It won't mount in kernels 2.6.8.1 and up. Anybody else notice this? 2.6.8.1 kernels and up also have added two new options for vfat. If anyone even knows what I'm talking about, discuss it here please. Thanks.

whats the error message?

try specifying the filesystem type.. or... if that doesn't work.. pay more attention when compiling the kernel

Does anybody know if it's the default settings that are the problem, or if it's just a bug? Thanks. I'm wondering if it's just the settings because then I can just adjust accordingly, but if it's a bug, I'll wait until it's fixed.

Sounds like the settings in /etc/fstab....
But if it's a bug, it's probably not a bug, but a feature

Good luck,

Tectonic

mount -t vfat /dev/hd<xx> <folder> (you may put uid=<username> so that user has access , not only root)

see if it works
(manualy mount, but look and fstab file, and in the type of file system set vfat)

Yeah, I'm really thinking it's a bug, or the two new features for vfat... See, the thing is, it'll work if I use 2.4.26 or 2.6.7, but as soon as I upgrade to 2.6.8.1 or 2.6.9-rc1, it won't work (and the two new features are also added to 2.6.8.1 and up). When I go back to 2.6.7 or lower, my fat32 will mount again, so it can't be my fstab. I've also tried manually mounting; doesn't work. Hoping they fix this bug soon, or, if not a bug, can someone tell me the proper settings for vfat in xconfig. Vfat support was working well before they added those two new settings. If you guys don't know what settings I'm talking about, just ask or check for yourself..

Mounting vfat works fine here with 2.6.8.1. Same options/fstab as before. Did you try Gkarfield's command suggestion?

whats your /etc/fstab look like?

I have my fat partition setup as:

/dev/hdb1 /windowsfiles vfat noauto,user 0 0

works for me...and i'm running kernel v. 2.6.8

Could it be because I have an ext hdd?

My fstab goes something like this: /dev/sda1 /fat32 vfat noauto,user 0 0

It's something like that. I'm not in Slack right now, so I can't copy and paste the actual, but this should be close enough.

Hello All,
I have the same issue with mounting my vfat partitions under 2.6.8.

Error from DMESG:
hdb: IC35L120AVV207-0, ATA DISK drive
hdb: max request size: 1024KiB
hdb: 241254720 sectors (123522 MB) w/1821KiB Cache, CHS=16383/255/63, UDMA(33)
hdb: hdb1
VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev hdb.
VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev hdb.

Here is line from fstab :
/dev/hdb1 /mnt/samba/hdb vfat uid=1004,gid=100 0 2

This is Error MSG when trying to mount it manually :
mount -t vfat /dev/hdb1 /mnt/windows
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hdb1,
or too many mounted file systems

Partition Type:
fdisk -l | grep hdb
Disk /dev/hdb: 123.5 GB, 123522416640 bytes
/dev/hdb1 * 1 15956 120627328+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)

When compiling 2.6.8 following options (regarding DOS/FAT/NT Filesystems ---> ) were chosen :
<*> MSDOS fs support
<*> VFAT (Windows-95) fs support
(437) Default codepage for FAT
(iso8859-1) Default iocharset for FAT



Everything worked just fine with the same settings on 2.4.26 27 28 but not on 2.6.8. plus I can mount it using -t msdos.

BSTRGDS<
Jakub.

try auto, instead of vfat

(I have suse 9.1, I dont know if it is the same in different distros)

I too have this exact same problem. If anyone figures this out, please post! I would really like to be able to write proper(long) file names to my fat32 partition.

I don't think this is an obious mount syntax problem. I've tried just about everthing posible for vfat in the mount man pages. Is there an option some where else (Besides DOS/FAT/NT Filesystems --->) in the kernel config that needs enabling or disabling?