How do open my USB drive?

therealkilkenny · 12-09-2005, 05:43 AM

I don't know much.

I just put Suse 10.0 on my computer and i don't know linux AT ALL!

I've got a Sony Micro Vault that i want to use. I plug it in but then what? (in windows a window pops up and lets you access it). How do i open it?

Thanks

nbd · 12-09-2005, 06:14 AM

Is your USB ports disabled from BIOS?

What does usbview say? (run usbview from command line, feel free to ask if you don't know how)

Try Knoppix, it should have good support for usb hotplugging.

therealkilkenny · 12-09-2005, 06:23 AM

Hi,

USB ports shouldn't be disabled as they work in winXP (dual boot machine).

How do you run usbview?

Where do i get a command line from (i am assuming that it is similar to a dos prompt in windows)?

What do i need to type into the command line?

Thanks

lostn1slinux · 12-09-2005, 06:30 AM

your usb drive will show up by a pop up window saying something to the effect of suse harware detect has detected.... would you like to open? this is how it works when i plug my usb flash drive in also if i boot it eith it in it shows in the desktop under the my computer icon. i run KDE so it might differ if you run gnome or another windows manger. check to see if the drive is mounted if not then right click on icon and click mount

therealkilkenny · 12-09-2005, 06:40 AM

Thanks.

How do i check to see if the drive is mounted? Where do i find it?

I am using KDE. No pop-up window however. Is there a reason for this?

pixellany · 12-09-2005, 07:50 AM

First, get familiar with the terminal (command line). Terminal will be in one of your desktop menus--make a shortcut to it and put in some prominent place.

usbview is not on my Ubuntu install--maybe its specific to SUSE? Anyhow, when anyone tells you to run XYZ command, just type it in the terminal window. To learn more about the command, type "man XYZ"

Do you have an icon on menu entry that says "My computer", computer, or something similar? If so the drive might be there.

More complex tips once you have a few basics down....

SPo2 · 12-09-2005, 07:51 AM

Hi,

u can look into the : /etc/fstab file....
while u insert the usb drive.

& see if it lists your usb drive...

nbd · 12-09-2005, 08:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therealkilkenny

How do you run usbview?

From KDE, press Alt+F2 (or was it Shift+F2), and type usbview.
If nothing starts, you don't have it installed. Go to yast and figure out how to install it. I remember yast has some search functionalities you can use to locate the usbview package.

Quote:

Where do i get a command line from (i am assuming that it is similar to a dos prompt in windows)?

From 'start' menu, you should find 'Shell' somewhere. Better to include it in the taskbar (Right-Click task bar -> Add Application -> ... [the shell from the start menu]

Quote:

What do i need to type into the command line?

A bit of courage and knowledge, that's all!

nbd · 12-09-2005, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therealkilkenny

I am using KDE. No pop-up window however. Is there a reason for this?

It could be that hal and dbus are not running. The kernel is 2.6 in suse 10, right? Hal does not work on 2.4 series.

I don't know about the basic install of suse 10.0 whether it uses dbus and hal, but I'd guess that it uses.

Maybe they are not started by default.

Start shell:

Code:

su
[asks for root password]
ps -x |grep dbus
ps -x |grep hal

If you see the processes from the output, they are running. If ps -x |grep dbus does not give any output, they are not running.

(I'm not 100% sure if this is the way to see their running status)

nbd · 12-09-2005, 08:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by therealkilkenny

Thanks.
How do i check to see if the drive is mounted? Where do i find it?

from shell:

Code:

cat /etc/fstab

that will print out the fstab.

less /etc/fstab

works also. Less is like a text file viewer that has powerful searching capabilities, it does not modify the files. Quits with q

pixellany · 12-09-2005, 12:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nbd

from shell:

Code:

cat /etc/fstab

that will print out the fstab.

less /etc/fstab

works also. Less is like a text file viewer that has powerful searching capabilities, it does not modify the files. Quits with q

Ummmm--I don't think so:

fstab shows what is **defined**

mtab shows what is **mounted**

not the same thing.......

nbd · 12-09-2005, 02:39 PM

Oops. Yes, you are quite right. /etc/mtab is your friend