mounting hell

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November 13th, 2005, 03:07 AM
that_is_my_cook

mounting hell

Ok... long story short im new to linux and having problems mounting the cdrom drive

dev/hda2 /ext3 defaults 0 1
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/fdo/floppy auto user,noauto 00
/dev/cdrom/cdrom auto ro,user,noauto 00

Thats the result of doing a

Code:

cat fstab

I was told this doesnt have any mountpoints? (no real understanding of what this means :confused: )

Now when I do a

Code:

mount /dev/cdrom

it says special device does not exist :rolleyes:

So I tried to create the dir /mnt/cdrom and then do it, it said the device was allready mounted or in use. When I deleted the (still empty) dir and tried to mount it again I got the 'special device does not exist'

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
November 13th, 2005, 03:42 AM
rcgreen

First, make sure that the file /dev/cdrom exists.

Code:

rcgreen@blue:~$ ls -l /dev/cdrom lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 2005-10-24 11:35 /dev/cdrom -> /dev/hdc

On my system, it is a symbolic link pointing to the actual device file /dev/hdc.
Sometimes, your install process won't set up this link for you.
Do man ln to get the command for creating the link.

Code:

rcgreen@blue:~$ cat /etc/fstab /dev/hda3 swap swap defaults 0 0 /dev/hda2 / ext3 defaults 1 1 /dev/hda1 /boot ext3 defaults 1 2 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom auto noauto,user,ro 0 0 /dev/dvd /mnt/dvd auto noauto,user 0 0 /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,user 0 0 devpts /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0 proc /proc proc defaults 0 0

The left entry /dev/cdrom is the device.
The next entry /mnt/cdrom is the mount point.
:cool:
November 13th, 2005, 11:32 AM
that_is_my_cook

Thats the best answer ive got from all of four forums Ive tried.

Thanks alot and ill be swapping over to linux partition now...
November 13th, 2005, 05:40 PM
that_is_my_cook

Right a step in the right direction I think...

I did a

Code:

ln -s /mnt/cdrom /dev/cdrom

(I wasnt sure if this was right)

/mnt/cdrom was still empty so i tried to mount it again

Code:

mount /dev/cdrom

This time it said '/dev/cdrom/ is not a block device'

I did a

Code:

cat fstab

and the cdrom part now shows
'/dev/cdrom /cdrom auto ro etc...

so there is now a mount point but I dont think its quite right? Oh well looks like a step in the right direction.
November 13th, 2005, 06:59 PM
gore

what distro are you using man? Most don't make you mount it by itself anymore.

Reply with the distro you're using as a much easier way usually exists depending on what you're using.
November 13th, 2005, 07:23 PM
that_is_my_cook

its phlak
www.phlak.org if that helps at all
November 13th, 2005, 07:44 PM
gore

OK, mounting always seems strange to new people, but take the advice already given, and try this too:

man mount

Read the man page for it as that's going to really help you. On most boxes I have here, if it's not mounted already, I usually just type:

mount /dev/cdrom

Sometimes it's /dev/hdc though too.
November 13th, 2005, 07:48 PM
that_is_my_cook

Well ive followed the advice and posted the results from them, simple mount /dev/cdrom gives the error message 'special device does not exist' ill try hdc although im sure I have before...
November 13th, 2005, 10:27 PM
that_is_my_cook

hhmm...

/dev/hdc allready exits. Im not sure what this means :confused:

any more ideas about 'is not a block device' ?
November 13th, 2005, 11:17 PM
rcgreen
A block device is a drive. To mount a drive, you mount the block device file
that represents that drive. The device files are all located in the /dev directory.
Obviously, you only need to concern yourself with the ones that correspond
to equipment you have installed.
- /dev/hda is the primary master ide drive
- /dev/hdb is the primary slave
- /dev/hdc is the secondary master
- /dev/hdd is the secondary slave
If your cdrom drive is like mine, master on the second ide channel, it would be
/dev/hdc. As a convenience, there is a symbolic link, also in /dev, and it points
to the device file that represents the cdrom drive.

So, if /dev/cdrom didn't exist, you would issue the command

Code:

ln -s /dev/hdc /dev/cdrom

..or hdb or hdd or whatever your drive is.

The other thing that needs to exist is a directory where it will be mounted.
/mnt/cdrom is the most common, and should already exist.
So the link you created wasn't correct.

Code:

rcgreen@blue:~$ ls -l /dev/cdrom lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 2005-10-24 11:35 /dev/cdrom -> /dev/hdc

:cool:
November 13th, 2005, 11:41 PM
that_is_my_cook

If it makes it any differnt its a laptop, which I dont have much experience with but i think thats still ide?

Well ill try to mount those

yes /mnt/cdrom does exist

I wasnt sure how to make the link exactly

am I actually supposd to enter this?

Code:

lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 8 2005-10-24 11:35 /dev/cdrom -> /dev/hdc

I thought it was just what yours showed but its in code...

ill check is /dev/cdrom exists and try

Code:

-s /dev/hdc /dev/cdrom
November 13th, 2005, 11:57 PM
Striek
Quote:
Originally posted here by rcgreen
A block device is a drive. To mount a drive, you mount the block device file
that represents that drive. The device files are all located in the /dev directory.
Obviously, you only need to concern yourself with the ones that correspond
to equipment you have installed.

/dev/hda is the primary master ide drive
/dev/hdb is the primary slave
/dev/hdc is the secondary master
/dev/hdd is the secondary slave
I think you are getting confused between /mnt/cdrom and /dev/cdrom. I will explain tyhe difference.

