid or lsblk -f shows crypto_LUKS, the partition is encrypted and must be opened with cryptsetup before mounting.

Also check /etc/fstab for conflicting entries, and remember NTFS devices marked as hibernated by Windows will refuse to mount until Windows is shut down cleanly. These steps should narrow whether this is a desktop-policy problem (fixable by installing/starting a polkit agent) or a drive-level fault that needs filesystem repair or replacement.

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Member Avatar for johhny-marshal

This could be due to USB malfunctioning. Install antimalware on your computer ans scan. PANDA 2013 would be the best option. It has antimalware against every malware.

Member Avatar for cereal

A virus inside a usb stick doesn't have any effect into a linux machine, because the autostart.inf file is not considered and the eventual malware won't start without user action.

The problem is more related to permissions or settings: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Mount/USB

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