Hi all,

I am currently running Debian3.0 using kernel 2.2.20. When trying to mount a floppy I get the error:
"fs type vfat not supported by kernel"

So I used the following steps to install the vfat module:

1) cd /usr/src/linux
2) make menuconfig
3) Go to Filesystems section and choose to modularize vfat (and other DOS-type filesystems)
4) Save the configuration
5) Run the following commands "make dep", "make modules" and "make modules_install"
6) Type "modprobe vfat"

At this point the module installation fails with the error msg that

"You are trying to load a module without a GPL compatible license and it has unresolved symbols. Contact the module supplier for assistance, only they can help you."

Anyone know how to fix this?

Happy Christmas,
Decster

Where did your /usr/src/linux/ come from?

Typically on a Debian system, you want to use make-kpkg to build a kernel or modules. It was a couple years of using Debian before I learned of this, myself. :-7

You definitely should not be getting that error on trying to load the vfat module if it was linked against the kernel you're actually running!

Try installing a newer kernel. You can simply install the right kernel for your hardware with apt-get or dselect. Debian 3.0 provides a series of 2.4.18 kernels. Otherwise download the latest kernel-source (2.4.20) untar it into /usr/local/src/ and do a full kernel compile and install.

vfat support should be in the default debian 2.2.20.

Have you run modconf, and then under fs (i think) there is vfat...

Iocain:
Yeah, I was just using a generic How-To for kernel configuration. Any recommendation as to where I could find a Debian specific one?

Aliensub:
I ran modconf and tried to install the modules that way but I still get the error msg as described above when I attempt to load mods for fat and msdos

Ook, yngwin has a good point: Just 'apt-get install kernel-image-2.4.20-386' (or substitute '686' or 'k6' or 'k7' if you have a P4 or AMD K6 or Athlon/Duron, respectively). That will get you the latest 2.4 kernel, which I believe fixes a serious issue from 2.4.19, and it should come with working vfat, fat, and msdos modules!

Thanks, I'll download the latest kernel and see how it goes. As a matter of interest was there a know vfat problem with pre 2-4.19 kernels?

I was running 2.4.19 and using vfat without trouble. So I'd say not. :-)