Accessing a floppy disk
Hi all, Just recently tried to export some documentation onto a floppy disk so that I could use it on another PC. However I was unable to write it to the floppy. I can remember that from my Mandrake days the floppy was /mnt/floppy but when I when into a Konqueror window and navigated to the directory it didn't exist. I explored a little and only saw a fd under /dev but under / I saw a /media/floppy owned by root. Seeing the ownershipmade me try and copy the files using a root login but alas it did not help. The ?relevant? entries in my fstab file is below for help + explanation: devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0 /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0 Should I change the mount point from media/floppy to /mnt/floppy or add another entry into the file? The files I needed to copy onto a floppy are now sitting under /media/floppy as well in their original location where they were copied from and there is nothing on te floppy disk, and it is not write protected :) Suggestions to enable writing to floppy disk. -- The Little Helper ======================================================================== Hylton Conacher - Licenced ex-Windows user (apart from Quicken) Registered Linux user # 229959 at http://counter.li.org Using SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 ========================================================================
On Friday 23 January 2004 12:08, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Hi all,
Just recently tried to export some documentation onto a floppy disk so that I could use it on another PC. However I was unable to write it to the floppy.
I can remember that from my Mandrake days the floppy was /mnt/floppy but when I when into a Konqueror window and navigated to the directory it didn't exist. I explored a little and only saw a fd under /dev but under / I saw a /media/floppy owned by root.
Seeing the ownershipmade me try and copy the files using a root login but alas it did not help.
The ?relevant? entries in my fstab file is below for help + explanation:
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0 /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0
Should I change the mount point from media/floppy to /mnt/floppy or add another entry into the file?
The files I needed to copy onto a floppy are now sitting under /media/floppy as well in their original location where they were copied from and there is nothing on te floppy disk, and it is not write protected :)
Suggestions to enable writing to floppy disk.
Mounting it would probably help mount /media/floppy cp /whatever/files/you/want /media/floppy umount /media/floppy
On Friday 23 January 2004 11:08 am, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Hi all,
Just recently tried to export some documentation onto a floppy disk so that I could use it on another PC. However I was unable to write it to the floppy.
I can remember that from my Mandrake days the floppy was /mnt/floppy but when I when into a Konqueror window and navigated to the directory it didn't exist. I explored a little and only saw a fd under /dev but under / I saw a /media/floppy owned by root.
Seeing the ownershipmade me try and copy the files using a root login but alas it did not help.
The ?relevant? entries in my fstab file is below for help + explanation:
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0 /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0
Should I change the mount point from media/floppy to /mnt/floppy or add another entry into the file?
Everything looks fine there - you did remember to mount the floppy, didn't you? Dylan -- "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -Benjamin Franklin
Dylan wrote:
On Friday 23 January 2004 11:08 am, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Hi all,
Just recently tried to export some documentation onto a floppy disk so that I could use it on another PC. However I was unable to write it to the floppy.
I can remember that from my Mandrake days the floppy was /mnt/floppy but when I when into a Konqueror window and navigated to the directory it didn't exist. I explored a little and only saw a fd under /dev but under / I saw a /media/floppy owned by root.
Seeing the ownershipmade me try and copy the files using a root login but alas it did not help.
The ?relevant? entries in my fstab file is below for help + explanation:
devpts /dev/pts devpts mode=0620,gid=5 0 0 /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0 /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync 0 0
Should I change the mount point from media/floppy to /mnt/floppy or add another entry into the file?
Everything looks fine there - you did remember to mount the floppy, didn't you?
Dylan DOH! Tnx Dylan. I was under the impression that as I am using KDE the floppy drive would already be ready to go ie not need mounting.
This 'user error' was corrected when I logged as root, mounted the floppy and copied the files across. -- The Little Helper ======================================================================== Hylton Conacher - Licenced ex-Windows user (apart from Quicken) Registered Linux user # 229959 at http://counter.li.org Using SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 ========================================================================
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
DOH! Tnx Dylan. I was under the impression that as I am using KDE the floppy drive would already be ready to go ie not need mounting.
This 'user error' was corrected when I logged as root, mounted the floppy and copied the files across.
For the normal SuSE install, it is not necessary to log in as root to mount a floppy. You should be able to do it as a regular user. -- Until later, Geoffrey Registered Linux User #108567 Building secure systems inspite of Microsoft
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
DOH! Tnx Dylan. I was under the impression that as I am using KDE the floppy drive would already be ready to go ie not need mounting.
This 'user error' was corrected when I logged as root, mounted the floppy and copied the files across.
