Impossible to write on memory-sticks

From the looks of it you mounted the sticks as root, which is why you do not have access as a normal user.

Two possibilities:
Static entry in fstab:
1. Shut down the PC and plug in the USB device.
2. Restart the machine
3. After booting into Mepis, you should have a device /dev/sda1 in Konqueror
4. If so, as root, edit /etc/fstab and look for the line with /dev/sda1 in it. Move that line from dynamic to static section and save.
5. Ready, you can now mount and unmount the stick any time, without booting

Hotplug
1. Install the package usbmount via Synaptic
2. edit /etc/usbmount/usbmount.conf, and make sure the following lines are in there:
FILESYSTEMS="ext2 ext3 vfat"
MOUNTOPTIONS="sync,noexec,nodev,noatime,users,umask=000"
3. Plugin the stick
4. It should automagically create a new device entry in Konqueror

Good luck

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Access to USB devices is broken in MEPIS 3.3.1-1 maintenance release. Up to that release it was working fairly well.

A long time ago there was a problem with Mepis overwriting fstab with its own idea of what it should be on every reboot.

That problem is back in the maintenance release. What happens is that you set your fstab to enable the attributes you need to work, then Mepis replaces it.

In my case, it deletes the # Dynamic entries line altogether, and deletes the /mnt/sda1 entry.

manually replacing the line and messing with things for around 1/2 hour will allow me to access a camera or memory stick for one session, but rebooting stops it again.

There is a workaround if I have an urgent job to do, or if I am sick of trying to reconfigure Mepis. I have one computer set up with Knoppix 3.9. I plug the camera into that computer, download the images, then transfer them across the network.

I do the same if I want to dump stuff the a USB key. Plug it into the Knoppix machine and transfer the files to it across the network.

It's a bit of a pain having a computer dedicated to USB devices, but until someone fixes Mepis, there isn't much alternative.

Mepis used to be excellent, but I'm afraid it is getting worse and worse with each release. Pity I have all my every day stuff on it. I just keep hoping someone will fix it again.

RossD.

RossDV8,

if you follow my tip regarding USBmount i'm quite sure USB sticks will work for you, and better than it used to to boot. I'm using 3.3.1 with the 3.3.1.1 upgrade on my laptop, and USB stick / digicam work flawlessly. Give it a spin.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

This is no go for me. How do I do the 3.3.1.1 upgrade? I fall into dependency hell with some things insisting I need a kernel 2.6.12 or better, others more mundane unmet dependencies.

What am I doing wrong?

Andy

It is the nature of #dynamic to change on reboot. That's why it's called dynamic.

There are two sections in fstab: #static and #dynamic. carlops recommendation was to boot up with the drive connected, which will place an entry in the #dynamic section of the fstab. Take that line and copy it into the #static section.

This was his "fstab" method above, which is what I use for my flashdrive. I haven't been able to follow the "hotplug" directions...

--

Tell me, tell me, tell me, elm! Night night! Telmetale of stem or stone. Beside the rivering waters of, hitherandthithering waters of. Night!

k, I took another look, and it looks like it'll be pretty easy to try.

Andy, have you done an update using Synaptic? It's off topic here, but take a look in the forums. basically, set repositories (no non-US repositories),reload, mark all upgrades, and *default* upgrade, not "smart" upgrade. Oh, and don't try this with dialup...

--

Tell me, tell me, tell me, elm! Night night! Telmetale of stem or stone. Beside the rivering waters of, hitherandthithering waters of. Night!

Hi Andy,

I noticed today that usbmount version 0.14 (?) is now in unstable, which relies on a new version of udev which requires kernel 2.6.12 or better.

Use synaptic to lock the version of usbmount to 0.11 and install it (testing repos). This should do the trick

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Carlops, thanks, I managed to install usbmount 0.11 with your instructions. However, in following the rest of the instructions I read this warning in usbmount.conf which doesn't inspire confidence:
# WARNING! The vfat filesystem does not yet fully implement sync-mounting. #
# If you include "vfat" in the list of filesystem types, you *MUST* make #
# sure all data is written to the medium before you remove it (e.g. run the #
# "sync" command in a terminal window). Otherwise, you *WILL* lose data! #

I'm used to just pulling the pen drive out when I'm finished(now Win2K chides me for doing that, so I'm learning, but still), and I'm not especially used to using the CLI, so I may have to rethink this one and pass on usbmount.

Thanks again.

Andy

Hey andy,

not to worry really. The sync option is a 'safe option'. It makes sure that data are written 'real time' rather than cached and then written to the USB stick in the background. When you mount a USB stick from fstab, the sync option is not there either, so when you copy some couple of 100 Mb, Konqueror will show it's been copied, whereas the data are being written to the stick. Dangerous.

