root@CDC:~# mount -a -t msdos /dev/sda1 /mnt/USB
mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sda1,
missing codepage or other error
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try
dmesg | tail or so


no... Still it's not working.. by the way.. i am not using any security program for my thumb drive..

rjrouquette, what can i do??

root@CDC:~# mount -a -t msdos /dev/sda /mnt/USB
mount: /dev/sda is not a valid block device


No, Tom.. i guess sda1 is OK.. Thank you very much for your suggestion... any more idea how to make this ThumbDrive working???

rjrouquette,

I only once tried to use my USB Drive for Windows XP (Professional Edition) Wireless Networking... Windows copied some files in Thumb.. and after that i didn't format the drive.. only I did is I deleted some files from my THUMB... thats it...

Thank You

The first thing you should do is:
This will show you all drives (even hard drives), and their partitions that linux can see.

The reason you should do this first is:
1. If linux can't see the drive/partition at the time you are trying to mount it (regardless of the 'dmesg' output), then the mount will fail.
2. It removes any uncertainty as to whether /dev/sda1 is truly the device file you should be using.

Please post output here if possible.

If linux can see the partition, but just not mount it, then I would repartition/reformat the thumb drive using fdisk or cfdisk in linux. It's possible that Windows did something wrong (or non-standard) when it formatted it that linux isn't liking. Of course, backup all your data using your XP machine before formatting the thing.

Step one is to repartition. To do that:
fdisk /dev/sda
Once in fdisk these are the relevant one-letter commands to use:
'p' to print partition information
'd' to delete a partition
'c' to create a partition
't' to change a partition's type
'w' to write/save changes

So go into fdisk with the command above. Use 'p' to show partition. Use 'd' to delete the partition. Use 'c' to create a new parititon (tell it you want primary partition, number 1). By default it will assign the partition a type-code for linux filesystem. To change that , type 'c', then when it prompts you for the filesystem code, type c again (this is to mark it as a fat32 partition with lba). Then type 'w' to write the changes to the partition table (commit/save them).

PLEASE be absolutely, positively sure that
a) You are working off your flash drive and not your hard drive. Note that SATA drives also use the /dev/sda, /dev/sdb, etc naming scheme.
b) Have all your data backed up (always plan for the worst).


After your are done creating the new partition, you can't mount/use it until you format it with the fat32 filesystem.
Typeing (as root):
should do the trick

After that you should be able to mount/use/enjoy your flash drive.


Hope this helps. Let us know the results.

I'll hold off until you try WindowBreaker's advice. It sounds good.

Sorry guys,, I am late... actually my UNIVERSITY exams were going on!! but within this week i will try WindowBreaker Suggested sollution!! thanx a lot to all of you to helping me a lot!!

Take Care

Keep in Tauch

DdOs

WindowBreaker,

I tried your way.. and the result is as follows:

root@CDC:/home/n4jib# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 65 MB, 65536000 bytes
3 heads, 42 sectors/track, 1015 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 126 * 512 = 64512 bytes

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 ? 6175682 15235283 570754815+ 72 Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(357, 116, 40) logical=(6175681, 2, 19)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 45) logical=(15235282, 0, 7)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 ? 1338806 16704110 968014120 65 Novell Netware 386
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(288, 115, 43) logical=(1338805, 2, 9)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(367, 114, 50) logical=(16704109, 0, 28)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda3 ? 14840330 30205633 968014096 79 Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(366, 32, 33) logical=(14840329, 0, 12)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 32, 43) logical=(30205632, 0, 25)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda4 ? 22902232 22902672 27749+ d Unknown
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(372, 97, 50) logical=(22902231, 1, 5)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(0, 10, 0) logical=(22902671, 2, 21)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/hda: 80.0 GB, 80059342336 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9733 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/hda1 * 1 1530 12289693+ c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/hda2 1531 9732 65882565 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/hda5 1531 3315 14337981 b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda6 3316 5227 15358108+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda7 5228 7139 15358108+ b W95 FAT32
/dev/hda8 7140 7245 851413+ 83 Linux
/dev/hda9 7246 7310 522081 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda10 7311 7375 522081 82 Linux swap
/dev/hda11 7376 9732 18932571 83 Linux

Now, I guess Linux can see but can't IDENTIFY my USB Drive properly.. am I right?? Now what to do NEXT?? any other way?? Waiting for your Reply...

rjrouquette, Any suggestion??

Thank You

DdOs

Have you tried reformatting the drive on your windows machine?

With Mandrake, I plug in my USB Drive, an icon appears on my screen and I click on it. Konqueror pops up showing my files and that's it.

can you post your /etc/fstab file? and do you use default (2.4) kernel?

can you mount normal (non flash) usb stick? my normal usb drive is /dev/sdc (sda is my SATA drive) and /dev/sdc1 is my usb flash drive. try this, make two directories. one /mnt/usb for normal usb drive, and second /mnt/usb_flash for usb flash drive. than add this lines to your /etc/fstab file:

/dev/sdc /mnt/usb vfat defaults,sync,rw,user,auto 0 0
/dev/sdc1 /mnt/usb_flash vfat defaults,sync,rw,user,auto 0 0

yes, one more thing. you need to load module for usb-storage support. just uncomment line with '/sbin/modprobe usb-storage' in /etc/rc.d/rc.modules file. and if you have done everything what i sad before, then for the first time (before reboot) you have to mount your drives with command mount /mnt/usb (or /mnt/usb_flash). after reboot it should work automatically becouse of auto option in fstab file. i mean you can just click on the usb icon and it should work automatically.
if you still have problems after that, then try to upgrade on 2.6 kernel. i am not sure whether i achive to get my usb flash drive to work with default kernel. can't remember...