# All my little hardware problems! y isn't anyone helping?

## Fissile

hey all these 2 problems are really driving me crazy.. they rn't letal... but still preety anoying..

well the first one is my cd rom, i want to use my cd rom  :Crying or Very sad:   :Crying or Very sad:   :Crying or Very sad:  but when i type 

```
mount /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom
```

 to mount it.. i get this msg...

```
mount: you must specify the filesystem type
```

 what should i do??? plz help as i have important backup files on my cds which i need to work on badly...

---------

secondly the problem is my mouse and keyboard.. my mouse is working fine except the rolerball.. i have added the Zaxis command in the config file that the desktop installtion manual tells me 2.. still no effect.. and to make things worst.. my keyboard only works to acceptable level when in the keyboard layout switcher i deselct the gnome default keyboard.. but i have to do this everytime...

-----------

can anyone plz answer these question on how to make my cdrom work and if their is some way that i can auto mount cdrom drive so that i don't have to do it by typing that command everytime i reboot... second help me with the mouse n keyboad..  :Sad: ...

thxxxxxxxx alll

----------

## Lews_Therin

You can mount the cd automatically by specifying it in /etc/fstab, using FS type iso9660. Not sure about your keyboard.

----------

## Fissile

my fstab config reads like this:

```
/dev/hdc1               /boot           ext2            noauto,noatime         $/dev/hdc3               /               reiserfs        noatime                $/dev/hdc2               none            swap            sw                     $/dev/cdroms/cdrom0      /mnt/cdrom      iso9660         noauto,ro              $
```

so i think that it is already including.. i think my problem is that i don't know how to acces the cd drive... were do i go to access it.. assuming its already mounted?

----------

## Lews_Therin

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> my fstab config reads like this:
> 
> ```
> /dev/hdc1               /boot           ext2            noauto,noatime         $/dev/hdc3               /               reiserfs        noatime                $/dev/hdc2               none            swap            sw                     $/dev/cdroms/cdrom0      /mnt/cdrom      iso9660         noauto,ro              $
> ```
> ...

 

Um...from that, it would seem that /dev/hdc is your hard drive, not a CD drive. Also, notice the "noauto" in the /dev/cdroms/cdrom0 entry. This means that it just isn't mounted at boot time. Type this to mount it anytime:

```
mount /mnt/cdrom
```

----------

## ctford0

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> 
> 
> secondly the problem is my mouse and keyboard.. my mouse is working fine except the rolerball.. i have added the Zaxis command in the config file that the desktop installtion manual tells me 2.. still no effect.. and to make things worst.. my keyboard only works to acceptable level when in the keyboard layout switcher i deselct the gnome default keyboard.. but i have to do this everytime...
> 
> 

 

Ask this in the Desktop Env forum, you might have better luck...

As for the mouse make sure you have the protocol as ImPS/2 in your XF86Config

chris

----------

## pilla

As Lews_Therin told you, /dev/hdc may be your main HD

But I don't get what are the $ in your fstab.

----------

## Fissile

yes hdc is my harddrive... i am damn sure about that.. is my config files hinting to somethign else? thxxx for your response i am gonna mount /mnt/cdrom and c what happens... thxx

oh and as for those dollars... they are at the end of every line in config.. dont know why they r showing up like that in here... :p

----------

## Fissile

hey ppl a prob.. as suggested that i should type 

```
mount /mnt/cdrom
```

 that i did... but now i am getting this msg 

```
mount: mount point /mnt/cdrom does not exist
```

.. plz help..

thxxx

----------

## floam

You most likely didn't include cdrom support in your kernel.

----------

## Fissile

 *Quote:*   

> You most likely didn't include cdrom support in your kernel.

 

so how should i add cdrom support in my kernel?? plzz help

----------

## nephros

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> hey ppl a prob.. as suggested that i should type 
> 
> ```
> mount /mnt/cdrom
> ```
> ...

 

```
cd /mnt

mkdir cdrom

mount /mnt/cdrom
```

The mount point is the directory in your filesystem where you want the contents of your mounted cdrom to show up. Under unix, the standard location is /mnt/cdrom, but it can be anywhere you want.

The same goes for  any mountable filesystem wether it's a disk partition, floppy, usbstick or a Samba share.

After it's mounted you can accres the files there as you would with any other file on our system.

You might also consider adding the option "user" to your fstab, so normal users can mount cdroms too.

The line would then look like this:

```
/dev/cdroms/cdrom0 /mnt/cdrom iso9660 ro,noauto,user 0 0
```

hope it helps.

