Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Tixy]

On Sat, 2016-11-12 at 17:19 +, Lisi Reisz wrote:
> On Saturday 12 November 2016 15:45:28 Brian wrote:
> > The behaviour of your aptitude is presumably because you have adjusted
> > the default behaviour in some way. The new behaviour is not a bug.
> 
> No, I haven't.  This is a temporary machine, which I have not been using 
> long.  
> I have adjusted very little.  I don't remember claiming that anything was a 
> bug.
> 
> > Also, a default Debian doesn't have aptitude but apt-get. which installs
> > recommended packages by default.
> 
> Varies with time.  Sometimes it is there and sometimes it isn't.  When 
> aptitude isn't there, I install it.  But I don't configure it.
> 
> So, after some exploring (aptitude show and aptitude search), in this 
> installation (Jessie, 8.6 - I installed Jessie 8.5) aptitude was *not* 
> automatically installed and the recommends of aptitude *were* automatically 
> installed.  I must watch for next time I have to install/not install some 
> recommends and see why and when.

I'm pretty sure installing recommends is Debian's default. I remember it
changing, and dug up this 2007 announcement of the fact...

https://lists.debian.org/debian-devel-announce/2007/08/msg0.html

I also have as the very first step in my personal notes for installing
Debian instructions to disable that...

Create /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/20norecommends containing

APT {
Install-Recommends "false";
};

-- 
Tixy

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Lisi Reisz]

On Saturday 12 November 2016 15:45:28 Brian wrote:
> The behaviour of your aptitude is presumably because you have adjusted
> the default behaviour in some way. The new behaviour is not a bug.

No, I haven't.  This is a temporary machine, which I have not been using long.  
I have adjusted very little.  I don't remember claiming that anything was a 
bug.

> Also, a default Debian doesn't have aptitude but apt-get. which installs
> recommended packages by default.

Varies with time.  Sometimes it is there and sometimes it isn't.  When 
aptitude isn't there, I install it.  But I don't configure it.

So, after some exploring (aptitude show and aptitude search), in this 
installation (Jessie, 8.6 - I installed Jessie 8.5) aptitude was *not* 
automatically installed and the recommends of aptitude *were* automatically 
installed.  I must watch for next time I have to install/not install some 
recommends and see why and when.

Interesting.  Thanks.

Lisi

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Sat 12 Nov 2016 at 13:45:38 +, Lisi Reisz wrote:

> On Friday 11 November 2016 21:58:58 Brian wrote:
> > Not installing a recommended package on a default Debian would be a bug.
> 
> Aptitude on my current almost vanilla temporary Jessie install doesn't 
> install 
> recommends.  But it makes a big point of telling me a) that they are 
> recommended and b) that they are not going to be installed.  I then often, 
> but not always, install them.  It doesn't strike me as a bug.  This is Debian 
> not Ubuntu.
> 
> I could, of course, reset aptitude.  I am quite happy with the status quo.

Never really used aptitude but I've just installed it and ran the curses
variety of the program. "options" at the top of the screen shows

Option:  Apt::Install-Recommends
Default: True
Value:   True

The behaviour of your aptitude is presumably because you have adjusted
the default behaviour in some way. The new behaviour is not a bug.

Also, a default Debian doesn't have aptitude but apt-get. which installs
recommended packages by default.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Lisi Reisz]

On Friday 11 November 2016 21:58:58 Brian wrote:
> Not installing a recommended package on a default Debian would be a bug.

Aptitude on my current almost vanilla temporary Jessie install doesn't install 
recommends.  But it makes a big point of telling me a) that they are 
recommended and b) that they are not going to be installed.  I then often, 
but not always, install them.  It doesn't strike me as a bug.  This is Debian 
not Ubuntu.

I could, of course, reset aptitude.  I am quite happy with the status quo.

> Not installing a suggested package isn't.

