SOLVED!! Removable Media Mounting Problem
Dear SuSE list users, I have just solved my problem dealing with mounting removable media! I had some hints from isupport@suse.de and some of you here on the list. Thanks!! Here is a look at the problem and solution. Under SuSE 6.3 there were some Support Database Articles that tell users of removable media such as SCSI ZIP drives (Iomega) how to mount their cartridges. The article pointed out that these DOS or M$ formatted carts have partitions 1 thru 4. So it tells the user to create a fstab entry that looks like the line below: /dev/sdb4 /rwmo auto noauto,user 0 0 ^ then to mkdir /rwmo and then to issue: linux# mount /rwmo to complete mounting the removable carts. And here is the BUG: Sometime between 6.3 and 7.1 SuSE, something changed!! Now the user MUST NOT set the fstab entry for the removable drive to a partition # . the entry must be set to /dev/sdb (SCSI) or /dev/hda (IDE) only. once the fstab entries are correct, the user can mount both SCSI MO carts and LS-120 'super floppies' with out trouble. I'm sure that SCSI ZIP drives will work this way as well, but I don't have one to test. Another observation: I have installed 7.1 several times now on three different machines using YAST 1 & 2. But the installs did not create fstab entries or KDE device icons for any of the removable media drives; either LS-120 'super floppies' or SCSI r/w Magneto Optical cartridges; even tho I made sure that there was media in the drives during each install. Michael??? Is this an oversight? Cool observations: When I installed SuSE 7.1 on a machine that had NT4 on it, YAST2 made the correct fstab entries and KDE device icons for all of the FAT and NTFS drive letters of the NT4 partitions. On that same install there was a 7 CD SCSI 'Changer" that can hold 7 different CDs and mount any one CD. The CDs are SCSI LUNs "logical unit numbers". Well I was pleasantly surprised to see that YAST2 had created fstab entries and KDE device icons for each CD (lun)!! Great work SuSE!! .................... Pete VC -- =============================== Peter B.Van Campen Peter_B@vancampen.org =============================== -- <<Gnu is Not Unix / Linux Is Not UniX>>
"Peter B. Van Campen" wrote:
Dear SuSE list users,
I have just solved my problem dealing with mounting removable media! I had some hints from isupport@suse.de and some of you here on the list. Thanks!! Here is a look at the problem and solution.
Under SuSE 6.3 there were some Support Database Articles that tell users of removable media such as SCSI ZIP drives (Iomega) how to mount their cartridges. The article pointed out that these DOS or M$ formatted carts have partitions 1 thru 4. So it tells the user to create a fstab entry that looks like the line below: /dev/sdb4 /rwmo auto noauto,user 0 0 ^ then to mkdir /rwmo and then to issue: linux# mount /rwmo to complete mounting the removable carts.
And here is the BUG: Sometime between 6.3 and 7.1 SuSE, something changed!! Now the user MUST NOT set the fstab entry for the removable drive to a partition # . the entry must be set to /dev/sdb (SCSI) or /dev/hda (IDE) only.
So how do I tell it which partition to mount? /dev/sdb implies the whole disk. I have 3 partitions on one and when I try to mount any one of them like I did in 6.4 the mount process just hangs. How do you set up the fstab entries then??
once the fstab entries are correct, the user can mount both SCSI MO carts and LS-120 'super floppies' with out trouble. I'm sure that SCSI ZIP drives will work this way as well, but I don't have one to test.
Mark Hounschell dmarkh@cfl.rr.com
Dear Mark, If I understand you right there may be a solution for you. I also thought that the partition number of the removable media drive had to be specified on a separate fstab entry along with a associated mount point thus: /dev/hda1 /cart1 .......... ^ ^ But I found that something has changed since 6.3. Now I have ONLY been using carts that are formatted on M$ w98 & NT4 as "big floppies" not as hd or anything else. In the past SuSE 6.3 has demanded that you mount the 4th partition of a removable cart formatted on a M$ sys. But now (7.1) it seems that the sys beheaves more like a M$ system; you make a fstab entry for the device only; no partition number is specified. Now when I issue "mount /rwmo" it mounts the M$ cart as vfat. The real CONFUSION FACTOR is that now (7.1) fdisk -l /dev/hda is returning GARBAGE illogical output when /dev/hda or /dev/sdb is a LS-120 or a SCSI MO cart. I have no idea why this is; but it confused me for a long time! If you are trying to mount carts formatted other than M$ VFAT I can offer no help, sorry. ........................Pete VC Mark Hounschell wrote:
"Peter B. Van Campen" wrote:
Dear SuSE list users,
I have just solved my problem dealing with mounting removable media! I had some hints from isupport@suse.de and some of you here on the list. Thanks!! Here is a look at the problem and solution.
