How to Fix the "Please Enter Your Password to Use This Device" Kubuntu Error
Login Password Requests
Kubuntu’s desktop tries to automatically mount connected storage devices. Unfortunately, this doesn’t work properly at login. When Kubuntu tries to automatically mount storage devices at login, the attempt fails because the desktop doesn’t have permission. You’re asked for your password to mount the devices every time you log in. If you have multiple devices in your computer, several windows will appear each time you log in.
This problem can be worked around by disabling the feature which automatically mounts storage devices at login. Kubuntu will mount the devices when you try to access them instead of during the login process. This bug doesn’t apply when you’re already logged in, so Kubuntu can mount the devices on an as-needed basis without asking for your password.
Fixing the Problem
Open Kubuntu’s System Settings window by clicking the “K” button on the panel at the bottom-left corner of the screen, clicking the “Computer” tab in the menu and clicking the “System Settings” link.
Scroll down in the System Settings window and click “Removable Devices” under the “Hardware” header.
Uncheck the “Mount All Removable Media at Login” checkbox by clicking it. Leave the “Enable Automatic Mounting of Removable Media,” “Only Automatically Mount Removable Media that as been Mounted Before” and “Automatically Mount Removable Media when Attached” checkboxes checked.
Verify no devices in the “Device Overrides” list have their “Automount on Login” checkbox checked. Uncheck the checkboxes by clicking them if they do.
Save the system setting changes by clicking “Apply,” then close the window by clicking the “x” in the top-right corner. The next time you log in, Kubuntu won’t ask for your password to use the devices.
Using Devices in Kubuntu
After connecting a storage device to your Kubuntu computer, it appears in the list of connected storage devices. You can access this list by clicking the “Device Notifier” icon on the panel at the bottom-right corner of your screen.
Mount a connected device by clicking the connect icon to the right of its name. Browse a mounted device by clicking its name in the list and clicking “Open with File Manager.” Trying to open or access an unmounted device automatically mounts it.
Automatically Mounting Devices at Boot
If you want the storage devices automatically mounted when you log in, you can always mount them the traditional way by editing your fstab file. This file defines the list of partitions that Linux mounts when it boots up and their settings. Adding storage devices to this list mounts them before the Kubuntu graphical desktop even appears. This step isn’t necessary if you don’t need the devices mounted as soon as you log in, because you’ll be able to mount the devices from inside Kubuntu. If you’re interested in adding storage devices to your fstab file, see our guide here.
Screenshots: Kubuntu 10.10 Desktop / Chris Hoffman
