I have installed linux mandrake 9.1 and everything seems to be running fine (except this konquerer web browser seems a little slow). I do however want to be able to read files off of a backup hard drive I used. I installed it via IDE and it shows up on my desktop as unmounted and when I click it I am not able to view contents.

How would I go about this? I am sorry, I am a first day linux user.

BTW: Contents are all my digital images and video as well as some other personal documents.

Thanks for your help

Make sure that the NTFS module is loaded. Type modprobe ntfs at a prompt (probably Konsole for you)...
--Taj

The general idea is to create a mount point first in Mandrake then mount the filesystem from the partition on your back up drive to the mount point in Mandrake - you will then be able to see your files.

Linux sees IDE drives like this:

/dev/hda - drive on primary master channel
/dev/hdb - primary slave
/dev/hdc - secondary master
/dev/hdd - secondary slave

So - suppose your NTFS filesystem was on the first partition on your primary slave drive - Linux would see the partition as

/dev/hdb1

So you want to mount this filesystem to the mount point in Mandrake:

Open a shell and type :

su
Then type you root password – then type :

mkdir /mnt/windows

Then - open /etc/fstab with:

kedit /etc/fstab

Then - put an entry at the bottom of your /etc/fstab file on a new line - (just substitute in the device name of your Partition in place of my example one)

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/windows ntfs auto,ro,umask=0222 0 0

Once youve made the changes to Fstab - save it and reboot - this is only an example - youll have to repost to give me more details on whicj IDE channel your drive is on and what the partitions are to take it further.

MAndrake can read NTFS out of the box, so dont worry - you cant write to NTFS though - dont try it.

wow thanks for the great response

the drive shows up on my desktop as

Hard Disc
(hdb1) (not
mounted)

I believe there is one partition on the drive and it is NTFS. This partition was set up using XP but is not a system drive (has no system files, only backup data).

Thankyou for your help

ok

I have found out some more info

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/hd auto user,iocharset=iso8859-1,kudzu,codepage=850,noauto,umask=0,exec 0 0

I have this line in my fstab

I want this obviously to recognize my NTFX partition, but I dont want it to damage or corrupt it. Any help would be great.

Personaly - I would just create it form scratch using the info Ive given - however since youve got a line already in fstab try this first - alter your line to this:

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/hd ntfs auto,ro,umask=0222 0 0

and save the file, reboot your computer and check to see if the files are mounted.

repost and let me know - you can always put kudzu etc etc back in later if it doesnt like it.


( Or if you didnt want to mess much to start with then try just changing the

noauto option into

auto

Also Ive changed the 3rd field to ntfs try this line first:

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/hd ntfs user,iocharset=iso8859-1,kudzu,codepage=850,auto,umask=0,exec 0 0

I am going to try this however when I do try I am not able to save it. I assume this is because I am logged in as my user name as opposed to root. How do I get into root access for this file. I went to permissions but was not allowed to change the settings.

Hi Was

Open a shell and type :

su
Then type you root password

open /etc/fstab with:

kedit /etc/fstab


Also - read my edit above - try this one first -

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/hd ntfs user,iocharset=iso8859-1,kudzu,codepage=850,auto,umask=0,exec 0 0

If you still need to try this one last

/dev/hdb1 /mnt/hd ntfs auto,ro,umask=0222 0 0

this is what I get

[j@clt88-151-086 j]$ su
Password:
[root@clt88-151-086 j]# kedit/etc/fstab
bash: kedit/etc/fstab: No such file or directory
[root@clt88-151-086 j]# cd etc/fstabb
bash: cd: etc/fstabb: No such file or directory
[root@clt88-151-086 j]# etc
bash: etc: command not found
[root@clt88-151-086 j]# dir
amsn_received Desktop Documents Mail msn tmp
[root@clt88-151-086 j]#

Hi Was

In general - you edit configuration files as root user by

Opening a command line shell

Type

su

Then type you root password

Then type

editor filename

in your case its

kedit /etc/fstab

Was you need a single space between

kedit

and

/etc/fstab

i did that and i got no such file found

^^see above post

Did you have a single space between

kedit

and

/etc/fstab

?

ok i got ya there

however

when I do this I get a blank window

I already have a wrong line in there I need to remove...

So when you try to open /etc/fstab with kedit you get a blank window?

How did you get the fstab entry before which you posted?