Another thought just occured to me. What version of Windows are you using. I have copied files from Linux partions to Windows Fat32 partions and DOS Fat 16 partions but have not tried doing that with NTFS partitons. NTFS partitions are used more often that Fat32 for Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. They can use either NTFS or FAT32 however. I have not yet tried using NTFS partions and am not sure I want to try that yet. Almost any other type of partion such at Fat 32 is somthing I know how to mount and copy to.

I'm using Windows XP pro. This file is on the floppy disk it's in a BIN file. Number 1, It's in a file that no one could read. Number 2, Every time i open up the file it stops responding. What's wrong with that?? Please reply back. Thanks.

If you are using Win XP Pro you most likely have an NTFS partition. You could always add an extra Fat 32 partition but lets not do that right now. I am not sure precisely what went wrong. Let's try this, get a floppy disk that has been used before under Win XP and already has one or more unimportant files on it. Make sure that the disk is not full. Then while running Linux insert the disk and mount it if it did not mount automatically (it usually is not set to mount automatically). Right-click on a blank portion of the screen again, click of Disks and make sure that the check mark is now there . Do not click it again if the check mark is there.

Next, open a terminal window and type these three commands:

cd /mnt/floppy
pwd
ls

After typing ls you should see the filenames of the files created under windows. If that does not happen let me know. In fact, I will wait until you get to that point before suggesting anything else. By the way, the pwd command shows where you currently are, I had you type that to see what directory you are really in. I assume you are in the /mnt/floppy directory.

In the above instructions do not worry too much about what floppy disk you use and what is on it. I do not mean that you should bother rebooting into Win XP just to prepare the floppy. Just grab any unimportant previously used disk. As I think about this I realize that perhaps the file did not get saved with the .txt extension. That probably caused Windows to think it was something other than a text file. In otherwords this is probably not that much of a problem! At one point I was wondering if you somehow had a disk that was in a Linux format instead of what Windows and DOS normally use for floppy disks. That is probably not the case.

ok i did them 3 commands and there was nothing.

It sounds like your floppy disk did not get mounted for some reason. So here are several questions. When you right clicked on a blank portion of the screen and selected Disks is there a checkmark next to the word floppy? When you do a single left-click on the word floppy what happend.

Anyway lets try this. Type in these two comands and leave off the word floppy:

cd /mnt
ls

Is floppy listed as being one of those directories? If so display the contents of the floppy directory once by typing this:

ls /mnt/floppy

If nothing happens and nothing is there lets try mounting it a different way by typing this:

mount /mnt/floppy

Now lets see if it got mounted this time. To see the contents of the directory type this:

ls /mnt/floppy

Is there anything there this time?

I have not try it because i'm been doing alot of thinking how people don't really want to help me. I really hope and understand that you could help me with basic Unix commands. I got something to say to Rick. I was born with a learning disability. I pretend that i don't have one. I really know that i should start from beginner. I'm jumping right to the middle or the end. At ozzu.com they said why should i learn how to run before i can walk. ozzu.com ban me because i said the fourm sucks. I also said i found better place for help at linuxquestions.org. The only reason why i wanted to copy files to either a floppy disk or my windows partition is to have someone help with my modem. See right there. I took a big jump. Rick, Do you understand what i'm trying to say?? I hope you don't make fun of me.

Please reply back when you have time. Thank You Rick.

Yes I understand and agree with what you just said. I am willing to help you learn occasional simple Linux commands and really think that is what you need to do first. You have to take things one step at a time and learn to use the ordinary basic Linux commands first. Nearly all Linux and Unix commands are the same by the way.

When I was in grade school I was also considered to be learning disabled and also had trouble speaking clearly. I was also diagnosed as having attention deficit disorder and was hyperactive. I was tired and sleepy all the time (they never knew why). Later when I was in my 30's I went back to college and got several 2 year ASS degrees including a Computing Informations Systems Degree. I got A's in all my computer classes. So I have some experience from when I was younger with people thinking I was not very smart. In my case that was not really true. Anyway, if you make an extra effort to take things slowley one day at a time I think you can learn what you need to know. Learning 1 or 2 Linux commands each day always makes me feel like I have accomplished something! It is what you need to do before any of us can help with anything more difficult.

ok... Can you tell me where to download a Linux or Unix command book from?? Please reply back. Thank You Rick.

