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Old 03-03-2005, 12:13 PM   #1
ditch*
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file-system compatible with Linux/Windows


Hej!


I have Win2000 and VectorLinux installed on my computer.

And I need to have a drive that both systems recognise.

Right now I have an 8.5 GB drive that has FAT 32 as its filesystem.

It works well with Windows, but I can't do anything with it on Linux.


... When I mount the drive on linux, I can see all the files on the drive, but I can't execute them. I can't move them either. And I can't put anything onto the drive.


the command I use (as a superuser) is:

mount -t vfat /dev/hda2 /mnt/windows



So is the filesystem totally incompatible?
- And I should reformat the drive and use a totally different FS

Or do I have to play around with Linux first and get away with not messing with the drive itself

Or should I just simply format the drive as FAT 32 in Linux. And then hope that Windows recognises it?


Thanks !!

Grisha.



PS: The error message I get in Linux when I try to do something with the files on that drive is: File system not supported

PPS: When I open the drive, the folders are not recognised as directories, but rather like other files.
 
Old 03-03-2005, 12:24 PM   #2
Stealth870
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Thats strange, iirc Fat32 is perfectly compatible with both. It must be something with mounting then. I know Knoppix is able to edit my FAT32 USB key, and so can Windows
 
Old 03-03-2005, 12:28 PM   #3
satinet
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Hello,

This set up is perfectly possible - I have the same thing on my pc and it runs fine...

Can i see your /etc/fstab?

show me yours and I'll show you mine....

Seriously, It sounds like there might be a problem with the formatting of the drive or the way Linux is addressing it.

I'm not sure why you can't write to it - but it may have something to do with the umask setting on your system - don't forget FAT32 can't have permissions (genius!!!).

Code:
/dev/hda9        /fat-e           vfat        auto,gid=100,umask=000   1   0
That's mine - as you can see it gives everyone open access to the partition. I don't really need the gid=100 (group ID) do I. But I guess don't fix what's not broken...

Anyway, I suspect it's not that - but i wanted to eliminate it.........


Other than that is the FAT32 file system properly supported in your Kernel? I guess so or you would not even be able to see the files - but check it out if you formatted the disk yourself..........
 
Old 03-04-2005, 03:28 AM   #4
ditch*
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... I have just realised that, weirdly enough, I can mount my FAT 32 USB flash-disk in both Linux and Windows...

anyway, here goes /etc/fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# The following is an example. Please see fstab(5) for further details.
# Please refer to mount(1) for a complete description of mount options.
#
# Format:
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
#
# dump(8) uses the <dump> field to determine which file systems need
# to be dumped. fsck(8) uses the <pass> column to determine which file
# systems need to be checked--the root file system should have a 1 in
# this field, other file systems a 2, and any file systems that should
# not be checked (such as MS-initrd/mnt or NFS file systems) a 0.

# This is a root linux ext2 partition:
/dev/hda4 / ext2 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1

# This is a linux ext2 partition:
#/dev/hda2 /mnt/linux ext2 defaults 0 2

# The 'noauto' option indicates that the file system should not be mounted
# with 'mount -a' 'user' indicates that normal users are allowed to mount
# the file system.
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy subfs fs=vfat:ext2,rw 0 0
#/dev/fd1 /mnt/floppy auto defaults,noauto,user 0 0

# If you have a ls-120 floppy drive, it could be on /dev/hda b c d etc.
#/dev/hdd /mnt/ls120 auto defaults,noauto,user 0 0

# NFS file systems:
#linux01.gwdg.de:/suse/6.3/i386.de /mnt/nfs nfs defaults 0 0

# proc file system:
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /sys sysfs defaults 0 0


# Unix98 devpts filesystem:
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=666 0 0

# Shared memory filesystem:
#none /var/shm shm defaults 0 0
# Basic USB filesystem
usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb usbdevfs defaults,noauto 0 0

# For dos partition use type 'msdos'.
# For win95/98 fat16 or FAT32 partition use type 'vfat'.

# The 'sw' option indicates that the swap partition is to be activated
# with 'swapon -a'.
/dev/hda3 none swap sw 0 0

# Swap file:
#/swap none swap sw 0 0

/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom subfs fs=auto,user,ro 0 0



Thanks !!!
 
Old 03-04-2005, 03:42 AM   #5
satinet
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Well, I'm so glad i use slackware. What kind of file is that :-S

I presume it's SuSE.

Anyway, it's pretty clear that there is no mention of your FAT32 partition in /etc/fstab....

Add this line to your /etc/fstab
Code:
/dev/hda2        /mnt/windows           vfat        auto,gid=100,umask=000   1   0
Then run mount -a

Does that make any difference.....
 
Old 03-04-2005, 09:33 AM   #6
ditch*
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YES !

It works !

Thank you ever so much !

Best,

Grisha.
 
Old 03-04-2005, 09:35 AM   #7
satinet
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Okay that's good.

I hope you understand why....

Umask sets default permissions - 000 translates to 777

You're /etc/fstab file wasn't set up properly basically........
 
  


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