This is starting to get so old...I can't do the simplest thing without asking how.

OK, this time its a simple copy from one hard drive (sda1) to another hard drive (sdb1) in the same Linux box. Easy in windows...a simple copy and paste op. I tried that with Nautilus...not even close. Is there a better file manager?

I know how to use cp:
would copy fstab to dir mydir. I should be able to enter:

would copy fstab to drive sdb1/mydir. I was dreaming, it won't even try. Where am I going wrong? How can I copy a file or directory from one disk drive to another?

I can't seem to figure anything out in Linux, so please assume I know nothing and please keep it ultra simple so I can understand.

Any help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

You need to mount sdb1 somewhere and then copy. E.g.

Mount the FAT partition /dev/sdb1 on /mnt/tmp:
# mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 /mnt/tmp

Copy the file named "file" in /home/foo to the mounted partition:
# cp /home/foo/file /mnt/tmp

Hi Joseph,
Have you mounted the /dev/sdb1 drive? It seems not. You need to do something like this:
then your copy command would go like this:
cheers,
jdk

Thank you for your replies, jdkaye and Nylex

drive sdb1 is mounted with fstab:

It shows as mounted on desktop and with all the apps, but I canoot add or delete files.

I will try your suggestions, thanks again

'/dev/sdb1 /media/backdrive ext2 defaults 0 0'

you should 'cp source /media/backdrive/..' instead of 'cp source /dev/sdb1/..'

Note also the use of a leading "/".

If I enter "cp foo home/bar", cp looks for home/bar in the current ditectory. What you probably want is "cp foo /home/bar", which tells cp to copy to home/bar in the root directory (ie, /home/bar rather than current_directory/home/bar). These are only the same thing if the current working directory is /

joseph2020:

Copying file from one drive to another is easy in Linux, as long as both drives or partitions are mounted.

Now, they are mounted but you cannot "write" files? Chances are: either you mistyped something in the syntax or that you have no permission on either of the drives.

Note: Once the drive is already mounted you must use the mount point in the syntax:
E.g. "cp /home/myname/myfile.txt /mnt/mymountpoint"
but not "cp file /home/myname /dev/sda2/mymountpoint"

About permissions you may also read and understand commands like "chmod", "chown" and their switches. Below is a link to a tutorial on Gnu/Linux you will profit much by reading it. It will not take too much of your time, but once you understand how Gnu/Linux works things will become easier for you to handle.

Also note that in Linux running as "root" is discouraged, so you have to learn the ways how to become root when needed.

hope it helps.

goodluck

malekmustaq, billymayday, ozminh:

Thank you all for your helpful responses.

malekmustaq
Thank you for that link, and I will be looking at it. "easier" sounds really good.
From the little I know, in Ubuntu you are a "normal" user unless you choose the "root console" from applications > system tools. I normally use "sudo" at the "normal" console unless I am planning on a lot of root commands. I don't know of any way to login as "root".

billymayday
Thank You!...from what I have read that's called "absolute (/)" or "relative" paths. I almost always use absolute paths to be safe for now, even though it means more typing.

ozminh
Fantastic suggestion, thank You!!!

I will be trying your suggestions very soon...Thanks again to all.

I always recommend creating such mountpoints in one's home directory, makes things a bit more manageable. You may still need to grant yourself write permissions, though, the first time a newly added partition is mounted (sudo chown -R $USER:$USER mountpoint).

ozminh

My backup is now safe in the "other" drive after following your suggestion...Thanks again!


jay73

Thanks again for your reply!

In Nautilus I can't copy, cut, rename, move to trash, delete, or paste to the second drive (backdrive). I can do all this from the console. For Example to copy a file from Desktop to second drive I use:

to delete:

ans so on. I think, this tells me I have permissions on the files, So why can't I do this in Nautilus?

Thanks in advance.

A simple way to find out is to use Nautilus and right-click on a file you can't delete. A menu will appear and you select "Properties". You should see some tabs appear in a window that opens and select "Permissions".
What are the permissions set for? Owner? Group? Others? The window will also tell you who owns the file. You should be able to figure out what's wrong from that information. If you still don't understand report back the information that Nautilus gives you regarding permissions and ownership of the file in question.
Cheers,
jdk

sudo chown -R $USER:$USER /media/backdrive/filex

jdkaye:

Thank you for your response, heres a copy of the Permissions tab



I am the person who installed Ubuntu and the only user, also the person who made this file (it's a .tar file)... but I am not the owner?? huh?

thanks again

Jay73:

thanks for reply.

I need to know what that code does before I can type it in, especially using "sudo"

Please explain step by step what this does. Thanks again.