Step one: Can you mount a known good floppy disk that you can read from Windows and that has some files on that floppy that you know is on that floppy disk?

Linux Newbie Administrator Guide - Accessing my drives section
Rute - mounting floppy disks

Step two: Can you navigate to that floppy disk and see the files on it?

Experiment with these commands until you can

cd -change directory - example: cd /usr/src/linux

pwd - print working directory - it will print the directory that you are currently in

ls - list the files in the directory you are working in.

Step three : Let's stop and review and make sure you are confident doing this much in Linux.

Once you can handle the drive and moving around the directories, we can write, edit and move files next.

Notice that I have a link of the Linux commands in my signature as well

It's Directory of Linux Commands in case you overlooked it.

ok before i even reboot my computer to Redhat. Tell me am i right. I'm not sure can i mount a floppy disk. Is this what i do?? cd /mnt/floppy. Is that right. The question you ask me was. Can i navigate the floppy. In Windows XP. yes i can read from it to see what's on it. Can i navigate in Linux. I don't know. So, am i right for that first question?? Please reply back. If not then i'm going to start without you. Thanks.

Please read these as they can explain much better than I:

Linux Newbie Administrator Guide - Accessing my drives section

Rute - mounting floppy disks

Those will tell you how to handle the drives.

Do you have a fat32 filesystem? It would make moving info from Linux to Windows much easier if you do have one.

Read those and see if you can do those in Linux after you read it.

If you have a CD burner, you could also download the books and burn them on a CD and read them in Linux.

Fancypiper, This is what i did. cd /usr/src/linux. pwd. ls. and i seen files on the floppy disk. I'm pretty sure that the disk was already mounted. What is the next step now?? I did got commands on how to mount a floppy disk. Please reply back. Thanks.

What you accomplished:

You changed your working directory to the directory that the symbolic link /usr/src/linux points to, which should be the directory /usr/src/linux-<your kernel version number>It should have printed /usr/src/linux as your working directoryNo, you aren't looking in the directory that the floppy disk is mounted on. You saw, not seen, files in the kernel source directory. The floppy is usually mounted in the directory /mnt/floppy if you mounted it correctly. Can you see the difference between these two directories?

/usr/src/linux

/mnt/floppy

Does this directory arrangement make any sense to you?

See if you can answer these questions:

Which one of those would contain the contents of a floppy disk that has been mounted?

Which one would contain the kernel source code?

What command would you type to navigate to the floppy directory?

What command would you type to navigate to the source code for the Linux kernel?

What command would you type to see what files are in a directory?

What command would you type to see what directory you are actually working in?It isn't unless you mounted it.

Remember, first mount the floppy drive, then navigate to the correct directory with cd, and use the command ls to see the exact same files that you saw while in Windows. You should have tried this with a floppy with known files.

Hi Derek,

I'm going to try and explain everything step by step for you. If I got any part wrong, please tell me so, OK?

First, I understand that you wanted to show someone a log of what happened in a ./configure command for setting up your modem driver, right?

If so, here's what you can do in the simplest way. Instead of using, ./configure > /mnt/floppy you can do this instead: ./configure > conflog.txt.

After your configure process is complete, type this: cat conflog.txt | less. You should be able to see the output of your configure. You can use the arrow keys to scroll up and down to see the log. When you're happy press q, and you'll be back at your console prompt.

OK, now we're going to try and mount your floppy... but first we need to find out whether there is a mount point for floppies in your setup. Type this: ls /mnt/flop*. If there is a floppy mount point, then you will get a list of something like:

/mnt/floppy

Now we will actually try to mount the floppy. Insert a floppy disk (preferably an empty one, because I don't know how big your log is) into your floppy drive and type mount /mnt/floppy. Your floppy drive light should light up and blink a bit. This means it's working

Now, to see whether we can copy files on to the floppy we type this: ls /mnt/floppy/... And if this is an empty floppy, there'd be no files found. If it is a partially used disk, then you can see existing files on it.

Now to copy your log onto the disk you need to type: cp conflog.txt /mnt/floppy. And you're done!

IMPORTANT: Remember to unmount the floppy drive before removing the floppy disk. You can do this by typing: umount /mnt/floppy

If any of the above did not work please tell me which part it is, so maybe I can help you more.

Hope this helps