I inserted the USB pin and looked for it. Please read the following:


[nissanka@c83-250-110-112 ~]$ cd /mnt
[nissanka@c83-250-110-112 mnt]$ ls
cdrom/
floppy/
KINGSTON/ '
win_c/
win_d/
[nissanka@c83-250-110-112 mnt]$
---------------------------------------------------------------

The ' KINGSTON ' means the USB pin. In fact, I bought a Kingston memory module.

I just open the word processor and wrote a few sentences and saved in the following manner.

/mnt/KINGSTON/Rotten1001.doc

It worked fine. I could save the file.

So it is not necssary to mount your USB memory when you want to save a document/letter.
Is it always the case? Please tell me.

The following didn't work. Why is it?

---------------------------------------
[root@c83-250-110-112 nissanka]# mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/KINGSTON
mount: /dev/sda1 already mounted or /mnt/KINGSTON busy
mount: according to mtab, /dev/sda1 is already mounted on /mnt/KINGSTON
[root@c83-250-110-112 nissanka]#

I need your help.
Let us say I have a tarball on my system and I want to save it on the USB.

How do I do it?

As the message tells you, /dev/sda1 is mounted on /mnt/KINGSTON. You don't need to mount the device, since it's already mounted. Just do your reading/writing and then unmount the device before unplugging it (see michaelk's post earlier on about why).

Edit: you can just copy your tarball to /mnt/KINGSTON, e.g. "cp filename.tar.gz /mnt/KINGSTON".

i want you to read and learn how to understand man pages so that you can do that whenever you have trouble with other commands...
the reason is stated below the command issued: device busy!
all you need to do is read what the app is telling you and in this case it is a pretty simple message ... busy... like calling a phone number and it is 'busy' - it is in use!!

further more the man pages also help to understand how to use a command (e.g. what -t stands for, what you can specify with -t, other options you may need to set, etc, etc)

man pages are setup quite simply, you have different sections talking about different things:
[NAME] name of the command and a brief description
[SYNOPSIS] overview of how to use the command (e.g. in which order parameters need to be passed)
BTW parameters are also called arguments. in your mount command 'mount /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom' the arguments would be /dev/cdrom and /mnt/cdrom - basically everything that follows the actual name of the command (though there are exeptions but i will not explain that now)

continuing on the man page layout:
[DESCRIPTION] an into depth description of the command, explaining all you will ever need to know (at this stage)
[OPTIONS] detaild usage of the arguments you may need or have to use and how to use them (ie. -t)
[FILES] this section give you a list of files (inc full path) and what they are for - in correspondance with the actual command (i.e. /etc/fstab - dont muck around with this file as you might 'break' you sys - muck means opening in write mode :-))
[SEE ALSO] other man pages that might contain more information if you still have no answer to you question

[BUGS] problems, notes, etc

there may be a few more sections but these are the basics and usually always available
and nearly always in that same order


so - if you do not know what a command does - you can simply check the man page (man <command>) and read what it says in the NAME section (at the top of the man page)
if you know what the command does and you know you want to use it, just dont know exactly how to and or if you need to for example tell mount that the mounted filesystem should be read only the OPTIONS section is what you want to take a quike look at
you only read what you currently need and if you know you need to use a command but have absolutley know clue whatsoever on how to use it and why and i-dont-know-what, the DESCRIPTION section most certainly is for you - in the case (mount) it is also your section

i hope this give you a good start for reading man pages - assuming you dont mind reading this post and assuming this post is not too much to read

read the f...... comments underneath the command you issued!
appologies if this should seem a little unpatient - but you do need to read what a program is telling you - in this case it is telling you
learn following: output on your terminal which is not what you have typed is usually about a command or programm giving you information to let you know something as or has not happend - in this case mount is letting you know '/dev/sda1 already mounted'
wow - would you have guessed

It was my understanding that Mandriva is a distro of Linux which is not necessary to mount your CD Rom drive.

I think they market Mandriva by telling it is not necssary to mount your CD.


1. The Windows side of the computer mount by default.

2. The USB pin doesn't need any mounting.

3. The CD Rom needs mounting.

I can't understand the discrepancy among the above.