This is wonderful Peter.

Just to be safe, I'd like to recommend that you take a backup of the the
/etc/fstab file before you touch it.

I once had a situation where the /etc/fstab file was edited by HALD yet the
root partition was at 100%. The commit failed and we ended up with a blank
/etc/fstab!

Cheers!
Bernard

On 3 February 2010 15:42, Peter C. Ndikuwera <[email protected]> wrote:

> If you create an fstab entry and mark in "noauto" then the OS won't look
> for the device until you actually plug it in.
>
> 1. Create the directory to be mounted to, e.g. /media/MY_EXTERNAL_DISK
>
> 2. Add this to fstab
>
> */dev/sdc1       /media/MY_EXTERNAL_DISK      vfat
> noauto,users,gid=users,fmask=113,dmask=003
> *
> 3. Load Dolphin or Nautilus and you should see your external hard disk on
> the left hand side. You should be able to mount and unmount it and all users
> should be able to see it.
>
> Your bigger issue is that this fstab entry will work for every single
> external hard disk that's mounted at /dev/sdb1
>
> To overcome this, look in the /dev/disk/by-id folder and see the symlink
> that points to /dev/sdb1, for my Cruzer Sandisk, I see this:
>
> *lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Feb  3 15:40
> usb-SanDisk_Cruzer_22430207601162D5-0:0-part1 -> ../../sdc1*
>
> So I can edit my fstab and put this:
> */dev/disk/by-id/**usb-SanDisk_Cruzer_22430207601162D5-0:0-part1**
> /media/MY_EXTERNAL_DISK      vfat
> noauto,users,gid=users,fmask=113,dmask=003
> *
> Voila!
>
> Peter
>
>
>
>
>
> "Happiness makes up in height what it lacks in length"
> -- Robert Frost
>
>
> On 3 February 2010 13:23, Bernard Wanyama <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Hi RIchard,
>>
>> Ideally, we'd try and catch the device whenever it gets plugged in and
>> give it wider permissions for all users on the system.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Bernard
>>
>>
>> On 3 February 2010 12:52, Richard Austin <[email protected]>wrote:
>>
>>>  I'm using Ubuntu 9.10. Wouldn't editing the etc/fstab make it a
>>> permanent solution, ie. it would always try and mount the device? What
>>> happens when it isn't plugged in?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 03/02/10 12:15, Bernard Wanyama wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Richard,
>>>
>>> What OS are you running?
>>>
>>> Looks like a 'simple' matter of changing the /etc/fstab options.
>>>
>>> Kind regards,
>>> Bernard
>>>
>>> On 3 February 2010 10:02, Richard Austin <[email protected]>wrote:
>>>
>>>> On a similar theme.
>>>>
>>>> I use a USB stick or a USB drive for large data files ( music etc.)
>>>>
>>>> The problem I have is that it is only available to one logged in user
>>>> and not others on the same machine.
>>>>
>>>> Is there any way to make the USB devices available to all. Bear in mind
>>>> that sometimes there are not plugged in, so a permanent mount option is not
>>>> the way to go.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 03/02/10 09:21, Simon Vass wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Fantastic! Way to go Bernard.
>>>>>
>>>>> Simon Vass
>>>>> Technical Manager
>>>>> E-Tech Uganda Ltd
>>>>> http://www.etech.ug
>>>>> Tel: +256 (0) 312260620 or (0) 312260621
>>>>> Email: [email protected]
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> ----- Original Message -----
>>>>> From: "Bernard Wanyama"<[email protected]>
>>>>> To: "Linux Users Group Uganda"<[email protected]>
>>>>> Cc: [email protected]
>>>>> Sent: Wednesday, February 3, 2010 1:13:02 AM GMT +03:00 Iraq
>>>>> Subject: Re: [LUG] USB Stick
>>>>>
>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>
>>>>> We finally fixed it today.
>>>>>
>>>>> Jacques had accidentally knocked out the partition table of his hard
>>>>> disk (/dev/sdb) and not that of the USB stick (/dev/sdd)!
>>>>>
>>>>> Luckily, he had a live-USB Ubuntu - Karmic Koala - Netbook remix.
>>>>>
>>>>> We booted off the USB. downloaded testdisk debian package and
>>>>> installed it - right on the live USB. We then used testdisk to search
>>>>> the hard disk (/dev/sdb) for previous partitions and we did find his
>>>>> last valid partition. Restore, save, reboot!
>>>>>
>>>>> We got right back in and when the laptop booted into his old desktop
>>>>> environment, I discovered that Jacques could actually say thank you in
>>>>> Luganda!!
>>>>>
>>>>> We also decided to fix the 'offending' USB stick by wiping its
>>>>> partition table using gparted in Ubuntu and creating a VFAT partition
>>>>> on it. After that, the full 2GB capacity was available - at least we
>>>>> could copy and play back some Beatles and Tempations audio files.
>>>>>
>>>>> A wonderful evening of data recovery - courtesy of Testdisk and Ubuntu
>>>>> Karmic Koala.
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers!
>>>>> Bernard
>>>>>
>>>>> On 01/02/2010, Peter C. Ndikuwera<[email protected]>  wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>   _______________________________________________
>>>> LUG mailing list
>>>> [email protected]
>>>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
>>>> %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>>>>
>>>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
>>>> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any 
>>>> way.
>>>> ---------------------------------------
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> LUG mailing [email protected]http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
>>> %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>>>
>>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including 
>>> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
>>> ---------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> LUG mailing list
>>> [email protected]
>>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
>>> %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>>>
>>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
>>> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
>>> ---------------------------------------
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> LUG mailing list
>> [email protected]
>> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
>> %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>>
>> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
>> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
>> ---------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>
> _______________________________________________
> LUG mailing list
> [email protected]
> http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
> %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
>
> The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including
> attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
> ---------------------------------------
>
>
>
_______________________________________________
LUG mailing list
[email protected]
http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug
%LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/

The above comments and data are owned by whoever posted them (including 
attachments if any). The List's Host is not responsible for them in any way.
---------------------------------------

Reply via email to