Lisi

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 16:45:40 (-0800), Joseph Loo wrote:
> On 11/11/2016 04:39 PM, David Wright wrote:
> > On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:36:15 (-0500), rhkra...@gmail.com wrote:
> >> On Friday, November 11, 2016 04:58:41 PM Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> >>> Le 11/11/2016 à 22:17, Thomas Schmitt a écrit :
>  The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
>  ones in one of the primary partitions.
> >>>
> >>> Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.
> >>
> >> Ok, just to be part of this ongoing saga, I think the number of logical 
> >> partitions is limited to something like 12 or 16 (or maybe the total 
> >> number of 
> >> partitions, primary plus logical is limited to 16.  (And maybe that's a 
> >> limit 
> >> of one or more OSs rather than a universal limit.)
> > 
> > That doesn't seem to square with
> > http://forums.justlinux.com/showthread.php?147959-How-to-install-and-boot-145-operating-systems-in-a-PC
> > (Scroll down to "Partition Tables".)
> > 
> > Cheers,
> > David.
> > 
> Your URL is talking about gpt scheme. The limitation is in the MSDOS
> partition scheme

You only read the updates at the top!

> > (Scroll down to "Partition Tables".)

... and see

/dev/hda4 367   36483   290109802+   5  Extended
...
/dev/hda60  34658   35265 4883728+  83  Linux

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Joseph Loo]

On 11/11/2016 04:39 PM, David Wright wrote:
> On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:36:15 (-0500), rhkra...@gmail.com wrote:
>> On Friday, November 11, 2016 04:58:41 PM Pascal Hambourg wrote:
>>> Le 11/11/2016 à 22:17, Thomas Schmitt a écrit :
 The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
 ones in one of the primary partitions.
>>>
>>> Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.
>>
>> Ok, just to be part of this ongoing saga, I think the number of logical 
>> partitions is limited to something like 12 or 16 (or maybe the total number 
>> of 
>> partitions, primary plus logical is limited to 16.  (And maybe that's a 
>> limit 
>> of one or more OSs rather than a universal limit.)
> 
> That doesn't seem to square with
> http://forums.justlinux.com/showthread.php?147959-How-to-install-and-boot-145-operating-systems-in-a-PC
> (Scroll down to "Partition Tables".)
> 
> Cheers,
> David.
> 
Your URL is talking about gpt scheme. The limitation is in the MSDOS
partition scheme

-- 
Joseph Loo
j...@acm.org

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:36:15 (-0500), rhkra...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Friday, November 11, 2016 04:58:41 PM Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> > Le 11/11/2016 à 22:17, Thomas Schmitt a écrit :
> > > The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
> > > ones in one of the primary partitions.
> > 
> > Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.
> 
> Ok, just to be part of this ongoing saga, I think the number of logical 
> partitions is limited to something like 12 or 16 (or maybe the total number 
> of 
> partitions, primary plus logical is limited to 16.  (And maybe that's a limit 
> of one or more OSs rather than a universal limit.)

That doesn't seem to square with
http://forums.justlinux.com/showthread.php?147959-How-to-install-and-boot-145-operating-systems-in-a-PC
(Scroll down to "Partition Tables".)

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Felix Miata]

rhkra...@gmail.com composed on 2016-11-11 18:36 (UTC-0500):


Pascal Hambourg wrote:



Thomas Schmitt composed:



> The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
> ones in one of the primary partitions.



Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.



Ok, just to be part of this ongoing saga, I think the number of logical
partitions is limited to something like 12 or 16 (or maybe the total number of
partitions, primary plus logical is limited to 16.  (And maybe that's a limit
of one or more OSs rather than a universal limit.)


When libata was a juvenile it inherited SCSI's maximum block id minor number 
15, making /dev/sd#15 the limit. It took awhile before the new major number 
259 was provided with a larger maximum minor, 127 IIRC, to boost the libata 
limit past 15.

--
"The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant
words are persuasive." Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation)

 Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks!

Felix Miata  ***  http://fm.no-ip.com/

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[rhkramer]

On Friday, November 11, 2016 04:58:41 PM Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> Le 11/11/2016 à 22:17, Thomas Schmitt a écrit :
> > The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
> > ones in one of the primary partitions.
> 
> Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.

Ok, just to be part of this ongoing saga, I think the number of logical 
partitions is limited to something like 12 or 16 (or maybe the total number of 
partitions, primary plus logical is limited to 16.  (And maybe that's a limit 
of one or more OSs rather than a universal limit.)

