Removed bad hard drive from computer, now flash drive won't mount.
 

I think my subject says it all.

I had 3 hd in a RAID1 array. I removed a failing drive and now my flash drive won't mount. I suspect it is related to the fact that now my flash drive gets /dev/sdc (before it was /dev/sdd).

Any ideas on how to make the flash drive mount all they time - even if I remove a drive? Is there a way to specify what /dev/sdX the usb ports can have? Is there a way to set aside a /dev/sdX to not allow my flash drive to get this?

Remove or uncomment incorrect info in /etc/fstab. You have a number of distro's in your profile, so I'm not sure which one this is.

With SuSE, if you have an entry for the device in /etc/fstab, then Hal won't mount it. For removable devices, if you want to have an /etc/fstab entry instead, use either "LABEL=" or "UUID=" instead for removable devices. Then if it is assigned a different device node, it will still mount. Be sure to use the "noauto" option. If you use the "user" or "users" option together with the "uid=" and "gid=" options then you wouldn't need to su to root to mount it and you could have it mounted in ~/.profile. Then it would be mounted when you log in.

I think your main problem is the /dev/sdc exists in /etc/fstab and the info is incorrect.

Monitor /var/log/messages with "sudo -f /var/log/messages" and plug in the device. There may be a reason given why it wasn't auto-mounted.

Thank you for the reply jschiwal!

I checked my /etc/fstab and was surprised to not find /dev/sdc. Here is my fstab:
I am going to try out using the "LABEL=" or "UUID=" and I'll post back with my results.

P.S. This is happening with my debian system, however, the solution should be the same I suspect.

I'm having difficulty finding the uuid of the usb flash drive. I'm used to seeing a directory under /dev/disk called by-uuid. But for some reason (probably just the way it is with debian) there is no "by-uuid" directory.

How would I find out what the flash drive's uuid is?

This is my /var/log/messages:
The errors continue on for quite a while. I believe my RAID is to blame. If I had to guess I would assume that it is trying to add /dev/sdc to the array but obviously the flash drive is not big enough.

I would like to get rid of these error messages, but perhaps this is the way mdadm is once it is told that there should be 3 drives there and one is missing.

Back to the uuid issue:
Here is what I find in /dev/disk:
None of those look like a uuid to me. I'm stuck... any advice?

In terminal type "blkid", should show uuid for all partitions.

Now that is a handy command! I have got to remember that one.

Unfortunately... with the flash drive plugged in (it should be /dev/sdc)...
That's all I get.

I'm gonna mess with mdadm. I blame it. I think I'm going to have to convince it that there isn't a spare drive. I'll just add it back later... we'll see what happens.

poor kernel compile was the culprit. I'm an idiot.
 

I wanted to thank you guys for all your advice. I must admit I learned some things. So that's always good.

It turned out the whole problem was ibtk (idiot behind the keyboard). I compiled my own kernel about a week or so ago and had no problem using a card reader so far. But then I bought a flash drive and that was a no go.

I (on a whim) booted up the original kernel just a few minutes ago and the flash drive worked like a charm. I'm going to take another look at what I did wrong with the kernel compile and will hopefully post what change makes it work (or not work).

Thank you everyone for your time.