Here's my fstab, I'm running Mandrake 7.02 /dev/sda1 /mnt/DOS_sda1 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/sda5 /mnt/DOS_sda5 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda1 /mnt/DOS_hda1 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda5 /mnt/DOS_hda5 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda6 /mnt/DOS_hda6 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda7 /mnt/DOS_hda7 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda8 /mnt/DOS_hda8 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hda9 /mnt/DOS_hda9 vfat user,exec,conv=auto 0 0 /dev/hdb1 /boot ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb5 /usr ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb6 /usr/local ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb7 /home ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb8 /usr/src ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb9 swap_upgrade swap defaults 0 0 /dev/hdb10 /var ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb11 /tmp ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb12 /opt ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hdb13 / ext2 defaults 1 1 /dev/hdc /mnt/ls120 vfat user,exec,nodev,nosuid,rw,noauto 0 0 /mnt/cdrom /mnt/cdrom supermount fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdrom 0 0 /mnt/floppy /mnt/floppy supermount fs=vfat,dev=/dev/fd0 0 0 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0 If nothing else works, try my ol'faithful.... re-install. What does "dmesg" tell you about your floppy ?? It's possible that your BIOS and OS are not in sync. Ramon Gandia wrote: > > Dale Morris wrote: > > > > I first posted this to the Newbie list, but got no reply. Hopefully, someone > > here can help. > > I just decided to give Mandrake 7.0 a try after using Redhat 6.1 for about a > > month and a half. Here's my problem: > > When I try to mount floppies I made with Redhat 6.1, I get an error > > message, "could not list directory contents, file/mnt/floppy.." what do I > > need to do to -- "So many idiots.. get this working correctly. I'm amazed > > that I can't mount a ext2 floppy. I so few comets.." edited the fstab as > > follows: H Henry /dev/hda1 /boot ext2 defaults 1 2 /dev/hda5 / ext2 > > defaults 1 1 /dev/hda6 swap swap defaults 0 0 /dev/hda7 /home ext2 > > defaults 1 2 /mnt/floppy /mnt/floppy supermount fs=vfat,ext2 dev=/dev/fd0 > > 0 0 none /proc proc defaults 0 0 none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0 > > /mnt/cdrom /mnt/cdrom supermount fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdrom 0 0 > > > > (I added ext2 in fs=..) > > Therefore, your current floppy line in /etc/fstab looks like this: > > /mnt/floppy /mnt/floppy supermount fs=vfat,ext2 dev=/dev/fd0 0 0 > > That is clearly wrong. It should be this: > > /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto sync,user,noauto,nosuid,nodev,unhide > 0 0 > > Or even just this: > > /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy ext2 noauto 0 0 > ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^ > item 1 item 2 item 3 item 4 item 5 > > item 1 = physical device. MUST be in /dev in this case /dev/fd0 > you are using a mount point in item 1, which will not work. > > item 2 = mount point. Classically /mnt/floppy but you could > use any blank or empty directory you want. Some peope use > /drive_A > or something similar. Just create an empty directory and use it. > In most Linux distros, /mnt/floppy is the default. But make sure > it actually exists BEFORE you try mounting something to it. > > item 3 = file system type. Could be msdos, could be ext2 or > could be "auto" for automatic detection of the file type in > the floppy. Auto was not allowed here until recently, when > auto-detection was implemented for floppy mounts. > > item 4 These are options, and there are many. In the second > example above, "noauto" means not to mount the floppy > automatically > when it is inserted in the drive. When a floppy is inserted in > the drive, it closes a tiny switch which can be detected by the > operating system, which can then mount it. MSDOS and Win95 are > examples of OS's that do this, but you should know that this is > just by design and is not inherent. You have to make the OS > recognize the floppy. In the example above, noauto means > that you have to explictly give the 'mount' command. > > Item 5 has to do with when fsck checks your drive for file > type errors. > > Here are ways to mount things. Depends if you have a valid > fstab file that allows the shortcut. > > prompt# mount /mnt/floppy > > In this case, the mount command will look at /etc/fstab for > /mnt/floppy in the mount point column. It will see that this > is associated ONLY with /dev/fd0 and will attempt to mount > that drive to that mount point using the parameters in /etc/fstab. > > If /mnt/floppy does not exist, or is associated with a different > device that is detected, then it will exit with an error message. > See below. > > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy > > Thjis is more explicit. It tells the mount command to mount > the device or drive /dev/fd0 to the mount directory or point > called /mnt/floppy and to do it as an ext2 file system. > > Note that this command is much more flexible. Here are some > bizarre possibilities: > > Let us say you have /mnt/floppy as well as /mnt/cdrom, which > is typical of most systems. You also have a /home directory, > also typical. > > Let us also assume that there is NO CD in the CD drive. > > Try these for fun: > > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/cdrom > prompt# cd /mnt/cdrom > prompt# ls (see that the floppy is mounted under /mnt/cdrom. > hehehehe. > > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /home > prompt# cd /home > prompt# ls > > Note that here, the contents of the floppy are now readable as > /home. Waht happened to your /home directory??!! &^& Well, no > problem, just do > > prompt# cd / > prompt# umount /home > and all is back to normal. > > Now take a blank, unformatted floppy and put it in the drive. > > prompt# cd / > prompt# fdformat /dev/fd0H1440 > prompt# mke2fs -c /dev/fd0 1440 > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy > prompt# cd /etc > prompt# cp profile /mnt/floppy (drive light goes on) > prompt# cd /mnt/floppy > prompt# ls -la (see two things: "profile" and "lost+found" > prompt# cd / (you cannot unmount when in the directory). > prompt# umount /mnt/floppy > prompt# ls -la /mnt/floppy (should say 0 files) OK. > prompt# cp /etc/bashrc /mnt/floppy (copy this text file over) > prompt# ls -la /mnt/floppy (should show ONLY "bashrc") > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy > prompt# ls -la /mnt/floppy (will show "profile" "lost+found" but > NOT "bashrc". > prompt# umount /mnt/floppy > prompt# ls -la /mnt/floppy (now shows "bashrc" oNLY) > > Ain't that the cat's meow? > > Now, if you have /etc/fstab set up correctly, you can use the > abbreviated command: > > prompt# mount /mnt/cdrom > instead of the longer command > prompt# mount -t ext2 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy > but please note that it depends on what /etc/fstab has in it > regarding the floppy device. > > On thing that you have to be VERY CAREFUL of when you edit > /etc/fstab. > MAKE CERTAIN that none of the lines wrap. Each line MUST begin > in /dev/whatever and end in 0 0 or the two digits for fsck. If > they wrap, so you have something like this ANYWHERE: > > /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy ext2 > noauto 0 0 > > as two lines, your system will NOT BE BOOTABLE. If you are using > the pico editor on /etc/fstab, be absolutely certain that you > use the -w option and that you check for line wraps with more, > less > or cat. This is absolutely CRITICAL: > > prompt# cd /etc > prompt# pico -w fstab > > Another file you don't want to screw up with line wraps is the > /etc/inittab file. There are actually many such files in the > system, but those two will prevent booting, so don't say that > Ramon encouraged experimenting and did not warn you. You can > usually get back in with "linux single" at the LILO prompt or > with a rescue disk. So I suggest you create a backup of these > files first. Then if you screw up, go in as rescue mode and > recopy the files. Example: > > prompt# cd /etc > prompt# cp fstab fstab.bak (creates a copy of it as fstab.bak) > prompt# pico -w fstab (lets assume you screw fstab up) > Reboot. Does not boot. > Go into rescue mode. > bash# cd /etc > bash# pwd (make sure you are in etc) > bash# mv fstab.bak fstab > > or, a lengthier alternative: > bash# mv fstab fstab.bad > bash# mv fstab.bak fstab > > Reboot. > > In the later case, you have fstab.bad that you can peruse to > discover the error of your ways. > > Play around. Worse comes to worse, you will get some training > in OS rescue, something totally lacking in Windows 95/98. > > > -- > Ramon Gandia ============= Sysadmin ============== Nook Net > http://www.nook.net [EMAIL PROTECTED] > 285 West First Avenue tel. 907-443-7575 > P.O. Box 970 fax. 907-443-2487 > Nome, Alaska 99762-0970 ==== Alaska Toll Free. 888-443-7525
begin:vcard n:Williams;Donna tel;home:301-310-0441 tel;work:301-310-0441 x-mozilla-html:FALSE org:General Dynamics - Electronic Systems;Veni, Vidi, Velcro ! ( I came, I saw, I stuck around ! ) adr:;;;;;; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] title:Software Test Engineer fn:Donna Williams end:vcard