For the normal SuSE install, it is not necessary to log in as root to mount a floppy. You should be able to do it as a regular user. That is what I know as well but having not used the CLI mount before I was a little awe struck when looking at the man pages. Of course it didn't help me not knowing if the disk was formated as FAT/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3 either. Going the root way there is a desktop icon
Geoffrey wrote: that says floppy disk and by clicking on this the drive is mounted np. I didn't see the Floppy device on the desktop under a normal user but I have now and it actually works! :) I would however still like to know the mount command syntax to use if I do not know the file system on it and it hasn't already been mounted via the fstab file. Can I always use the mount point of /mnt/floppy? Help wit the mount syntax required. Appreciated -- The Little Helper ======================================================================== Hylton Conacher - Licenced ex-Windows user (apart from Quicken) Registered Linux user # 229959 at http://counter.li.org Using SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 ========================================================================
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
I would however still like to know the mount command syntax to use if I do not know the file system on it and it hasn't already been mounted via the fstab file. Can I always use the mount point of /mnt/floppy? Help wit the mount syntax required.
mount won't know how to figure out the filesystem. You either tell it by what is in /etc/fstab, or you tell it on the command line: mount -t ext2 /dev/hda1 /share As for /mnt/floppy, it's nothing more than a directory. You can mount it on any directory, but you really only want to mount it on an empty directory. You could do this: mkdir /mnt/foobar mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/foobar -- Until later, Geoffrey Registered Linux User #108567 Building secure systems inspite of Microsoft
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
I would however still like to know the mount command syntax to use if I do not know the file system on it and it hasn't already been mounted via the fstab file. Can I always use the mount point of /mnt/floppy? Help wit the mount syntax required.
mount won't know how to figure out the filesystem. You either tell it by what is in /etc/fstab, or you tell it on the command line:
mount -t ext2 /dev/hda1 /share What if you don't know the fs? I mean more along the lines of floppy disks as they could be from a Windows or linux system. Harddrives are more simple as usually you know what was on the hdd before hand and can
Geoffrey wrote: therefore ascertain its fs. Would the * wildcard suffice in place of the known fs type?
As for /mnt/floppy, it's nothing more than a directory. You can mount it on any directory, but you really only want to mount it on an empty directory. You could do this:
mkdir /mnt/foobar
mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/foobar Understood.
Tnx Hylton -- The Little Helper ======================================================================== Hylton Conacher - Licenced ex-Windows user (apart from Quicken) Registered Linux user # 229959 at http://counter.li.org Using SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 ========================================================================
On Tuesday 27 January 2004 4:53 am, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Geoffrey wrote:
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
I would however still like to know the mount command syntax to use if I do not know the file system on it and it hasn't already been mounted via the fstab file.
The filesystem type "auto" tells the mount command to look in the superblock of the filesystem and attempt to figure out what type it is. According to the manpage for "mount", it may be useful for user-mounted floppies. See that manpage for more details. Paul Abrahams
The Sunday 2004-01-25 at 20:19 -0500, Geoffrey wrote:
mount won't know how to figure out the filesystem. You either tell it by what is in /etc/fstab, or you tell it on the command line:
As a matter of fact, it does :-) You simply define the filesystem as "auto" in /etc/fstab. -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
Carlos E. R. wrote:
The Sunday 2004-01-25 at 20:19 -0500, Geoffrey wrote:
mount won't know how to figure out the filesystem. You either tell it by what is in /etc/fstab, or you tell it on the command line:
As a matter of fact, it does :-)
You simply define the filesystem as "auto" in /etc/fstab. So looking at my fstab:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync Surely the word noauto should read auto? The fstab man page says that those last three csv values include the fs type and I have auto as the 3rd field specifying the fs. -- The Little Helper ======================================================================== Hylton Conacher - Licenced ex-Windows user (apart from Quicken) Registered Linux user # 229959 at http://counter.li.org Using SuSE 9.0 with KDE 3.1 ========================================================================
On Thursday 29 January 2004 12:02 am, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
Carlos E. R. wrote:
The Sunday 2004-01-25 at 20:19 -0500, Geoffrey wrote:
mount won't know how to figure out the filesystem. You either tell it by what is in /etc/fstab, or you tell it on the command line:
As a matter of fact, it does :-)
You simply define the filesystem as "auto" in /etc/fstab. So looking at my fstab:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync
Surely the word noauto should read auto? The fstab man page says that those last three csv values include the fs type and I have auto as the 3rd field specifying the fs.
Hylton Conacher
The noauto/auto you refer to means to automatically mount after booting or not. Why would you automatically mount a floppy drive AFTER booting? With / or /home and other partitions and devices such as hard drives you do want some of them to be automatically mounted. The "auto" between the directory mount point "/media/floppy" and the parameters "noauto,user,sync" refers to filesystem detection. HTH, Stan
The Thursday 2004-01-29 at 08:02 +0200, Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) wrote:
You simply define the filesystem as "auto" in /etc/fstab. So looking at my fstab:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync
Surely the word noauto should read auto?
No.
The fstab man page says that those last three csv values include the fs type and I have auto as the 3rd field specifying the fs.
Your fstab line for the floppy is correct, don't change it. /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto noauto,user,sync ^ ^ ^ ^ | | | | | | | \-- options | | \------------ filesystem type | \---------------------------- mount point \--------------------------------------------- device The noauto there indicates that the floppy will not be mounting automatically during boot - and this is correct, if you boot without a floppy inserted booting up will fail. So drives with removable media are always mounted "noauto". -- Cheers, Carlos Robinson
participants (7)
-
Anders Johansson -
Carlos E. R. -
Dylan -
Geoffrey -
Hylton Conacher (ZR1HPC) -
Paul W. Abrahams -
Stan Glasoe