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 23:22:36 (+0100), Thomas Schmitt wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> i wrote:
> > > The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
> > > ones in one of the primary partitions.
> 
> Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> > Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.
> 
> You are right. Must have been some mislead memory from old experience
> with partitioning tools.

There was a period (rex) when Debian only created /dev/sda[1-8]
on SCSI disks, though this only affected whether you could *access*
a greater number of partitions, not *create* them.

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Thomas Schmitt]

Hi,

i wrote:
> > The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
> > ones in one of the primary partitions.

Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.

You are right. Must have been some mislead memory from old experience
with partitioning tools.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 20:18:59 (+), Brian wrote:
> On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 20:53:17 +0100, Nicolas George wrote:
> 
> > Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, David Wright a écrit :
> > > Any reference. You see, I find label a very slippery word.
> > > You can label a disk at almost every level: a sticky label,
> > 
> > True, but not really relevant.
> > 
> > > a disklabel (partition table),
> > 
> > This is BSD slang. But this was what I was referring to.
> > 
> > >a filesystem label,
> > 
> > Indeed. That is the most common one.
> > 
> > >a volume label
> > > (perhaps those two are equivalent),
> > 
> > I do not think "volume" means anything in the Linux world.
> > 
> > > and whatever is handled by
> > > devlabel (which might be historic).
> > 
> > It looks like a tool to make symlinks based on the above labels.
> > 
> > > So I'm unsure what you mean by a partition label, where it's
> > > stored, and how it differs from a filesystem label.
> > 
> > Well, the filesystem label is stored in the filesystem metadata, i.e.
> > probably the superblock. The partition label is stored in the partitions
> > metadata, i.e. the "partition table".
> > 
> > > Is it new-fangled?
> > 
> > MBR-style partition tables do not contain labels, if that is what you
> > are asking. But GPT does.
> 
> May I say I appreciated the correction about labels being applied to
> file systems and not partitions. I'd done a copy and paste (with a
> change to a spelling) without any thought in mind to disabuse the OP
> about the technical aspects. It seemed more important to get him on
> the road.
> 
> But, this is getting interesting.

Yes, I guess we have to be more careful about distinguishing partition
and filesystem labels now that GPT is common. In the OP's instance, we
know that filesystem labels were meant because "extended partition"
was mentioned, so it's an MBR with no partition labels sensu stricto.

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Pascal Hambourg]

Le 11/11/2016 à 22:17, Thomas Schmitt a écrit :


The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
ones in one of the primary partitions.


Huh ? The number of logical partitions is unlimited.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 15:03:57 -0600, Richard Owlett wrote:

> The problem was missing mtools. When I had used Synaptic to install Gparted
> it had pulled in dostools but not mtools. Is that a "bug" or "annoyance"?

Not installing a recommended package on a default Debian would be a bug.
Not installing a suggested package isn't.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Richard Owlett]

On 11/11/2016 9:38 PM, Doug wrote:

/snip/

Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to ,
mtools is required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various
external software files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
If anyone knows of such, please advise.

--doug




YES there is. Goto http://gparted.org/download.php .




OK, Thanx. I have an older copy--I don't know if it has all the
supplemental
files--so I just downloaded this one and I'll burn a copy. This
program is one
of the most useful programs that one should have in his arsenal!
It is
perfectly clear as to what's going on, where, and I use it in
prep for any
new install, rather than whatever is on the install disk, since
it shows
everything on the drive, where it is, how big it is, etc., and
allows you to
move and shrink things that may make the new install fit and work
better. (You can even shrink Windows with it!)

--doug


My Live CD is rev 0.11.0 , it apparently has everything.
Jessie has 0.19.0 .
The website, I noticed, has a later rev.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Doug]

/snip/

Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to ,
mtools is required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various
external software files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
If anyone knows of such, please advise.

--doug




YES there is. Goto http://gparted.org/download.php .




OK, Thanx. I have an older copy--I don't know if it has all the supplemental
files--so I just downloaded this one and I'll burn a copy. This program 
is one

of the most useful programs that one should have in his arsenal! It is
perfectly clear as to what's going on, where, and I use it in prep for any
new install, rather than whatever is on the install disk, since it shows
everything on the drive, where it is, how big it is, etc., and allows you to
move and shrink things that may make the new install fit and work
better. (You can even shrink Windows with it!)