Under SuSE 6.3 there were some Support Database Articles that tell users of removable media such as SCSI ZIP drives (Iomega) how to mount their cartridges. The article pointed out that these DOS or M$ formatted carts have partitions 1 thru 4. So it tells the user to create a fstab entry that looks like the line below: /dev/sdb4 /rwmo auto noauto,user 0 0 ^ then to mkdir /rwmo and then to issue: linux# mount /rwmo to complete mounting the removable carts.
And here is the BUG: Sometime between 6.3 and 7.1 SuSE, something changed!! Now the user MUST NOT set the fstab entry for the removable drive to a partition # . the entry must be set to /dev/sdb (SCSI) or /dev/hda (IDE) only.
So how do I tell it which partition to mount? /dev/sdb implies the whole disk. I have 3 partitions on one and when I try to mount any one of them like I did in 6.4 the mount process just hangs. How do you set up the fstab entries then??
once the fstab entries are correct, the user can mount both SCSI MO carts and LS-120 'super floppies' with out trouble. I'm sure that SCSI ZIP drives will work this way as well, but I don't have one to test.
Mark Hounschell dmarkh@cfl.rr.com
-- =============================== Peter B.Van Campen Peter_B@vancampen.org =============================== -- <<Gnu is Not Unix / Linux Is Not UniX>>
"Peter B. Van Campen" wrote:
If I understand you right there may be a solution for you. I also thought that the partition number of the removable media drive had to be specified on a separate fstab entry along with a associated mount point thus: /dev/hda1 /cart1 .......... ^ ^ But I found that something has changed since 6.3. Now I have ONLY been using carts that are formatted on M$ w98 & NT4 as "big floppies" not as hd or anything else. In the past SuSE 6.3 has demanded that you mount the 4th partition of a removable cart formatted on a M$ sys. But now (7.1) it seems that the sys beheaves more like a M$ system; you make a fstab entry for the device only; no partition number is specified. Now when I issue "mount /rwmo" it mounts the M$ cart as vfat. The real CONFUSION FACTOR is that now (7.1) fdisk -l /dev/hda is returning GARBAGE illogical output when /dev/hda or /dev/sdb is a LS-120 or a SCSI MO cart. I have no idea why this is; but it confused me for a long time! If you are trying to mount carts formatted other than M$ VFAT I can offer no help, sorry.
Maybe what is going on here is that when these disks/cartridges are formated in Windows, they aren't being partitioned. For example, with floppy disk you don't mount a partition on the disk - you mount the whole device, e.g. /dev/fd0. Windows is probably treating these disks as floppy disk as well (which, under some circumstances, is reasonable) and just formating the whole device. This would also explain why you get rubbish out from fdisk - because there is no partition table on the disk to read. I think the '4th partition' rule was only applicable to zip disks, due to some strange formatting that they have (AFAIK, zips are treated differently to floppies in Windows). If this isn't the case, then maybe the kernel has been updated to cope with these anomolies. Bye, Chris -- __ _ -o)/ / (_)__ __ ____ __ Chris Reeves /\\ /__/ / _ \/ // /\ \/ / ICQ# 22219005 _\_v __/_/_//_/\_,_/ /_/\_\
At 09:29 04/05/2001 +0100, you wrote:
"Peter B. Van Campen" wrote:
If I understand you right there may be a solution for you. I also thought that the partition number of the removable media drive had to be specified on a separate fstab entry along with a associated mount point thus: /dev/hda1 /cart1 .......... ^ ^
/snip/
I think the '4th partition' rule was only applicable to zip disks, due to some strange formatting that they have (AFAIK, zips are treated differently to floppies in Windows). If this isn't the case, then maybe the kernel has been updated to cope with these anomolies.
Bye, Chris
No, this was not only applicable to Zip disks, it also applies to Jaz disks. These are accessible at partition 4. I.e. mount hdx4, or sdx4. You can reformat them as e2fs, with partition 1, but then DOS/Windows will no longer be able to access them. I would NOT reformat, unless I was going to delete all MS systems forever.
participants (4)
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Chris Reeves -
Doug McGarrett -
Mark Hounschell -
Peter B. Van Campen