Accessing Windows partition with FC5

Greetings--

I just installed FC5 in my already-existing linux partition. Before, I had Mandrake 10.1 there, and had no problem accessing my windows partition through /mnt/windows -- but now, /mnt/windows is not there, and I can't figure out how to get to my Windows documents.

Another site suggested I do "mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows" under root, and I did, but it's telling me "unknown filesystem type 'ntfs'."

Any and all help appreciated.

You need to install the ntfs drivers. Check www.fedorafaq.org for instructions.

Okay, that worked, thanks -- but now for some reason I have TWO versions of FC5 listed in GRUB. I have the same amount of hard drive space in the linux partition, so I'm assuming that's normal, or at least not a huge problem.

But what is a problem -- and this, I regret to say, is where I'll start sound like a linux newbie -- is that I can only access /mnt/windows as root.

It's easy enough to explain, but just to make sure, could you post your grub.conf (you'll find it under /boot/grub/grub.conf)
I suppose you have used yum to update and installed a new kernel so now you have the access entries to both kernels in your grub.

As for /mnt/windows how do you mount it?
try adding umask=000 to your fstab

# grub.conf generated by anaconda
#
# Note that you do not have to rerun grub after making changes to this file
# NOTICE: You have a /boot partition. This means that
# all kernel and initrd paths are relative to /boot/, eg.
# root (hd0,1)
# kernel /vmlinuz-version ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00
# initrd /initrd-version.img
#boot=/dev/hda
default=2
timeout=5
splashimage=(hd0,1)/grub/splash.xpm.gz
hiddenmenu
title Fedora Core (2.6.16-1.2122_FC5)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.16-1.2122_FC5 ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.16-1.2122_FC5.img
title Fedora Core (2.6.15-1.2054_FC5)
root (hd0,1)
kernel /vmlinuz-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5 ro root=/dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00 rhgb quiet
initrd /initrd-2.6.15-1.2054_FC5.img
title Other
rootnoverify (hd0,0)
chainloader +1



As for how I mount windows, as I said, I use "mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/windows" -- but I'm hoping there's a better way, something that will make windows mount automatically at startup?

Take a closer look at your grub.conf. There are two entries titled 'fedora' but they both point to the same partition ((hd0,1) and the kernel numbers are different. You installed a kernel update and can now choose which kernel you want to boot; the older one or the one you updated to.

As for automatic mounting, you can do that by including the partition you wish to mount plus some extra information in your fstab file (/etc/fstab)

Try adding:

/dev/hda1 /mnt/windows ntfs defaults,umask=000 0 0

and then to mount (unless you reboot):
$mount /dev/hda1
or
$mount /mnt/windows

My gf pointed me to an ubuntu wiki before you posted that, and that solved the mounting windows problem. As for the double-fedora, I'll give that a shot, but it's barely even a nuisance right now, so I'm not too worried.

Thanks very much. :-)

Actually the double entry is a failsafe in case the newer kernel doesn't boot properly or gives you some hardware problems.

If you don't want to see the screen that asks you to choose a kernel, either add 'quiet' to the kernel line (the second kernel line already has it) or change the timeout to 0 (the first is the safer option)

If you want to get rid of the second entry you could uninatsll the older kernel using yum (or yumex), which will also chenge your grub.conf to reflect the changes.

Since LQ is a place people come not only to ask questions but also to read other people's solutions, it would be a good idea to explain how you solved your own problem, or exactly what worked for you.