You just need to make sure NOT to remove the stick within a few seconds after copying. For the rest, I think using usbmount is actually just as safe as the traditional method...

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

To Carlops, I am quite aware of the difference between static and dynamic entries in fstab.

What really annoys me is that every time I reboot Mepis, the fstab is rewritten with an default one, which bears little resemblence to the changes I made, i.e. moving the /dev/sda1 line above the # Dynamic entries line.

If you read my post, you will find that my complaint is that the fstab is overwritten every time the system is started, NOT that the dynamic entries change.

This is because changing fstab and saving it as root, makes no difference to Mepis. When I reboot, a new fstab is written that is different from the one I saved.

Even marking the file read only doesn;t stop this. As soon as I reboot the system, my fstab, in which I have moved the /dev/sda1 line above the # Dynamic entries line is overwritten by a new fstab that doesn't have a /dev/sda1 line.

Sometimes, even booting with the mass storage device plugged in does not result in a /dev/sda1 line at all. Other times, when there is a line and I try to mount it, there is a 'not a valid block device' error. Other times it will mount.

This has happened before in an earlier release of Mepis.

This was not happening in more recent releases prior to upgrading to 3.3.1-1 maintenance release.

Installing usbmount according to someone's procedure here did not work.

What is happening is that on reboot, fstab is being over written with some kind of stored fstab each time.

Now, I wonder if that explains what is happening to fstab. I did mention it in an earlier post.

RossDV8, here is a post from jimbo-62 to turn off the dynamic changing of /etc/fstab by modifying /usr/sbin/buildfstab and /usr/sbin/addfstab:
http://www.mepis.org/node/6285

What he did is essentially turned off the commands. Plese keep in mind that what you would be doing is modifying a system command. It does work, but any changes like that run the risk of making other things less stable.

Take a look and see if it would do what you want

Jon

To RossDV8, I am quite sure you know the difference. If you read my reply to you I never mentioned anything about dynamic vs. static entries in fstab, I just wanted to make you aware (if you were not so already) of usbmount. Apparently you tried that, and I am sorry it did not work. Next time you feel exasperated, reply to the correct poster please.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

I got it all installed OK, but it doesn't work. Mepis still can't handle unpartitioned usb drives properly.

Andy

I'm the guilty culprit, Ross, I assumed the problem you were describing was the difference between dynamic and static, and I apologize for my *ahem* instructions...

--

Tell me, tell me, tell me, elm! Night night! Telmetale of stem or stone. Beside the rivering waters of, hitherandthithering waters of. Night!

SORRY!!! carlops, I replied to the wrong poster...
comes from getting on here when I am dead tired.
Just for info, I deleted 3.3.1-1 completely, and went back to 3.3 test03. Just about evrything is now working better. Nice fonts are back. All my USB devices are mountable and useable and fstab is not being overwritten on boot.

This has happened in MEPIS a few times in the past. They usually fix it eventually.

Cheers,

RossD.

Hi Ross,

I understand, I'm not at my best myself late at night with too many hours on the internet....

have you tried usbmount with the new / old setup? Make sure to get it from testing, since unstable requires a newer kernel.

Cheers.

Newbie or not Newbie, there's always a question

Thanks carlops. I went back to 3.3-t03 to fix the fstab problem and it works a treat. I then read something someone else found, and went through the format/reinstall thing for a fresh 3.3.1-1, and the fstab problem was back. Strange that it happens on this machie and not on allthe others, although it does on one other with completely different specs.

Anyway, the fonts and a lot of other things are nicer in 3.3t03 than 3.3.1-1, so I'll stay with it for a while. I'm just sick of formatting drives.. LOL

Cheers,

RossD.

Ross and carlops,

I'm currently running 3.3.1-1 on my laptop. Can you detail the problems and solutions that you found between 3.3.1-1 and 3.3.1 test 3? And does this only apply to USB keys, or "hard drives" and /etc/fstab in general?

I find it interesting that this "feature" is still around in the latest build...

Thanks

Jon

An update (incidentally, for those who don't know, usb pen drives tend to come in two flavors: partitioned, which "look" like small hard drives to the system; and unpartitioned, which look like large floppy drives.)

The unpartitioned need to be mounted as, say, sda rather than sda1, etc. Mepis has never been able to handle these nonpartitioned drives. When it recognizes them at all, it tries to mount them as sda1 or whatever, generating errors. Windows has never had a problem with them. Most people don't even know which type they have!

I'm hoping the next version of Mepis will correct this. I just tried one of this sort of pen drive in Kanotix v2005-03. Works fine. (The only thing I did to make it work was stick the pen in a usb port! Got an icon on the desktop and all!)

So if someone (ahem!) needs to see how it should work...

Andy