Editing fstab file [solved]

[skyhawk]

I am in the process of "fixing" my /etc/fstab file, as well as, some ownerships and permissions that were auto-generated by my Mandriva 2007.0 installation, and other, miscellaneous issues covered in the errata list. Among other things, my floppy drive is not functioning properly, and my CD-ROM drive configuration could also use some corrective work.

 

I have only Mandriva 2007.0 installed on my hard drive; no Windows or other operating systems.

 

This is what I see when the contents of /mnt are displayed:

 

   [me@mycomputer mnt]$ ls -l
  total 2
  drwxr-xr-x 2 root		root		1024 Jul 24 02:44 cdrom/
  drwxr-xr-x 2 me		  me		   512 Dec 31  1969 floppy/

 

Note that /mnt/floppy omits write permission for user and others. I know this omission needs to be changed, and I know how to change it; no problem here.

 

My current fstab file reads as follows:

 

   /dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
  /dev/hda6 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
  /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto umask=0022,users,iocharset=utf8,noauto,ro,exec 0 0
  none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=ext2:vfat,--,umask=0022,iocharset=utf8,sync 0 0
  none /proc proc defaults 0 0
  /dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0

 

Here, line 3, field 4 (fs_mntops), contains entries that are puzzling to me; they are not covered on the fstab man page. Lines 4 and 5 should not begin with "none", and line 4, field 4 (fs_mntops), looks strange (again, not covered on the fstab man page). For line 6, field 2 (fs_file)should be "none", according to the fstab man page, which reads, "For swap partitions, this field should be specified as ‘none'." Compare my current fstab file to the following samples:

 

tuXfiles -- The Linux newbie tutorials

< How to edit and understand /etc/fstab - 1.1 >

Sample 1: fstab file (mount points are for SuSE Linux)

 

   /dev/hda2 / ext2 defaults 1 1
  /dev/hdb1 /home ext2 defaults 1 2
  /dev/cdrom /media/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
  /dev/fd0 /media/floppy auto rw,noauto,user,sync 0 0
  proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
  /dev/hda1 swap swap pri=42 0 0

 

fstab

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sample 2: the following is an example of a fstab file on a Red Hat Linux system

 

# device name   mount point	 fs-type	 options		 dump-freq pass-num
LABEL=/		 /			   ext3		defaults				1 1

/dev/hda6	   swap			swap		defaults				0 0
none			/dev/pts		devpts	  gid=5,mode=620		  0 0
none			/proc		   proc		defaults				0 0

none			/dev/shm		tmpfs	   defaults				0 0

# Removable media
/dev/cdrom	  /mount/cdrom	udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro   0 0
/dev/fd0		/mount/floppy   auto		noauto,owner,kudzu	  0 0


# NTFS Windows XP partition
/dev/hda1	   /mnt/WinXP	  ntfs		ro,defaults			 0 0

# Partition shared by Windows and Linux
/dev/hda7	   /mnt/shared	 vfat		umask=000			   0 0

 

My proposed fstab file would read as follows, borrowing from the samples above. To the right, I have indicated edited fields that still raise some uncertainty in my mind.

 

   /dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
  /dev/hda6 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
  /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0		   <-- field 4
  /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto rw,noauto,user,sync 0 0		  <-- field 4
  proc /proc proc defaults 0 0							   <-- field 1: proc or none?
  /dev/hda5 none swap defaults 0 0						   <-- field 2: swap or none?

 

Lines 1 and 2 remain unchanged. Would Mandriva "experts" viewing this post please critique my proposed changes to fstab? Do they look good, bad, or could they be better? I am sure the points I have covered here will cause many Mandriva 2007.0 users to take a careful look at their fstab file. They probably have auto-generated entries that are causing them grief, without knowing the source of their problems.

 

For those replying, please provide a copy of your fstab file for comparison.

 

 

[moved from Software by spinynorman]

Edited August 16, 2007 by skyhawk

[aioshin]

here's mine, considering the cdrom entry

 

/dev/hda /mnt/cdrom auto umask=0,users,iocharset=utf8,sync,noauto,ro,exec 0 0

 

My box does not have a floppy, and am using mandriva 2007.1

[knoba]

I'm no expert skyhawk, but i find what you have written very interesting.

 

Here's my fstab from a 'bog standard' permanently installed Mandriva One 2007.1 Live CD - mostly an office machine.

 

/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda6 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto umask=0,users,noauto,iocharset=utf8,sync 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /tmp tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0

 

Here's the one from my Debian Etch box - I added; sda (external usb hdd), hdb (internal ide) and shm (jackd) to it. - Used mostly for multimedia;

 

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>	   <dump>  <pass>
proc			/proc		   proc	defaults		0	   0
/dev/hda1	   /			   ext3	defaults,errors=remount-ro 0	   1
/dev/hda6	   /home		   ext3	defaults		0	   2
/dev/hda5	   /usr			ext3	defaults		0	   2
/dev/hda7	   none			swap	sw			  0	   0
/dev/hdb1	/mnt/hdd	ext3	defaults,errors=remount-ro 0	1
/dev/hdc		/media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto	 0	   0
/dev/hdd		/media/cdrom1   udf,iso9660 user,noauto	 0	   0
/dev/fd0		/media/floppy0  auto	rw,user,noauto  0	   0
/dev/sda	/mnt/sda	ext3	rw,noauto,user	1	0
shm		/dev/shm	 tmpfs	 defaults	 0	 0

 

I guess i just figured that the Mandriva 'live' install would require some very special considerations since it not only acts as a live install, but also has the option to install permanently. This feature of Mandriva Live blows my mind and i totally give big kudos to the developers and contributors for it. The computer and O/S does what it is supposed to do very well and i have resisted my desires to tweak it or experiment at all. If it ain't broke... ;)

 

I hadn't noticed that i wouldn't be able to mount a cdrom in it manually. I will add it and have a better look around the system.

 

I would like to know more though and thought i would register my interest on this discourse in your excellent thread.

[tyme]

You should not need fstab entries for your removable devices. HAL/DBUS should handle the mounting of these automatically. If you have fstab entries for these devices, it may actually cause problems. I would not change the proc and swap lines at all, as they are fine in your original fstab (yes, proc should have "none" as the device). I also would not remove the tmp directory. In fact, if I were you, I wouldn't mess with the fstab at all, aside from removing the entries for the floppy and cdrom drives.

[skyhawk]

Thanks to everyone for the assistance. My fstab file problem is now solved and the file reads as follows:

/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda6 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
/dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user,exec 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto rw,noauto,user,sync 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 swap swap defaults 0 0

In addition to editing the fstab file, I changed permissions for /dev/hdc and /dev/fd0 to match the fs_mntops in the new fstab file. My floppy drive now works perfectly and my CD-ROM is also now under complete control.

 

I had no choice but to edit the fstab file; it was either that or keep on going with a hobbled system. I did take the cautious approach, however, by keeping the changes to a minimum.