----------

## Fissile

hey thxxx bud... i am gonna try it now...

 i was about to use the "mkdir" command.. but i was 2 insure.. didn't wanna screw somethign up...

thxxxxx

----------

## nephros

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> hey thxxx bud... i am gonna try it now...
> 
>  i was about to use the "mkdir" command.. but i was 2 insure.. didn't wanna screw somethign up...
> 
> thxxxxx

 

"mkdir" won't screw anything up.

its evil twin "rm -r" on the other hand...

----------

## Stu L Tissimus

...

......

One time in the old days when I thought that the Linux symbol was a light orange-red hat, I did "sudo rm -r /usr" since I didn't think anything important was in there.

Let's just say that it was not fun.

----------

## ozukir@

 *Fissle wrote:*   

> oh and as for those dollars... they are at the end of every line in config.. dont know why they r showing up like that in here... :p

 

Looks like you're using nano and this just indicates line continuation off screen.

----------

## Fissile

hey thx ppl that:

```
cd /mnt

mkdir cdrom

mount /mnt/cdrom
```

worked like a charm.. but now i think i have a somewhat of an glitch error... i can't eject my cd.. the cd that currently in.. its content are being displayed in /mnt/cdrom/ when i press the eject button my my system it doesn't come out.. i have tried rebooting.. still no effect... someone help...

thxxx

----------

## ozukir@

Hopefully I understood your post. You have the CD mounted and you're confused as to why the eject button on the drive does not function. You will have to make sure the drive is un-mounted before it will eject. When mounted the eject button is disabled. Did you specify the "noauto" option in your fstab? Does mount report that the drive is currently mounted? You may want to check out "man eject" for related information, and of course the man page for mount.

----------

## malloc

after you're done with whatever you're doing with your cdrom just do 

```
umount /mnt/cdrom
```

Then you can eject your cd, also try looking into supermount since it's easier for you to use.

----------

## nephros

 *Stu L Tissimus wrote:*   

> 
> 
> One time in the old days when I thought that the Linux symbol was a light orange-red hat, I did "sudo rm -r /usr" since I didn't think anything important was in there.
> 
> Let's just say that it was not fun.

 

Sounds great!

I once did strip /usr/lib* in an misguided attempt to save HD space. Almost the same effect as rm, but it gives much more scaring error messages and generally very sublte failures  :Smile:   :Smile: 

----------

## tuxlover

 *malloc wrote:*   

> after you're done with whatever you're doing with your cdrom just do 
> 
> ```
> umount /mnt/cdrom
> ```
> ...

 

Easier: do

```
eject
```

which will umount your cdrom and then open the cd lid  :Smile:  Also sooo much geekier

 *malloc wrote:*   

> also try looking into supermount since it's easier for you to use.

 

Supermount is very good and really easy to configure: If you have it compiled into your kernel, simply change the cdrom-line in your fstab from:

```
/dev/cdroms/cdrom0      /mnt/cdrom      iso9660         noauto,ro
```

to:

```
none   /mnt/cdrom   supermount   fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0
```

Now there's no need to mount/umount your cdrom anymore. To "mount" it, simply access it (e.g. cd /mnt/cdrom or ls /mnt/cdrom). To eject the drive, simply press the eject button (like in windows).

But I recommend that you learn how to use mount and mkdir before compiling your own kernel  :Smile: Last edited by tuxlover on Thu Dec 04, 2003 1:05 am; edited 1 time in total

----------

## Fissile

hey thxx.. all i am gonna try it.. lol i feel so stupid.. y didn't i think of unmounting..

----------

## Fissile

hey a quick question about supormount.. in my fstab...

like i only have 4 columns rite.. fs, mountpoint, type and opts

u said:  *Quote:*   

> none   /mnt/cdrom   supormount   fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0

 

from my understanding of what u said:

/mnt/cdrom is the mount point

supormount is the type

ro,users,auto is the the opts

is fs this?: "fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0" do i need to type "fs=" and but a comma after cdrom0?

what r the 2 "0 0" at the end.. and the "none" in the starting....

----------

## nephros

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> 
> 
> like i only have 4 columns rite.. fs, mountpoint, type and opts
> 
> 

 

no, you (should) have six. If you use nano, scroll right in the line where the $ symbol is, you should see the parts that are missing.

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> 
> 
> u said:  *Quote:*   none   /mnt/cdrom   supormount   fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0 
> 
> from my understanding of what u said:
> ...

 

```
man fstab
```

(Man, I just changed my .sig two days ago  :Smile:  )

You are partially right. Supermount is a special case, lets look at the usual line first:

```
 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom iso9660 noauto,rw 0 0
```

The first field is the linux "special device", and interface from the kernel to be able to access hardware devices. It basically tells the kernel where to look for the hardware you want to mount.