--doug

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Thomas Schmitt]

Hi,

David Wright wrote:
> So I'm unsure what you mean by a partition label, where it's
> stored, and how it differs from a filesystem label.

See "Partition name (36 UTF-16LE code units)" in
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table#Partition_entries

This describes the GPT partition table which is the newer of the
two usual partition table formats. Lots of partitions are possible
on a disk.

The older format is MBR with 4 primary partitions and 4 logical
ones in one of the primary partitions. Also known as "MSDOS"
partition table. No partition names there.


Have a nice day :)

Thomas

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Richard Owlett]

On 11/11/2016 1:51 PM, Michael Milliman wrote:



On 11/11/2016 09:47 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:

Several years ago I purchased an external 1 TB USB connected
drive for backups.
The base of the enclosure says it is a Seagate drive.
Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex
Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label


I successfully mounted partitions 1 and 5.  Both are readable
and contain files from unknown Windows machines. On my Windows
Desktop hardware C:\Documents and Settings\user\Recent
indicates that it had been used on that machine back in 2011.
There is similar evidence that it had been used on my Windows
Laptop in 2012. Neither machine reports files with "goflex" in
filename {case insensitive search}.

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label"
menu option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no
problem creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


It has been some time since I have had to do anything similar.
However, as I recall, if the partition is mounted, gparted will
not add/change the label.  You have to unmount the partition
first, which gparted will do (with a different command).  Once
unmounted, gparted is then willing to modify the partition.  I
know this sounds obvious, but then sometimes it is the most
obvious things we overlook:-)


Any suggestions as to what the problem is?
Is there another option that would allow me to label the
partition with no other effects on that partition?



TIA





I've been bit by that a number of times. None of the partitions 
had been mounted.


The problem was missing mtools. When I had used Synaptic to 
install Gparted it had pulled in dostools but not mtools. Is that 
a "bug" or "annoyance"?

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Richard Owlett]

On 11/11/2016 7:30 PM, Doug wrote:


On 11/11/2016 01:07 PM, Pascal Hambourg wrote:

Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :

Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex
Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label

(...)

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label"
menu
option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no
problem
creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to ,
mtools is required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various
external software files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
If anyone knows of such, please advise.

--doug




YES there is. Goto http://gparted.org/download.php .

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Doug]

On 11/11/2016 01:42 PM, Brian wrote:

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 19:30:51 -0600, Doug wrote:


On 11/11/2016 01:07 PM, Pascal Hambourg wrote:



/snip/

Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to , mtools is
required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various external software
files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
If anyone knows of such, please advise.

   http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/i386/iso-hybrid/

has files with package contents. Any use?

I'll take a look at that--thanx!

--doug

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 14:45:16 -0600, Richard Owlett wrote:

> On 11/11/2016 1:22 PM, David Wright wrote:
> >On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:59:29 (+0100), Nicolas George wrote:
> >>Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, Brian a écrit :
> >>>gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.
> >>
> >>dosfslabel label will not label a partition, it will label a filesystem.
> >
> >Does a partition have a label?
> >
> >Cheers,
> >David.
> >
> >
> 
> Apparently it does according to the authors of Gparted.
> Who am I to argue?

How relevant is that to your immediate problem? Or have you forgotten
about what you asked?

Did installing mtools solve it? That is the essential point.

Once you sort that you can argue to your heart's content about labels
and what gparted says.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Richard Owlett]

On 11/11/2016 1:22 PM, David Wright wrote:

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:59:29 (+0100), Nicolas George wrote:

Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, Brian a écrit :

gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.


dosfslabel label will not label a partition, it will label a filesystem.


Does a partition have a label?

Cheers,
David.




Apparently it does according to the authors of Gparted.
Who am I to argue?

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Richard Owlett]

On 11/11/2016 11:57 AM, Brian wrote:

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 09:47:40 -0600, Richard Owlett wrote:


Several years ago I purchased an external 1 TB USB connected drive for
backups.
The base of the enclosure says it is a Seagate drive.
Partitions:
   #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
   #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
   #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label


I successfully mounted partitions 1 and 5.  Both are readable and contain
files from unknown Windows machines. On my Windows Desktop hardware
C:\Documents and Settings\user\Recent indicates that it had been used on
that machine back in 2011. There is similar evidence that it had been used
on my Windows Laptop in 2012. Neither machine reports files with "goflex" in
filename {case insensitive search}.