/mnt/cdrom will normally be an empty directory on your hard drive, not a device file. When you mount a CD, its contents will appear in the /mnt/cdrom directory (in most cases).

/dev/cdrom is a symbolic link, usually to the actual device file that represents your cdrom drive, as rcgreen explained above. Check what file the /dev/cdrom links points to. That will tell you what device your CD drive asctually is. Try

Code:

ls -l /dev/cdrom

Now, assuming that /dev/cdrom (NOT /mnt/cdrom) it points to a valid device file which represents your CD drive, you can mount it with the following command:

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

This will look at the device which the /dev/cdrom (NOT /mnt/cdrom) file points to (in my case, /dev/hdc), and then mount the device represented by that file into the /mnt/cdrom directory. If this does not work, then more than likely the /dev/cdrom link does not point to the right device file. You will need to figure out on which IDE channel your CD drive resides, whether it is master or slave, and refer back to rcgreen's list.

Next, delete the /dev/cdrom link, and replace it with the following command:

Code:

ln -s [proper CD device file] /dev/cdrom

.
You will now have a valid /dev/cdrom (NOT /mnt/cdrom) link pointing to the device file representing your CD drive, and should be able to mount it with the mount command that I gave eariler. Once that works, then you can put the necessary entries into the /etc/fstab file. But for now, ignore that file. It's just adding one more step to an already complicated problem for you.

Hope that helps...
November 14th, 2005, 12:29 AM
that_is_my_cook

Again thanks all for help now...

I did

Code:

ls -l /dev/cdrom

and it came back

Code:

lrwxrwxrwx l root root (date) (time) /dev/cdrom -> /mnt/cdrom

And this looked right (?)

so I went to /mnt/cdrom and a weird thing happened
/mnt/cdrom had a directory called cdrom, and that directory had a directory called cdrom and on and on... i went 'cd cdrom' a dozen times before giving up

whats going on?
So I did a

Code:

mount

and it didnt show the cdrom at all :/
I tried to

Code:

mount cdrom

and

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

and still got the 'not a block device'
November 14th, 2005, 01:29 AM
Striek

Quote:

I did

Code:

ls -l /dev/cdrom

and it came back

Code:

lrwxrwxrwx l root root (date) (time) /dev/cdrom -> /mnt/cdrom

And this looked right (?)

No, that is not right. The /dev/cdrom link is pointing to the /mnt/cdrom directory. /mnt/cdrom is a directory and NOT a device file. You need /dev/cdrom to point to a valid device file, which in turn will represent your CD drive. What has happened is that you have made this link, and pointed it to the mount point of your CD drive (/mnt/cdrom) instead of the CD device.

The /dev/cdrom device should be pointing to a DEVICE, not a directory. This will be something like /dev/hda, /dev/hdb, /dev.hdc, or /dev/hdd, depending on which channel the CD drive is attached to. You are getting the "not a block device" error because the /dev/cdrom link is pointing to /mnt/cdrom, which is a directory, NOT a device. Delete the /dev/cdrom link. It is useless to you the way it is.

Then, try mounting the CD manually, but instead of giving the /dev/cdrom as the device, try /dev/hdc or something similar. So your mount command would look like this:

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdc /mnt/cdrom

Try this for /dev/hdb, /dev/hdc, and /dev/hdd; one of them is likely your CD drive. /dev/hda is more than likely your primary hard drive.

Now, as for there being a cdrom directory in the /mnt/cdrom directory, this is actually a symbolic link which points back to /mnt/cdrom. Basically, /mnt/cdrom/cdrom is an alias fo /mnt/cdrom. This will continue to infinity. Just delete that file. You most likely created it in error somehow.
November 14th, 2005, 01:34 AM
that_is_my_cook

Ah ok

I think I get it now Ill go try those

Thanks
November 14th, 2005, 01:59 AM
that_is_my_cook

arg

ok for a bad start I cant delete cdrom (even after using the ignore if not empty command)
it doesnt go away im going to have to change that other thing I changed :p
So I made a /mnt/cd dir to use

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/hdc /mnt/cd

Gave me a message about it being write protected so I assume this is the linux partition all the other ones hdb hdc and hdd all returned the 'not a block device'
November 14th, 2005, 02:07 AM
Striek

Well since CD's are not writeable, every time you mount them you will get that error. You have found the CD device.

Now, navigate to your /dev directory and create a link to make this easier in the future, with the following command:

Code:

ln -s hdc cdrom

Now you will be able to mount your cd drive with

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

Finally, add the following line to your /etc/fstab file:

Code:

/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom auto noauto,user,ro 0 0

And you should then be able to mount the CD drive with just "mount /mnt/cdrom"
November 14th, 2005, 02:22 AM
that_is_my_cook

ok...

went to /dev

Code:

ln -s hdc cdrom

seemed to work fine...

Code:

mount -t iso9660 /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom

said /dev/cdrom was not a block device...

went into /dev/cdrom and there was a cdrom dir and a hdc dir... again some messed up looping thing but this time with an error... something like to many links...

I think I screwed up at first.. im going to reinstall phlak completley and try again...

tomorow morning though... im falling asleep on the keyboard here...

thanks for the help everyone... hopefully formatting will fix whatever I stuffed up in the first place :s
November 14th, 2005, 02:41 PM
that_is_my_cook

yes!

Thanks everyone I reformated and installed it again, getting rid of the wrong link id'd made. Now it works fine and I got it working

thanks again