[WBEL-users] Newbie Linux user

[Luke Scharf]

Terry wrote:

>On 4/28/05, Luke Scharf <lscharf at aoe.vt.edu> wrote:
>  
>
>>Aaron Marroquin wrote:
>>
>>    
>>
>>>I have a converted laptop drive from IDE to USB that I use to
>>>shuttle information around.
>>>
>>>      
>>>
>>The last time I set this up was with Fedora, but USB is already
>>automagically supported.  When you plug in the drive, you can cat
>>/proc/scsi/scsi and you should see your USB Mass storage device there.
>>(If not, run "/sbin/modprobe usb-storage" as root.)
>>
>>Okay, that's great.  A SCSI-ish hard drive that's hanging off a USB
>>adapter.  However, I assume that you're asking the question because you
>>want to get to the files.  If you want to make it easy to get to the
>>files, you can run (as root) "mkdir /mnt/usb", then "chmod yourname
>>/mnt/usb", and add the following line to /etc/fstab:
>>    /dev/sda              /mnt/usb              auto noauto,owner 0 0
>>Then, when you insert the USB device, just type "mount /mnt/usb" and
>>type "umount /mnt/usb" before removing it.
>>    
>>
>
>You can create a desktop icon that will mount or unmount it by
>clicking on it to "mount" or "umount"
>
>- And if you do it that way, how much different is that than the way
>it's handled in MS Windows XP?
>  
>
It should work for most normal users.  :-)

>>Potential problem: this little hack will only work with one USB drive at
>>a time.
>>    
>>
>
>
>So, what about, or why not: 
>
>  /dev/sdb              /mnt/usb2        auto noauto,user  0 0
>  /dev/sdc              /mnt/usb3        auto noauto,user  0 0
>
>Or:
>
>  /dev/sdb1              /mnt/usb2        auto noauto,user  0 0
>  /dev/sdc1              /mnt/usb3        auto noauto,user  0 0
>  
>
Sure -- but it's not a complete solution.  You have to pick an "n" and 
then when you get n+1 devices (or a device that doesn't get unmounted 
properly), you have to add another entry into the fstab.  But, adding 2 
or 3 would probably work for most situations.

Also, as you imply with your alternative fstabs, some of the USB 
keydrives may be partitioned (I don't remember if they are or not).  
Floppy drives (which use the usb-storage drive) are not, so they use 
/dev/sda.  Zip discs usually have the 4th partition set, and the others 
blank, so they use /dev/sda4.  I seem to remember USB keydrives using 
/dev/sda, but they might also use /dev/sda1.

MacOS X does this Right.  Kudzu could too, but to my knowledge, but it 
doesn't seem to have been added to any of the versions I've used.

>>It could be easier, and probably will get easier as the hotplug stuff
>>evolves.  USB-storage and changing networks with wireless are my biggest
>>complaints about the Linux distributions that I use regularly -- but I
>>usually run Linux desktops and rackmount machines anyway.
>>
>>    
>>
>
>(There may already be provisions for this in distros like Mandrake or
>Suse for all I know.)
>  
>
Same here -- I primarily used RHEL derivitaves and Fedora, occasionally 
use Debian, and play with Gentoo from time-to-time.

-Luke

-- 
Luke Scharf, Systems Administrator
Virginia Tech Aerospace and Ocean Engineering