Need to mount my windows partition

[Guest Jhorra]

I tried to type gedit fstab from the shell, but it opens up a blank file. I'm not sure what to do.

[Ixthusdan]

su to root in a console.

Type "mc." This opens a very user-friendly file manager.

Type "mkdir /mnt/windows"

Navigate to /etc/fstab.

Hit F4.

Add a line at the bottom "dev/driveandpartitionumber /mnt/windows ntfs defaults 0 0"

 

You can also create the mount point and then mount the directory to the mount point; however, an edit to fstab will have it available all the time.

[yossarian]

I tried to type gedit fstab from the shell, but it opens up a blank file. I'm not sure what to do.

 

 

su to root in a console.

Type "mc." This opens a very user-friendly file manager.

 

Isn't gedit a Gnome app? And isn't console a KDE app (or at least konslole, I believe in Gnome it's called terminal or shell)? If I'm wrong please correct me.

 

Of course it doesn't matter the recipe dramatically: still one should login as root, use "mkdir /mnt/windows" and add the line in /etc/fstab. BTW, if the line that was mentioned doesn't work for you can try also:

/dev/driveandpartitionumber /mnt/win ntfs defaults,umask=0 0 0

 

If you have any more problems or our answers weren't clear enough, come back and ask more questions, there are some real professionals hanging around here who are very friendly that will be happy to help you (not me, of course, I'm just a newbie. Take my answers with a limited guarantee. Ixthusdan is a more promising option). And welcome aboard. :)

[AussieJohn]

Hello Jhorro.

Welcome to MUB.

 

Since you are a newbie you might like to try a gui routine rather than a cli (console) method until you get to know Linux better.

 

Open MCC (Mandriva Control Centre------------>Mount Points-------------->Create, delete and resize hard disk partitions.

There you will see ALL the partitions. Select the Windows one that you want to mount by clicking on it and you will then see Choose action. Click on Mount point and in the window that pops up change the text line to .. /My Windows (or any other name you want but do not forget the / ) then click OK. Then click the Mount button and then the Done button at the bottom.

 

You will receive a popup asking whether to save to fstab so tick Yes and you are done. Doing things this way you can actually see what is happening rather than working in the abstract that is the cli.

Sure the cli is quick for those familiar with it but for newcomers it is like working with a blindfold.

 

So what if the gui method takes a few steps more and a few seconds longer to do, are we really so desperate that we have to shave seconds off everything we do to survive ???. I don't think so. It is something we force on ourselves.

 

Hope this works for you OK .

 

Cheers. John.

[yossarian]

Hi AussieJohn,

 

I agree using your way is much better. In general, I prefer to use the GUI MCC whenever I can, I just wasn't aware to this option. So thanks, I learned something.

[scarecrow]

I agree that the GUI should be used whenever someone is desperate...

But editing a well commented configuration file with a root nano/mc/vim/gedit/kate/"put-your-preferred-editor-here", is both EASIER and FASTER- plus that it gives you a nice sense of control over things...

[AussieJohn]

Hello everyone.

I don't know about the more control part, especially since all it needs is one or two typos and you can be in deep dung.

Even top typists make typo errors so what makes one think even experienced cli users make less errors ??.

 

Scarecrow the following is not, I repeat not directed at you. It is only my feelings about a subject that often comes up in posts.

I know and respect your views on the subject.

 

My favorite analogy is the Motor car.

 

If your main aim in getting a car to drive is mainly about getting from A to B easily and simply and safely then you buy and learn to drive an Automatic.

If you have time and money to spare then you might learn to drive a manual as well.

If you are more interested in speed and power then you will go for a manual at the beginning. Spend a lot of time and money ( for engines and gear boxes you destroy through making mistakes as you learn to synchronize gear change activity.) and sure you will become quite skilled at it. But in the end you can't do anything more than the driver in the first case, namely get from A to B. The latter case driver may get there a few minutes or seconds quicker but not necessarily safer.

 

This is from one who went through the Manual car world because there was no Auto at the time. When the Auto was efficient and economically available I moved to it.

I have done the same with software and never regretted it. I spend most of my brain power using it to work at my interests instead of constantly trying to learn and or even remember abstract keyboard combinations and codes. Especially when these codes/instructions can be and are performed automatically in a gui. In other words, someone somewhere has replaced a manual function which has to be performed each and every time a particular function has to be carried out, with a chance that at any time a mistake can be made, with one that is done automatically and repeatedly with next to no chance of a mistake being made.

 

By all means learn the cli method to do everything if that is what turns you on, its your choice. That is the most fabulous thing about the Linux world, you have the personal choice of going Manual or Auto as your mode of travel.

Cheers. John.

[yossarian]

If I may, I'd like to add something: scarecrow, I don't think that in these matters there is wrong and right. It's a matter of personal taste, and as long as the user feels comfortable with his/her choice, everything is fine. I believe that up till this point we all agree.

 

I beg to differ on the argument that working directly on the files themselves is always better than using the GUI. Sure there are places where investing some time to learn how to operate things "the hard way" can be very worthwhile in the long run. For example, calling menus of the OS GUI or of the programs is something I prefer to do from the keyboard and not my mouse. I find it much faster. Nevertheless, the preference depends on two things: how much effort am I required to put in, and how much will it save me in the future.

 

Adding a mount point to the fstab file is something I don't do every day, or every year for that matter. On the other hand, although the fstab is well-documented on a numerous places on the web, reading and understanding this documentation might take some time (especially for a newbie), so I can't say the effort required from me as a user is negligible. So if I need to do the trade-off, I have no doubt that if I had used the GUI the first time I had added a mount point, it would have taken me less time than what it took me "manually". And I didn't need to do it ever since.

 

Regarding the sense of control you were mentioning - I agree that for a techie the challenge itself may increase one's confidence, but I'm not sure everyone is interested in this confidence. Let me walk in John's path and use another motor example (I swear I thought about it before he published his message. You can ask my wife :) ): Does every driver need to know exactly how the gear in his car work? To what level of details? And why should a computer user be any different?

 

To conclude, I agree with John that this is part of the beauty in Linux, everyone can find his own route. I hope you understand that I don't try to convince you this way or the other, just to emphasize that every way has its pros and cons. Besides, I'm sure that in the bottom line we all do see eye to eye, so spending so many words on the subject makes me feel a bit argumentative. I hope no one feels the same, it wasn't my intention.

Edited August 20, 2007 by yossarian

[Ixthusdan]

 

I agree to use whatever works for you. I still use Midnight Commander because that is what I learned when I was new to Linux. Frankly, I had not even seen the new GUI in MCC. Thanks, John. I learn something new everyday! While I like knowing what happens in the system, I also think that we live in a GUI world. ;)

[AussieJohn]

Thanks LX but have learned a lot from you in the past so its nice to think that maybe I have returned the favor somehow. :D :D

Thanks YOS for your kind comments as well. Appreciated.

 

Cheers. John.