skyhawk Posted August 14, 2007 Report Share Posted August 14, 2007 (edited) 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aioshin Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knoba Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tyme Posted August 15, 2007 Report Share Posted August 15, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skyhawk Posted August 16, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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