Cannot access vfat, fdd, dvd, or cd-rw

[Rooster]

Dual boot system: Mandrake 9.1 & Windows XP Pro
Brand new install of 9.1 (Only thing changed was security level - From High to Standard)
The only way I can access these directories is as su through the console. I have tried chmod as root to give my regular usr account acces to these directories. In addition, the /etc/fstab file has been modified as follows (added '-o umask=644' to the directories I need access to) :
/dev/hdc1 / ext3 defaults 1 1
none /dev/pts devpts mode=0620 0 0
/dev/hdc9 /home ext3 defaults 1 2
none /mnt/cdrom supermount dev=/dev/scd0,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
none /mnt/cdrom2 supermount dev=/dev/hdd,fs=auto,ro,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
none /mnt/floppy supermount dev=/dev/fd0,fs=auto,--,iocharset=iso8859-1,sync,codepage=850 0 0
/dev/hda1 /mnt/win_c ntfs iocharset=iso8859-1,ro 0 0
/dev/hdc6 /mnt/win_c2 vfat -o umask=644 iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
/dev/hda5 /mnt/win_d vfat iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
/dev/hdc7 /mnt/win_d2 vfat -o umask=644 iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
/dev/hda6 /mnt/win_e vfat -o umask=644 iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
/dev/hda2 /mnt/win_f vfat iocharset=iso8859-1,codepage=850 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hdc8 /usr ext3 defaults 1 2
/dev/hdc10 /var ext2 defaults 1 2
/dev/hdc5 swap swap defaults 0 0

I read on another linux forum that this is how to fix this issue. However, it didn't work. Is there something wrong with this fstab? I did a 'man mount' to see what the codepage was all about. It seemed irrelevant. So, I left it alone.

any_help=greatly_appreciative_linux_user;

[LocoCoyote]

My fstab looks like this:

LABEL=/ / ext3 defaults 1 1
/dev/hda6 /fat32 vfat defaults 0 0 uid=500 gid=500
none /dev/pts devpts gid=5,mode=620 0 0
none /proc proc defaults 0 0
none /dev/shm tmpfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda8 swap swap defaults 0 0
/dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,r
/dev/hda1 /winxp ntfs defaults 0 0 uid=500 gid=500
/dev/hda5 /winxp2 ntfs defaults 0 0 uid=500 gid=500
#o 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto noauto,owner,kudzu 0 0
/dev/cdrom1 /mnt/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 noauto,owner,kudzu,ro 0 0

Have you tried to mount the devices using the mount command (manual)?

[Rooster]

Nope, I have not tried the mount command. I didn't think it would be necessary where everything is listed in /mnt and I can see that they are there (even as non-root usr). However, this wouldn't be the first time I was wrong.... am I? If so, would mount need to be run as su or as myself? And what would the command be?
By the way, thanks for the re:.

[LocoCoyote]

Run mount as root

try to use chmod (as root) to give user permissions
I am shooting in the dark here...I don't use Mandrake myself. I have had simular problems with SuSE and accessing my ntfs and ufs partions as a wheel user. I have no issues with RedHat's ext partion under SuSE.
The above fstab was from my RedHat partion (I was given to understand that Mandrake and RedHat are related). I have no issues with ro access under RedHat with the above mentioned partions.


I am thinking that if you can do a maual mount, then that would eliminate the permissions question..

Don't know...my 2 cents

[Rooster]

What should the parameters be in the mount command? Sorry, I've had a good bit of expereince w/ linux (mostly gui-based), just never had to run mount because the OS always picked everything up during install. By the way, here is the output of an 'ls -l' on /mnt:
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Jul 30 01:02 cdrom/
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Jul 30 01:02 cdrom2/
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 0 Jul 30 01:02 floppy/
dr-x------ 1 root root 4096 Jul 28 11:43 win_c/
drwxr--r-- 21 root root 8192 Dec 31 1969 win_c2/
drwxr--r-- 7 root root 4096 Dec 31 1969 win_d/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Jul 29 16:26 win_d2/
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 1024 Jul 29 16:26 win_e/
drwxr--r-- 7 root root 8192 Dec 31 1969 win_f/

I am a little confused about these permissions. Don't these permissions give at least read access to other? And, wouldn't my non-root user be other in this case since root is the owner and group? Maybe I am missing something here.

Again, thanks for the help.

[LocoCoyote]

basic syntax;

mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mydrive
cmd ; ops; fs; where; mount it here


man mount has a list of all possable switches.

you can also try mount -a to get mount to reread your fstab and try to mount what is listed there.

I too am finding permissions to be not as straight forward as much documentation leads me to belive. As I mentioned in the above post, SuSE has been giving me problems with access while the exact same thing works OK in RedHat.
no thanks needed...I'm not sure I am helping

[Rooster]

Well, I tried a few other things:
- using your fstab configurations for the vfat drives,
- messing around with security settings - which went back to default EVERY time I changed them,
- trying to remount the partitions,
- and running chmod on /dev/.
Nothing worked. Unfortunately, it seems Mandrake is going the way of 'ease of use', but not doing it well. So, I have decided to give RedHat another shot. Currently, the downloads for RedHat 9 iso's are in progress.

Thanks for all your help, Loco. Believe it or not, I learned a great deal about permissions, owners, groups, mount, and fstab in attempting to defeat Mandy 9.1.

[LocoCoyote]

I view every day that I don't learn something a waste!

Best of Luck to ya!