Clutter Learns Linux

[Cluttermagnet]

On the IDE master cable is only the hard drive, hda. No physical connection of anything to the slave connector on that cable. So where is hdb coming from? (as reported by Terminal)Teac DVD burner reported as hdc.Device manager also reports the zip250 drive as hdd. That makes sense.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Bruno]

On the IDE master cable is only the hard drive, hda. No physical connection of anything to the slave connector on that cable. So where is hdb coming from? (as reported by Terminal)Teac DVD burner reported as hdc.Device manager also reports the zip250 drive as hdd. That makes sense.

In that case Clutter, your script is not correct . . . because it makes a node at /dev/hdb4

#!/bin/bashmknod /dev/hdb4 b 22 64#End script

Bruno

[Cluttermagnet]

Scripts.There are 3 which I made in /etc/rcS.d.So far as I know, all 3 scripts are presently active. 2 of the 3 scripts reference hdd4. Still, I get an error message saying that hdd4 does not exist.How do I remove unwanted scripts from /etc/rcS.d? Of course I only need and want 1 script.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Just navigate there:

 $ cd /etc/rcS.d

and remove the ones you don't want:

 $ sudo rm <script name>

That's it. Simple, huh?

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Eric-I'll do that later in the evening when I get back home.Thinking further about the zip drive problem, I realize that zips have also given Win98SE problems in the past. I have another P4 machine which reports its zip100 drive as B: Other than that, it works normally as a zip drive, but the OS thinks it is a floppy drive. Iomega has a very confusing options chart on the paper label on their drives. It actually gives two different jumpering schemes for Mstr, Slv, C/S. I've had problems with this in the past. Eventually, you figure out which jumpering combo for your master CDRW and your slave zip drive will work with a particular mobo and BIOS. This may be what is going on in the Cluttermaster 2007. Unfortunately, I don't have a working copy of Windows on that HD, because I do find it easier to sort out these CD/zip IDE issues in Windows. Reboot, diddle, reboot... I can tell you that right now I have both CD and zip optioned for C/S (supposedly). I'm just never sure about a zip drive until I simply try actual settings, because of the stupid jumpering options, 6 different configurations, shown on the Iomega label. I think I may have to set the CD as Mstr and the zip as either Slv or C/S, but that's 4 different settings to try on the zip drive.

Edited May 31, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Keep in mind that each time you change the physical configuration of Zip, your script to create the node must be edited because the major/minor block numbers change depending on where the drive is physically located... master IDE0 = major 3/minor 64, slave IDE0 = major 3/minor 64; master IDE1 = major 22/minor 64, slave IDE0 = major 22/minor 64. You see, where your Zip is located is what determines the block major/minor numbers.Oh, and I've never had any Zip problems in Win 98 or XP. You can use the Device Manager in XP to change the Zip to whatever designation you want. I always had mine as the "b" drive on my system, though. I seem to remember being able to change it to whatever designation I wanted in 98 also, but that was waaaaay too long ago for me to remember. Also, I don't think cable select will work. You might want to read a bit about CS HERE.And one last edit to this posting... I really haven't been following your adventures with the Cluttermaster system lately, so I'm not really sure what you're trying to do with it in regards to your Zip drive, so if you know what you're doing, just disregard all the above.

Edited May 31, 2007 by V.T. Eric Layton

[striker]

Must be a little stubborn thing such a zip drive !

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Eric-Great info! Well, the Cluttermaster 2007 is really just a mother board at heart. It's an Acorp 4S648FXL-11-A01. It handles older P4's with the smaller L2 cache size, up to 3.2GHz. It started out 'direct air cooled', laying out open on my desk with no case at all. Now it is housed in a spiffy black tower. It has seen a succession of hard drives, floppies, RAM, kbd, mice, even CPU's. I'm pretty sure this is the first zip drive it has seen. Your C/S link is very interesting. I haven't fully absorbed all it is saying, but it looks like I'd best configure the CD/DVD explicitly as master and the zip as slave. That may be all it takes. I'll let you know how it's doing.BTW you didn't miss too much progress on the Cluttermaster, as things got a little busy with work recently. I did get gLabels set up on both Ubuntu Dapper machines and I cranked out some nice business cards. Slowly but steadily I will work into the Linux environment. I'm quite encouraged, so far. The transition from Windows hasn't been painful at all. For fast, production work, I still turn to 98SE, but that will gradually change. I'm committed to learning Linux. (Our motto: "Give me a few years...")