The second field is the mount point allright, I already explained above what that does.

The third field is the filesystem, specifying how the kernel should read the data coming from the hardware device.

Now the fourth field is interesting. It contains "mount options". They tell the program handling the filesystem some parameters on how exactly do that handling. You can read about them in the mount manpage (man mount) These are highly dependant on the filesystem used, kind of device used etc., but some of them are generally available, like the one in the example above.

You can string together all kinds of mount parameters in this field, separating them with commas.

"ro" means read-only, and it is not strictly nesessary for a CDROM as it cannot be written to, but it keeps the mount command from issuing the "read-only filesystem found" message at every mount.

"noauto" means it should not be automounted at boot.

The fifth field is called "dump" and is meant  to be used by a program called dump and is part of the old UNIX heritage. Linux does not use this field at all AFAIK, so ignore (but not omit!!) ) it.

The last field is relevant only if you do an unclean reboot, when your filesystems will be checked for consitancy. AFAIK, Gentoo does not use this field, it handles checking differently in its boot scripts.

Now lets look at the supermount line:

```
none /mnt/cdrom supermount fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0
```

[NOTE] I have never used supermount, so I'm partially guessing here how it handles things.[/NOTE]

The element is none, because the mount command does not deal with a real device here, supermount does. If the device is "none", it assumes the filesystem handler will know which data to use.

Mount point is as usual, as are the last two fields.

"supermount" as a filesystem basically causes mount to ask the kernel "hey, I've got a filesystem called supermount, do you have a program which understands this?" and the kernel replies "hmm, yes, a program called supermountd told me it could" at which point mount hands control over the data over to supoermount, which starts to do its magic.

mount options: ro,users,auto are generic options.

fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0 are options which only supermount can understand, and they obviously tell him the device to use and the filesystem, just as a normal line in fstab would. But as supermount can do much more than just CDROMs, it needs to be told this here.

Phew, that turned out a lot. But now that you've already read as much you might just as well read on and look at the man pages for fstab and mount.

*bows*

 :Smile: 

----------

## tuxlover

sorry, I had a typo there (also corrected in my original post):

 *tuxlover wrote:*   

> 
> 
> ```
> none   /mnt/cdrom   supormount   fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0
> ```
> ...

 

should read

```
none   /mnt/cdrom   supermount   fs=iso9660,dev=/dev/cdroms/cdrom0,ro,users,auto   0 0
```

But maybe supermount is so good it's actually supor  :Smile: 

And nephros, your post sounds like a good explanation. Too bad supormount isn't covered in man fstab  :Wink: 

----------

## floam

Oh wow, my bad. I was thinking /dev/cdrom didn't exist. Sorry about that.

----------

## Fissile

hey thxxx everyone for helping me out.. especially nephros... that was a huge msg.. can't imagine how long it took u 2 rite it.. thxxx... oh by the way it worked like a charm..  :Smile:  :Smile:  :Smile: 

----------

## Fissile

Hey got an another issue.. does anyone know how to give my current user access to my floppy.. i have already tried modifiying /etc/group...

```
floppy::11:root,fissile
```

 and i have also added the rite code in /etc/fstab (i hope) 

```
/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto,user             0 0
```

 do i need to do somethign else aswell??

thxxxx...

----------

## tuxlover

Your fstab looks ok, I think...

So what does it say when you try to mount a floppy as your user "fissile"? 

I assume "fissile" is also member of group "users"?

----------

## Fissile

Basically it just sayz .. taht access is denied or permission denied or something like that.. i am on root rite now cause i need to access it.. once i log out.. i will post the precise msg...

----------

## Fissile

Can someone help plz... it sayz... 

```
Nautilus was unable to mount the selected floppy drive.
```

----------

## nephros

 *Fissile wrote:*   

> Can someone help plz... it sayz... 
> 
> ```
> Nautilus was unable to mount the selected floppy drive.
> ```
> ...

 

Please try to mount it as a normal user at the command line and tell us the exact error here.

----------

## Fissile

Humm, this is weird when i type "mount floppy" as user i get 

```
mount: can't find floppy in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab
```

 but i thought i had fstab properly configured, i even posted it and ppl said it was good! let me post it again, here it is: 

```
/dev/fd0                /mnt/floppy     auto            noauto,user             0 0
```

 plz help!...

thx...

----------

## nephros

You have to specify either /mnt/floppy or /dev/fd0, or be in /mnt when you issue the command.

So it's

```
mount /mnt/floppy
```

EDIT: Post #1000. w00t!

----------

