Ok. I came to tell that i succeeded in mounting the cd-rom drive

Glad to see there are new replies.

Thanks wilson, but i have tried that and no luck.

Alien Bob, I am about to go try what you said.


Quick question:
When i open "System" (i think thats what its called....thr equivalent to My Computer in windows), i see CD ROM, Floppy, Hard Disk.

When i mount the USB drive, will it show up there? How would i access it if it doesn't?


Thanks again all. going to try Alien Bob's method, brb.

Ok im back.

fisk -l gave me this: (leaving out the blocks and ID)

/dev/sda1 NTFS
/dev/sd2 W95 ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sd5 swap
/dev/sd6 linux


so, i couldnt do as you said, mount sda1 into mnt/usb because sda1 is my windows partition.

modprobe usb-storage didn't show any results.

also, i don't see anything related to USB under fstab. doesn't it have to be listed there before i can mount?

When I did my first boot of Linux (Slackware), I noticed that not only was my USB key not mounted, I just couldn't seem to find it. Someone pointed me to /var/log/messages. I scrolled through it, finally near the end I saw some lines similar to this:

Vendor: CENTON Model: PDU13_512 59G2.0 Rev: 0.00
SCSI device sda: 1024000 512-byte hdwr sectors (524 MB)
SCSI device sda: 1024000 512-byte hdwr sectors (524 MB)
Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi2

It basically told me that my USB key was sda. I'm guessing your sda1 is your Windows partition (NTFS), /dev/sd2 W95 ext'd (LBA) is just noting that the rest of the drive is an extended partition. I think the last two are labeled with appropriate descriptions.

I don't own one, but it looks like your drive is SATA. Hence the labelling. I would take a look at the above mentioned file, and see if you can't track down what your USB key is named.

Then I think you can do the commands you tried earlier:

mount /dev/??? /mnt/usb (since you already have that directory)

If that still doesn't help you, and you can't seem to find your USB, perhaps you don't have a kernel that supports USB. What distro, name/version are you running?

On the fstab question, I think this is for the boot process. Somebody correct me if I am wrong, I would guess that adding your USB to fstab, would only do you good if you have the right device name listed.

What distro are you using .nu?

I had a similar problem to what you are having when i first setup slackware on this machine.
I would first check that the USB device is getting power ?
if you have an optical USB mouse, try Plugging it in. will give a good idea whether the device is in fact receiving power... If the optical light doesnt turn on then odds are that 'part of' your issue is that the ports are not configured properly..
* I could see the ports fine in KDE as USB enabled ports but i had however made one fatal floor when compiling the kernel.
I left out OHCI when i made the first .config
# USB Host Controller Drivers
CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD
CONFIG_USB_OHCI_HCD
CONFIG_USB_UHCI_HCD

# USB support
CONFIG_USB_ARCH_HAS_HCD=y
CONFIG_USB_ARCH_HAS_OHCI=y
CONFIG_USB=m

Without OHCI enabled, USB2 devices did not seem to work. My wireless mouse and USB Key would not power-on. Now both work fine.
I have also created a device shortcut on my Xwindows desktop to mount /dev/sda1 - FSTAB didnt like it for some reason (definaltey something im doing wrong tho i think )

Hi guys,
Thanks for replying. I am using Slackware.

Here is the thing - My keyboard and mouse are USB (optical mouse, wireless keyboard), and they are working. So perhaps the solution to this is simpler then we think.

Here is my question since this is my first shot at linux and KDE:
When i plug in the USB stick, where do i go to see the files? I notice that KDE shows me the CD ROM, Floppy and Hard Disk icons that i can navigate through if i open them. But what about USB?

So Graz, i don't think the problem is with the kernel.

Drew,
ive tried "mount /dev/??? /mnt/usb", ive tried sda4,sda5,sda6, etc. None of them seemed to have worked. I am going to check out /var/log/messages and see whats there.

Thanks both of you.

.nu - once you have sucessfully mounted the usb key then it will appear in KDE along with your other disks (then you can create a link to it on your desktop) - then when ever you want to use it you double click the link and its re-mounted.
I would not worry about fstab at this stage.

I have enabled in my kernel 'SCSI Support' and also 'USB Mass Storage' which i beleive required the generic SCSI support.
OKay so the idea is you mount a file system to a location. So make sure you have somewhere to mount it (i,e, /mnt/usb)
Now we need to see where you USB drive deteced and assigned. When i plug mine it it seems to create sda and sda1 and sg0 (for generic scsi).
Do you have hotplug enabled when your pc boots?
Plug your USB Key into the port and then type this in a console window: tail -s 3 -f /var/log/messages
you should see a device node created which will be your key. could be sda sda1 sdb1 sdj1/2 sdd1 etc..
now type in console: mount /dev/sd(whatever it lists above) /mnt/usb
** make sure you have a location called /mnt/usb first
when i type tail -s 3 -f /var/log/messages i see:

root@Slack700m:~# tail -s 3 -f /var/log/messages
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m kernel: SCSI device sda: 1014784 512-byte hdwr sectors (520 MB)
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m kernel: sda: Write Protect is off
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m kernel: sda: sda1
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m kernel: sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi removable disk sda
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m kernel: sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg0 type 0
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m udev[5554]: creating device node '/dev/sda'
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m udev[5556]: configured rule in '/etc/udev/rules.d/udev.rules' at line 24 applied, 'sg0' becomes '%k'
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m udev[5556]: creating device node '/dev/sg0'
Mar 23 19:43:18 Slack700m udev[5557]: creating device node '/dev/sda1'
Mar 23 19:55:28 Slack700m -- MARK --

post what happens when you type tail -s 3 -f /var/log/messages (after plugging key in)

you can see the CD/FDD and HDD partitions in KDE as they are mounted when your machine boots up. You will also see USB once we get it mounted. FSTAB may be able to handle the auto mount of usbdev when your machine boots - there are also other ways. for now lets just get it mounted.
Once its mounted the rest will be easier

alright graz, let me write all of this down and reboot. (and yes, i hotplug is enabled, though im not quite sure what it is. auto detection? )

i know it's enabled because it says during boot.

BRB with the results

back.
when i type tail -s 3 -f /var/log/messages, i get:

Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: pci_hotplug: PCI Hot Plug PCI Core Version: 0.5
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: pcihelp: PCI Express Hot Plug Controller Driver Version 0.5

Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: usb.c: registered new driver usbdevfs
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: usb.c: registered new driver hub
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: uhci.c: USB Universal Host Controller Interf driver v1.1

Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: usb-uhci.c: $revision: 1.275 $ time 18:53:41n 5 2005
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: usb-uhci.c High Bandwidth mode enabled
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar kernel: usb-uhci.c: v1.275:USB Universal Host Controller Interface Driver
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar logger: /etc/rc.d/rc.hotplug start (exiting script)
Mar 23 17:14 darskrar sshd[3830]: Server listening on 0.0.0.0 port 22

also, i think ive mentioned this before, but just in case i haven't, im using the SATA.i kernel.
because my HD is sata.

Also, id like to add this.
I just went to dev/usb and there are some files in that folder.

ez0, ez1, ez2, ez3..........ez15
lp0, lp1................lp15
mouse0, mouse1........mouse15
scanner0, scanner1.........scanner15


they all go from 0 to 15.
The icon is a computer screen with a big red plug coming out of it (hotplug?)

are these the USB devices hotplug detects?

mnt/usb is empty, for now.

So i tried mounting /dev/usb into /mnt/usb, but i get a "not a block device" error.

And, that error usually means that the way im mounting is not the way its listed in fstab.

So i check my fstab and add /dev/usb into it, then tried mounting again, but still no success

Mine mounts fine with mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb (and it is not in fstab).. but mine gets assigned /sda1 by UDEV when i look in /var/log/messages.. Your machine doesnt appear to actually use udev but rather devfs..
The output of mine and your messages are VERY different
We need to find out were it is allocating that USB key when you plug it in (if it even is).
i dont know much about 'proc' but maybe that is the answer for you?? one of the old schoolers in here should be able help.
Im not even sure that your machine is recongnising the device as a 'storage' device.
I get all sorts of references to the device in /proc (/proc/scsi/scsi & /proc/scsi/usb-storage/0)

Im really not sure about this dude... one of the kings will help ya Good Luck! Im gonna watch this thread coz im interested now .. hehe

hehe ok. thanks for all your help
though i don't think anymore people will post, since the original topic was wireless lan, hehe.
But, ill find a way

I know you posted this a while ago, and this is probably too obvious, but I have to point it out. /var/log/messages only shows my USB (sda on mine) when the USB key is plugged in prior to boot.

I only noticed you mention inserting card after booting up. I'm sure you've tried it, just a thought.

Also, is it a 2.0 USB? I have read about some cases (none Slackware specific) of some problems with USB 2.0. My key is USB 2.0, but the slot is 1.1. That probably isn't it either, but something to look into.

Sorry, I just can't think of anything else, this is kind of driving me crazy. You're right though, it probably is really simple.

Yes, i have tried booting it with the USB. It's driving me crazy too =/

Im no linux guru, but i know that what im supposed to do is mount a device from /dev/(device) to /mnt/(whatever dir i made).

Is there a way to show device names slackware detected/loaded?

something that would show which devices are not in use, but loaded?
Like, fstab shows the ones are the loaded and mounted, how can i view the ones that arent mounted, but loaded?

Or, how do i view which device the Keyboard and mouse are? Because they're USB too.

*crosses fingers!*

It's a fierce battle, but i'll win lol.

I posted earlier that the only place I have ever found my USB listed was in the messages file. I think I read a post elsewhere that pointed me there.

I don't own a computer with a SATA drive, and I think that is why this is confusing me. If I were to just guess what your USB device was, I would say sdb. If it had two partitions it would probably be sdb1 and sdb2. I have another computer with two hard drives. They are hda and hdb, so I would assume the same would apply to a SATA drive (sda) and a USB (sdb).

Just a guess though.