I just loaded slackware 9.0 and im new to linux all together . I love it so far and i want to use it as my server. I was running Windows 2000 Server on this machine before with 2 hard drives and the second one being only for my FTP server. I want linux to be able to see this second drive with all the data thats already there because i can't lose this data. Is there a way for linux to see this drive with all the data i have on it without having to change the file system on it? If so how, and also how do i mount this thing. Thanks in advance for some help.

Sure is ...
and depends on the file-system in use...

add
/dev/hdb1 /mnt/ftp vfat auto,user,rw 1 2
(or the like) to your /etc/fstab if it's a fat-partition.

Create the mount point you want to mount it to.

Change vfat to ntfs if that's what you have.

Be aware that ntfs can't be written to safely
from Linux..

Cheers,
Tink

thanks, ill give that a try...im new though remember so i gotta read what you wrote very carefully ...and don't be surprised if im back saying i don't understand!

how do i get into my fstab? im trying this:

cd /etc/fstab and it says directory does not exist.

thats not a directory thats a file

su root <-first command
cd /etc
<editor> fstab

Ok, everything is added. Now, how do i create the map point and what is a map point exactly and where would i want to create the map point?

It's mount point,
as root do a
mkdir /path_to_dir/dir
whereever you want it

Commonly it would be under /mnt

Cheers,
Tink

The (quick) Guide to mounting volumes by TexasDex:

DEVICE NAMES: Each partition has a device name that looks like /dev/hda3
The HD means it's a hard disk, the A means it's the first (master) hard disk, and the number means it's the third partition on the disk.
So to access the first partition on the second disk you would use the device /dev/hdb1

MOUNTING: Because Linux has only one Root directory (referred to by the symbol / ) every other partition must be mounted into a directory on that file structure. This is most obvious when you need to use a CD or floppy: There is no A: or D: drive but instead a /mnt/floppy and a /mnt/cdrom as the default points for mounting those external drives.

To mount a partition:
First you need to make the mount point (fancy name for a directory with a partition mounted on it)
Use this command:
mkdir /mnt/old_hd

To mount your windows partition you would use this command:
mount -t vfat /dev/hda1 /mnt/old_hd

REMEMBER: All linux commands are case-sensitive!

WARNING: Linux does not manage file permissions well with non ext2/3 file systems. I reccomend you move the files to another drive and reformat the partition as ext3.

I hope this helps.

<edit>
Information on /etc/fstab
FSTAB is a list of partitions to load when the computer boots. Each partition needs an entry there unless you don't mind mounting it manually (if you are not using the partition over a long period it isn't nessesary)
</edit>

i have a similar situation- added a slave hdd installed slackware 9.0. master hdd has a fubar'd damn small linux hdd instal on hda1. i am attempting to mount hda1 from slackware hdb1 w/ any luck. /dev/hda1 doesn't exist in /ect/fstab- so i am assuming that i need to mannually add it in there- i'm just not sure how to do this. hda1 has ext2 file system would it look like this or do i need to write something into /ect/fstab first before attempting this?- and whats the proper label for ext2 file system e2fs, or ext2fs, or something else?

i think i did it. i used this and then did 'ls /root/root', and see a specific file that is only on that hda1 partition. now i need to be able to somehow locate the specific files desired, copy and paste them (or use a command to make it happen) to hdb1. i'm still a bit lost. any input is appreciated.

edit- perhaps i should create aboot disk, or trouble shoot the hda1 partition, as it doesn't currently boot up. holy crap, like i'm a veteran linux user- don't i wish.

Copy command: cp

cp [options] file path
cp [options] file... directory

See 'man cp' for more details. Now you want them on your hdb1 disk so you'll need to mount that somewhere too. Suppose you mount that on /mnt/hdb1, then:

cp -R /root/root /mnt/hdb1

Will copy your /root/root directory to your /mnt/hdb1 directory, having specified -R to make it copy subdirectories recursively. If cp finishes succesfull, /mnt/hdb1/root will look identical to /root/root, with the addition of files that may have already been present on your hdb1 disk.

Hmm, maybe I should note: I am not responsible for any mistakes or any unwanted effects my instructions might have...

this is comforting.

perhaps i need to copy to temp for safety reasons, just to verify procedures?

> Be aware that ntfs can't be written to safely

I have a similar situation using windows 98

Can slackware safely write to fat32 ?
(mounted as vfat)

Yes, writing to FAT32 is stable enough that it can be enabled without hacking about. :-) Here's a line for /etc/fstab that mounts my FAT32 music partition (shared between Windows and Slackware), making it readable and writable by all users:

/dev/hda6 /mnt/music vfat defaults,umask=000 0 0

The umask=000 is for permissions stuff, I do not know if permissions on /mnt/music have any effect.

len:
If you have enough space on the partition with /tmp on it, sure try it and see what happens. I would try it with a small part though.

> Yes, writing to FAT32 is stable enough that it can be
> enabled without hacking about. :-)

Does Linux "know" that fat32 doesn't accept files larger than 2 GByte? Or do I eventually blow up the fat32 partition if I accidentally copy a larger file to it by Linux?