[Cluttermagnet]

OK, I deleted all 3 scripts from /etc/rcS.d, then I carefully made a new S95Zipnode script and made it active. It names hdd4, which agrees with what Device manager reports. I then rebooted and inserted a zip 100 disk and tried to mount the drive. Still am getting an error message that claims hdd4 does not exist. I think my syntax and procedure were all correct.I had changed the zip drive from C/S jumpered to slave (jumper removed). BTW this is a zip250 drive. Could that be causing problems? Should I try pulling it and substituting a zip100 drive as a test?BTW Bruno- if I try

ls -al /dev/hdd4

I get an error message saying that it does not exist. I'm stumped. Open to suggestions...

[Bruno]

Hi ClutterInstead of debugging the scripts you can just give the mknod command in a terminal as root and after that check if the node is there and if you can mount it. So:

$ su# mknod /dev/hdb4 b 22 64# ls /dev/hdb4# mount /dev/hdb4 /mnt/zip# ls -al /mnt/zip

Once you see that a command fails you can forget about the following commands . . so do one step at a time ;)Once you have the right command you can incorporate it in the script. Bruno

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I don't think the 100/250 makes any difference, Clutter. However, you can just navigate to the /dev directory in Nautilus to have a looksee to see if the hdd4 node is there. If it's not, something ain't working right with your script. Follow Bruno's manual mknod directions and see if it works. By the way, if you don't have su activated in your Ubuntu, just use sudo instead for those commands.Also, what IDE buss do you have this Zip hooked to? Primary or secondary IDE? If Primary (IDE0), then the major/minor numbers will need to be 3 and 64, not 22 and 64. Luck!

[Cluttermagnet]

using "su" just failed for me-

su: Authentication failureSorry.

...so I'll try sudo as you suggest, Eric. Great suggestion on the directory search in Nautilus. I'll try a couple of these things and report back...Temmu- This has been quite the fabulous thread, for me. I mine it for old info myself, as I redo some of these things on other machines and reinforce my learning of them. I'm coming along slowly but steadily. I'll get 'there'... Edit: Yep, I have hdd4 listed under /dev in Nautilus, also a separate listing above it for hdd. I'm guessing the hdd4 might reflect the fact that there's a 100M zip disk in the drive right now(?) This confirms, BTW, what Device Manager has been saying- hdd4 is 'there'.Listed are:hda plus hda 1- hda6 (all)hdchdd plus hdd4 Edited June 2, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Cluttermagnet]

sudo nknod /dev/hdd4 b 22 64

File exists

ls /dev/hdd4

/dev/hdd4 (highlighted)

sudo mount /dev/hdd4 /mnt/zip

mount: you must specify the filesystem type

sudo ls -al /mnt/zip

ls mnt/zip: No such file or directory

I'm pretty stuck here at the moment. My bash script looks 100 percent good, but the drive won't mount.S95Zipnode

#!/bin/bashmknod /dev/hdd4 b 22 64#End script

And yes, I did make it active with

sudo chmod 755 /etc/rcS.d/S95Zipnode

...so the script is probably working every time I boot up Ubuntu. But can't mount.

Edited June 2, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Bruno]

Hi Clutter

File exists

This means that the node is made . . . that is good !

ls mnt/zip: No such file or directory

This means you forgot to make the /mnt/zip. Simply do "mkdir /mnt/zip" first and after that try to mount the /dev/hdd4 on the /mnt/zip again. Bruno

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Clutter,If you want to mount the Zip via the GUI as a user, you'll need to add an entry to your fstab. Don't forget!As far as mounting via the command line:

 $ sudo mount -t vfat /dev/hdd4 /mnt/zip

That should work.

