I have read 5 other posts regarding /etc/fstab entries which all list similar entries to the one suggested to me. I can't figure out HOW to get into it or where to put the entry within that file.

I can cd into /etc but can go no further. If fstab is in the /etc dir, but fstab isn't a dir then it must be a file? If so, it should open, no?

"I picked a bad week to stop drinking coffee."

It's a text file which you can edit using a text editor such as nano, vi, vim, gedit, kate etc. On command line you can do:
Normally you don't have to edit /etc/fstab as it's done automatically during installation. Using this file kernel mounts filesystem at different mount points mentioned in each line of the file.

Entries or fields in '/etc/fstab' file are separated by spaces or tabs. You can read up on 'fstab' here or just type 'man fstab' on command line.

You can find out if a file is a text/ASCII file or not, by checking it with 'file':
Good introduction to Linux.

Edit: '/etc/fstab' can only be changed by 'root' user. When you ask question please mention which distro you are using, it just helps to give an answer that best suits you.

1 members found this post helpful.

As said above using nano (command line text edtior) is the easiest to learn from new linux users. I personally recommend vim editor, but is more complicated.

When editing fstab, besure you have a live disk availible so you can mount and correct fstab if for some reason you make a mistake and can no longer boot.

Also if your using a GUI based Desktop, you can use things such as gedit.

1 members found this post helpful.

Thank you so much for your assistance. The links are very informative, I appreciate your kindness (sorry I didn't mention the distro)

I have Linux Mint 15. When I enabled the 1T drive, I didn't change /etc/fstab before I upgraded. I get "low memory" error messages with the system installed on the 16GB drive and am trying (rather clumsily) to fix the problem.

b.