why can't i mount my drives
 

here is my fstab

# This is a root linux ext2 partition:
/dev/hdb2 / ext2 errors=remount-ro,defaults 0 1
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0
none /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/hdc,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0
none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=auto,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,codepage=850,umask=0 0 0
/dev/hdd1 /mnt/hd2 auto user,noauto,umask=0,exec 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
# The 'sw' option indicates that the swap partition is to be activated
# with 'swapon -a'.
/dev/hdb1 swap swap sw 0 0
/dev/hda1 /mnt/hd auto user,noauto,umask=0,exec 0 0


I get a file system error on hda and hdd, they were formatted as ext2

Here is my fdisk
root@localhost kevin]# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/ide/host0/bus1/target1/lun0/disc: 1281 MB, 1281181696 bytes
64 heads, 63 sectors/track, 620 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 4032 * 512 = 2064384 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/ide/host0/bus1/target1/lun0/part1 * 1 620 1249857 83 Linux
/dev/ide/host0/bus1/target1/lun0/part2 1 620 1249888+ 5 Extended
/dev/ide/host0/bus1/target1/lun0/part5 * 1 620 1249857 83 Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/disc: 2564 MB, 2564352000 bytes
128 heads, 63 sectors/track, 621 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8064 * 512 = 4128768 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target0/lun0/part1 1 621 2503840+ 83 Linux

Disk /dev/ide/host0/bus0/target1/lun0/disc: 3228 MB, 3228696576 bytes
128 heads, 63 sectors/track, 782 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 8064 * 512 = 4128768 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target1/lun0/part1 1 121 487840+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/ide/host0/bus0/target1/lun0/part2 122 782 2665152 83 Linux

Thanks, this is in mandrake

You refer to them as hda and hdd, have you partitioned them correctly? (it is possible to create a filesystem (or format, as you say) to the actual disk (that is, not having any partitions, only raw data), but it is not recommended.

hmm.. your partition tables look ok. What command says? It should say something about ext2 filesystem. If not, the filesystem is not made correctly. You can create one with a command

I am going to try to start from scratch, one drive and then add the others after the system is installed

I switched my drives around and only have 2 now and reinstalled. It seems OK now.

Thanks for the advice, I am sure more questions will be coming :-)