[Cluttermagnet]

Hi ClutterThis means that the node is made . . . that is good !...you forgot to make the /mnt/zip. Simply do "mkdir /mnt/zip" first and after that try to mount the /dev/hdd4 on the /mnt/zip again. Bruno

Bingo!

sudo mkdir /mnt/zipsudo mount /dev/hdd4 /mnt/zip

Thanks, Bruno, that made it mount.This leaves only one minor problem- ejecting. I got the error message:

Unable to eject mediaError: mount point /mnt/zip is not below /media/eject: unmount of /mnt/zip failed

So I rebooted with the zip disk still in the drive and still mounted. As it rebooted, I heard the drive spin up briefly- good! Then I was able to mount using the icon for the zip drive in my panel above the desktop. Mounted no problems. This time when I tried to get it to eject using that panel icon (aplet?) I got this error message:

Unable to eject mediaEject: unable to eject; last error: invalid argument

So- we know I have the right script set up in /etc/rcS.d/ and we know the disk is mountable, but maybe we just need to slightly change the mount point?I think Eric may have the solution where he says to edit and add a line to my fstab? Would that help? Edited June 3, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Bruno]

Maybe change the mountpoint from /mnt/zip to /media/zip ( not sure if it will help but it is what the errormessage you posted suggests )So:

sudo mkdir /media/zipsudo mount /dev/hdd4 /media/zip

:'( Bruno

[Cluttermagnet]

Hi, Bruno-I did this:

sudo mkdir /media/zipsudo mount /dev/hdd4 /media/zip

Of course, the drive readily mounted, but when I tried to eject using the panel aplet, I got the same error message:

Unable to eject mediaEject: unable to eject; last error: invalid argument

:hmm:Would adding something into my fstab correct this? Didn't you have me do something like that? Or was that Eric's method? (which BTW did not work for me) Somehow, I think we set up my zip drive just a little different the first time. I'll read back through this thread and see what I can find.Edit: Oops! One important correction! What actually happens is that the error message appears but the drive actually unmounts and the Zip icon on my desktop disappears. Then when I check in the zip mount/unmount icon (aplet) up in the panel above, it lists the drive as not being mounted. Lather, rinse, repeat. This can repeat endlessly. So everything works except that the OS is now lying to me. The error message is (technically) not correct. The drive actually now is mounting and unmounting just fine! Edit2: Hmmm- No, actually, the OS isn't lying after all. It does indeed unmount the drive, but it does not eject the disk. And I can't press the button on the drive and get the disk to eject. The OS ignores that. Edited June 3, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Are you using KDE, by any chance?

[Cluttermagnet]

Are you using KDE, by any chance?

No, Eric-It's all stock Ubuntu, 100 percent gnome, no KDE stuff on this OS yet.

[V.T. Eric Layton]

Ah... OK. I was just wondering because there is a bug in KDE where the graphical interface does not show the proper mounting status of devices. It sounded like that was what you were experiencing.And yes, you do need a proper entry in fstab for your Zip if you plan on mounting/unmounting as user in the graphical environment.

 /dev/hdd4   /media/zip	vfat	rw,users,noauto,sync	0	0

That should work for you.

Edited June 4, 2007 by V.T. Eric Layton

[Cluttermagnet]

 sudo gedit /etc/fstab

I added the following line to fstab and did a Save:

/dev/hdd4 /media/zip vfat rw,users,noauto,sync 0 0

I rechecked fstab using

gedit /etc/fstab

The new entry was there.Mounted the zip drive and checked the drive contents, OK as usual.Clicked on the panel icon for eject, the drive unmounted as usual but did not eject.Error message:

Unable to eject mediaEject: unable to eject; last error: invalid argument

The zip disk is still locked in my unmounted drive; it would take a reboot to free it.Siiiighhhhhh! :hysterical:Hey, guys-Just a thought... could I learn anything useful by rummaging around in my first copy of Ubuntu 6.06 on my first Linux machine (1.6GHz P4)? That one works perfectly with a zip100 drive. If so, what should I look for?Eric- my first observation about that 'working' machine is that there is no fstab entry for the zip drive. In fact, I tried to work with your method of setting up a zip and never could get it to work. I ended up deleting just everything and returning to Bruno's method, carefully watching my syntax. Eventually I must have done something right, because it ultimately did work 100 percent. :wacko:Oh BTW, what would a command line look like to try to make it eject that way (for now). Can that be done?Another big difference with the working box is that the zip in it is slaved to the hard drive on IDE0. On the problem box, it is slaved to the CD/DVD burner on IDE1. Is that significant?BTW, guys, I'm not at all upset that I'm having to work a little on this. I do expect to have to struggle a little with Linux as I'm learning. Actually, I think it's all a bit amusing, eh? Edited June 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Bruno]

Dunno Clutter . . you tried most everything already . . . . What you ca try though is to umount and eject from the commandline and see what happens:

$ sudo umount /media/zip$ sudo eject -v /dev/hdd4

( the eject command is in verbose mode in the hope it displays more info about what is happening )An alternative for the 2nd command could be:

$ sudo eject -v hdd4

Aslo you can experiment with one of the -rv, -sv OR -fv options ( only one at a time !! ). BrunoPS: Read the "Notes" on the eject manpages for additional options and limitations of the command eject.

[Cluttermagnet]

Thanks, Bruno-Wow! Fascinating! I enjoyed reading through that link, BTW.Well, I tried a few of these eject commands, They all tried 'all 4 ways' of ejecting unsuccessfully. But it gets more interesting...I then tried

sudo eject -rv /dev/hdd4

At this point it gets interesting. The Terminal window tells me:* /dev/hdd4 is not mounted (correct!)* /dev/hdd4 is not a mount point (correct)* /dev/hdd4 is a multipartition device (nooooooo!)Very, very interesting. How did my OS get the idea my zip is multipartition? Is this a good clue?? :wacko:Not ejecting certainly makes a great deal of sense under these (false) circumstances. The OS is not going to eject unless it can first unmount each and every partition! :w00t:It tried to eject using only the CD-ROM eject command. Probably just what I asked it to do.Oh, and a last strong hint:

eject: unable to ejectlast error: Device or resource busy

Edited June 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[Cluttermagnet]

A great disappointment- my second Linux computer (Cluttermaster 2007) has developed major hardware problems. I don't know yet if it is the mother board or the power supply (or something else). It stopped working while I was not watching it. It's dead and won't start. I hope it's something simple. Yes, I still have power. Nothing obvious could get it working again. It may be a day or two before I will have time to fix it, so my zip250 eject problem has to go on hold for a while.

Edited June 4, 2007 by Cluttermagnet

[striker]

Device or resource busy

Might be a permission thing.

[Bruno]

eject: unable to ejectlast error: Device or resource busy

Strange, usually that error only comes when you try umounting the drive.What you would like to see is the result of the command "mount" . . it will show what partitions are mounted . . . look if there is any /dev/hddIf no /dev/hdd partition is mounted try the eject on hdd ( not hdd4 ):

sudo eject -v /dev/hdd

( becasue /dev/hdd is the actual device, hdd4 is just the partition on hdd ) BrunoPS: These zip eject problems are not on the Cluttermaster 2007 are they ??

[Cluttermagnet]

PS: These zip eject problems are not on the Cluttermaster 2007 are they ??

Unfortunately, yes- and that box is now dead until I can find time this week to fix it.

[Bruno]

. . . well let us hope you can fix it soon so we can continue our zip-adventure Bruno

[Cluttermagnet]

My problem with the Cluttermaster 2007 turned out to be a power supply failure. It's a case of infant mortality. The supply had only been in service for a couple of weeks. Oh well, better that than the mother board. That would have been more expensive. I've got to stop buying these cheap power supplies.