I am running YDL 6.1 on my PS3
I used to be able to write on my external Hard drive but not anymore
I am under the root user
The Hard drive is mounted and its fat32 format
When i go to the properties i see
owner: root
Folder Access: Create and delete files

File Access: --- ( <---- i always try to change that to read and write but it goes back to --- )

I can not create folders on my external hardrive
i can view file on my external hardrive
sometime i see little lock symbols on the top right corner of my folders
when i type "mount" and i check the part relevant to the external hd, this is what i get:

/dev/sda1 on /media/UNTITLED 1 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,shortname=winnt,uid=o)

It says that i have permission, yet i cant write. what do i do? Please be detailed because i suck at Linux, so step by step would be nice thank you!

Can you post the contents your /etc/fstab file?

I don't think that the FAT file system implements any file protection protocols. (FAT was designed as a file system for a single-user system, so "access control" was an unnecessary complication as far as the designer were concerned. so it was left out.) I thought that most vfat implementations just granted full access to all file for all users.

In any case, if your removable media is only going to be used for Linux, just reformat the drive as ext3 or ext4. If, on the other hand, you want it to be usable by Windows systems, you could try reformatting as NTFS and mounting the drive using the ntfs-3g driver.

How to accomplish either of these solutions should be (I haven't verified this) describe in the "Linux Tutorials" section. (Just click on the button in the right side-bar of this page.)

[root@localhost ~]# /etc/fstab
bash: /etc/fstab: Permission denied
[root@localhost ~]#

that's what i get when i type that command

try "cat /etc/fstab" or instead of cat, use gedit, kate, mousepad, or whatever you have installed.

I never had this problem before. i used to be able to use my external hd on my ps3, windows pc and linux. Now i cant seem to create or move things into my external hd from linux. I dont want to format my hd because it works on everything pc,ps3,linux but in linux i dont have "permission" to write because its a "read only file system"

OTHER INFO

[root@localhost ~]# mount
/dev/ps3da2 on / type ext3 (rw)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,gid=5,mode=620)
/dev/ps3da1 on /boot type ext3 (rw)
spufs on /spu type spufs (rw)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
rpc_pipefs on /var/lib/nfs/rpc_pipefs type rpc_pipefs (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /media/UNTITLED 1 type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,shortname=winnt,uid=0)
/dev/scd0 on /media/PS3VOLUME type udf (ro,nosuid,nodev,uid=0)
[root@localhost ~]#
[root@localhost ~]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/ps3da: 10.7 GB, 10737414144 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 1305 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/ps3da1 * 1 13 104391 83 Linux
/dev/ps3da2 14 1240 9855877+ 83 Linux
/dev/ps3da3 1241 1305 522112+ 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Disk /dev/sda: 1000.2 GB, 1000204886016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 121601 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 1 121602 976762552+ b W95 FAT32
[root@localhost ~]#

[root@localhost ~]# cat /etc/fstab
LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
LABEL=/boot /boot ext3 defaults 1 2
spufs /spu spufs defaults 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs defaults 0 0
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
LABEL=SWAP-ps3da3 swap swap defaults 0 0
[root@localhost ~]#

try mounting it with the command: mount /dev/sda1 /UNTITLED -t vfat -o rw,users,umask=000

And see if you can modify files, etc on the drive.

did you mean UNTITLED 1 which is the name of my external hd? if so can you repeat the code? thank you kindly for your time

sure, it would then be mount /dev/sda1 /UNTITLED\ 1 -t vfat -o rw,users,umask=000

[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda1 /UNTITLED\ 1 -t vfat -o rw,users,umask=000
mount: mount point /UNTITLED 1 does not exist
[root@localhost ~]#

in that case, before mounting, do mkdir /UNTITLED\ 1

[root@localhost ~]# mkdir /UNTITLED\ 1
[root@localhost ~]# mount /dev/sda1 /UNTITLED\ 1 -t vfat -o rw,users,umask=000
mount: /dev/sda1 already mounted or /UNTITLED 1 busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/sda1 is mounted on /media/UNTITLED 1

unmount the drive first, with umount /dev/sda1

i tried unmounting it, then remounting it with the code you gave me. but i still get the same error message || Error "Read only file system" creating new folder.||