weird Floppy problem
 

I have installed RedHat 7.0 (know it is not last release)

The machine with Linux is, for the moment, a test machine.

1 HD
1 CD-rom
1 floppy
1 ethernet card
(+ standard card: video, ide controller)

I want to access a RPM file I downloaded from the internet (on an other machine, a windows 98 one)

The problem is when I try a ls command on /mnt/floppy it gives me garbage characters + a message saying FAT is corupted.

I used mount -t vfat /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy
(I also change the /etc/fstab file so the floppy uses vfat (tried msdos also) )

I know the floppy works since I used it to boot the install.
Have tried another windows 98 floppy.
I have tried to reformat the floppy (in windows 98)

Last weird thing i noticed: if there are NO files on the floppy, linux is able to read the FAT and to write a file on the floppy (file that I cannot see in windows by the way)


To resume : my linux system is unable to read any disk made from windows 98 that contains a file.

Please help, I am starting to be desperate!!

That's just wierd. RH never gave me problems with floppsies. Good post by the way, mentioning what you've tried. I wish more folks would do that ;)

Have you tried auto, and maybe just fat? vfat would be 32bit which floppies don't do.

Have tried the mount -t fat /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy command
Says the file system is unknow. (he does not recognise fat as a valid file system).

Thanks for the help anyway!

If anyone as another idea, please dont hesitate!

I ham still looking for a solution for my floppy problem and I have been searchin throught this board and other for it.

I might have a solution : could it be possible that the vfat and msdos filesystem support is not installed???

If so, how do I install that support.

I would have thought that fat/vfat/whateverfat support is enabled by default in RH7.0, try typing insmod vfat before mounting the drive.

Also, check what the /dev/fd0 is linked to.

Just to see, try:
dd if=/dev/fd0 of=floppyimage
mount -o loop floppyimage /mnt/floppy
(Takes a copy of the floppy disk and saves it as a file, then mounts the file instead of the device)

Try this as Psycho said:

mount -t auto /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy

or this:

mkfs -t vfat -c /dev/fd0H1440

I'm not sure about RH 7's kernel support for vfat IMO support should be there but if it isn't you will have to recompile the kernel and enable msdos/vfat. You can also do a lsmod and see what modules are loaded.

Nah, forget all that mounting the floppy crap :)

Just use "mdir a:" and "mcopy a:file1 /tmp/file1"

thanks for all the help but I just downloaded 7.2 version. I'm going to fully reformat and re-install. If the problem persist, I'll repost.

Just to let u know:

About that insmod vfat command, I tried it and It gave me an error, so I suspect there might be something corupted.

And SixPax, could you be a little bit clearer, I don't understand what you mean.

Again, thanks for all the advise.

You can use the following commands without mounting the floppy:

/usr/bin/mcat
/usr/bin/mcd
/usr/bin/mcheck
/usr/bin/mcomp
/usr/bin/mcopy
/usr/bin/mdel
/usr/bin/mdeltree
/usr/bin/mdir
/usr/bin/mdu
/usr/bin/mformat
/usr/bin/minfo
/usr/bin/mkmanifest
/usr/bin/mlabel
/usr/bin/mmd
/usr/bin/mmount
/usr/bin/mmove
/usr/bin/mpartition
/usr/bin/mrd
/usr/bin/mread
/usr/bin/mren
/usr/bin/mshowfat
/usr/bin/mtools
/usr/bin/mtoolstest
/usr/bin/mtype
/usr/bin/mxtar
/usr/bin/mzip

You can do a man on each one to see how it works.

That's the 'mtools', for messing with dos filesystems if I remember right?
I've never used them, just didn't see a need. But that's a preference thing, one of the joys of Linux... Use whatever floats your boat ;)

Exactly Psycho... I can't tell you how many times I mounted a floppy, did some work, then ejected it without umounting it. Finally I started using the "mtools" more and more and now I don't even consider mounting a floppy :D

Thanks for that mtool tip. Did not know I could access a floppy without mounting it !!

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!!

New Problem!!!
 

To my utmost frustration and despair :cry: , I' m now having problems mountin the CD-Rom as well (I have upgraded my system to Red Hat 7.2)

If you have any idea please dont hesitate!! :p
(cliick on link to be taken to the related post)

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=18219

(please submit ideas on the new post as I would not want to double the posts! Think the admin might not like it, know I would not like it if it was done on my board!!):)

I couldn't mount a cd either.....
 

I couldn't mount a Cd-Rom Either. Then I figured out that sometimes the cd shows up as /dev/sda or /dev/sdb. It shows up as a SCSI device for some odd reason.