As the subject, I'm a rookie in linux,I want to mount my mobile HD to my linux ,kernel edition is 2.4.20-8.
any help would be appreciated

Try:

mount -t ntfs <device name of NTFS drive> <mount point>

such as:

mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/external

The /mnt/external can be any directory you choose, but I'd suggest making an empty directory just for that drive, so you don't step on anything else.

If that doesn't work, cat /proc/filesystems, and make sure that NTFS is supported in your kernel. You can normally mount NTFS file systems read-only, but there are modules (some kernels include them lately), that will let you mount it read-write just fine.

Actually if the kernel supports ntfs (read-only or read-write), you don't need to specify '-t ntfs' while mounting; if it's supported, it ought to be detected automatically anyway. So basically if the command fails, your kernel probably does not support ntfs filesystem; this could be the case with 2.4 kernels, but I'm not sure. In that case your options are to compile a newer kernel with the support added, or if your distribution has a package manager that can do it, upgrade the kernel that way (if available).

What distro and version are you running?

Thanks for your help. Problem has been settled by installing a rpm packet named kernel-ntfs-2.4.20-8.i686.rpm which maybe added the ntfs module to the kernel.

But while I cp a big file(enterprise3-rh73.craff,which's used in simics as a image file 640M),it take me damnable long time.
finally I can't stand and ctrl+c to kill it . as result I found the file just takes 300M in my linux.I don't know if it really takes long time to cp. Or due to my wrong act manipulation.

thanks.

From the look of that rpm, you are running RH7.3. I know support for RH9 was dropped in 2004 so I would assume support for RH7 was dropped years before that. Do yourself (and the rest of us) a big favor and update to a supported version. A lot of stuff will just work out of the box. You will also have much greater capability as well as a vastly larger pool of support. RH started counting again after RH9. They are currently on RHEL5.1(Red Hat Enterprise Linux). RH now charges for support and updates, but Centos is RHEL with the logos removed. Centos is free to download and has a five year support life (free update downloads). With the exception of the logo specific stuff Centos builds their stuff off of RH's source code. This means that it is 99% binary compatible with RHEL but it also means updates lag about two days behind RH.

Thanks for your help!

Actually,I use linux9,but I could only download enterprise3-rh73.craff . I don't even have any idea whether it works in linux9.

Fine,the second problem has also been solved.
Now the cp has been processing for almost 2 hours(damned). But finally I succeed in cping it completely(640M). So I think it does need time.

But does it really need so much time?? Is there and way to improve it?
PS Is there any schedule bar(or tips) while cping? Cauze it seems no ending and doesn't know it takes how much time.

thank you.

Do you mean you are using RedHat 9?

Doesn't seem like they can write to compressed NTFS even when mounted R/W. I'll double-check (have a blank drive and an XP machine, so I'll reformat it uncompressed.)
ta0kira

Edit: It appears the 2.6 NTFS driver can only modify existing file data and can't create, delete, or change the size of files.

Edit2: Linux-NTFS works quite well. My system already had it installed, but it didn't work so I downloaded the current version and built it from source.

The Linux 2.4.3X kernel has NTFS read only file system support. I have been compiling those kernels lately, and one of the configuration options is for NTFS support.

1) Can the latest kernel also Write to NTFS file systems? Can it create files on NTFS file systems?

2) Does Windows Vista have a newer NTFS file system that the newer Linux kernel can not Read and Write?

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I gave Linux a try because of M$crosoft. My M$crosoft ME started to huff and puff and told me to get Vista. I tried to recompile my M$crosoft ME, but I did not know where to start. Now, I have been compiling Linux. It compiles. I just got to get it to boot.

I have Linux 2.6.21.5 and it can write to existing areas of existing files, but it cannot change their sizes, or create/delete directories and files. Linux-NTFS does all of that, though, and takes less than 30 minutes to get it running. The site says it can even create NTFS file systems, but I haven't tried that.
ta0kira

"Linux-NTFS does all of that"

I read something about the NTFS on the web, and found that NTFS has Compressed files and Encrypted files.

1) Does it read Compressed NTFS files?
2) Does it read Compressed NTFS directories?
3) Does it read M$icrosoft encrypted NTFS files?
__________________
I gave Linux a try because of M$crosoft. My M$crosoft ME started to huff and puff and told me to get Vista. I tried to recompile my M$crosoft ME, but I did not know where to start. Now, I have been compiling Linux. It compiles. I just got to get it to boot.

check the dmesg, to see if the ext. hd is detected.
if yes, you can install ntfs-3g, this one will mount the device for you.

Probably not, but I'd have to check it's homepage to be sure...
ta0kira