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu option
was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem creating
partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.

Any suggestions as to what the problem is?
Is there another option that would allow me to label the partition with no
other effects on that partition?


gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.



But Gparted was already active for other reasons ;/

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 20:53:17 +0100, Nicolas George wrote:

> Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, David Wright a écrit :
> > Any reference. You see, I find label a very slippery word.
> > You can label a disk at almost every level: a sticky label,
> 
> True, but not really relevant.
> 
> > a disklabel (partition table),
> 
> This is BSD slang. But this was what I was referring to.
> 
> >  a filesystem label,
> 
> Indeed. That is the most common one.
> 
> >  a volume label
> > (perhaps those two are equivalent),
> 
> I do not think "volume" means anything in the Linux world.
> 
> >   and whatever is handled by
> > devlabel (which might be historic).
> 
> It looks like a tool to make symlinks based on the above labels.
> 
> > So I'm unsure what you mean by a partition label, where it's
> > stored, and how it differs from a filesystem label.
> 
> Well, the filesystem label is stored in the filesystem metadata, i.e.
> probably the superblock. The partition label is stored in the partitions
> metadata, i.e. the "partition table".
> 
> > Is it new-fangled?
> 
> MBR-style partition tables do not contain labels, if that is what you
> are asking. But GPT does.

May I say I appreciated the correction about labels being applied to
file systems and not partitions. I'd done a copy and paste (with a
change to a spelling) without any thought in mind to disabuse the OP
about the technical aspects. It seemed more important to get him on
the road.

But, this is getting interesting.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 13:51:41 -0600, Michael Milliman wrote:

> On 11/11/2016 09:47 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
> >Several years ago I purchased an external 1 TB USB connected drive for
> >backups.
> >The base of the enclosure says it is a Seagate drive.
> >Partitions:
> >  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
> >  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
> >  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label
> >
> >
> >I successfully mounted partitions 1 and 5.  Both are readable and contain
> >files from unknown Windows machines. On my Windows Desktop hardware
> >C:\Documents and Settings\user\Recent indicates that it had been used on
> >that machine back in 2011. There is similar evidence that it had been used
> >on my Windows Laptop in 2012. Neither machine reports files with "goflex"
> >in filename {case insensitive search}.
> >
> >I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu option
> >was greyed out.
> >The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
> >creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.
> >
> It has been some time since I have had to do anything similar. However, as I
> recall, if the partition is mounted, gparted will not add/change the label.
> You have to unmount the partition first, which gparted will do (with a
> different command).  Once unmounted, gparted is then willing to modify the
> partition.  I know this sounds obvious, but then sometimes it is the most
> obvious things we overlook:-)

You are 100% correct about not having the partition mounted. It does
lead to the labelling option being greyed out. Easy enough to overlook,
as you say.

It turns out the actual issue is one of not having a suggested package,
mtools, installed.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Nicolas George]

Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, David Wright a écrit :
> Any reference. You see, I find label a very slippery word.
> You can label a disk at almost every level: a sticky label,

True, but not really relevant.

> a disklabel (partition table),

This is BSD slang. But this was what I was referring to.

>a filesystem label,

Indeed. That is the most common one.

>a volume label
> (perhaps those two are equivalent),

I do not think "volume" means anything in the Linux world.

> and whatever is handled by
> devlabel (which might be historic).

It looks like a tool to make symlinks based on the above labels.

> So I'm unsure what you mean by a partition label, where it's
> stored, and how it differs from a filesystem label.

Well, the filesystem label is stored in the filesystem metadata, i.e.
probably the superblock. The partition label is stored in the partitions
metadata, i.e. the "partition table".

> Is it new-fangled?

MBR-style partition tables do not contain labels, if that is what you
are asking. But GPT does.


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Description: Digital signature

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Seeker]

On 11/11/2016 5:30 PM, Doug wrote:


On 11/11/2016 01:07 PM, Pascal Hambourg wrote:

Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :

Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label

(...)

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu
option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to , mtools is
required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various external
software files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
If anyone knows of such, please advise.

--doug



I like SystemRescueCd for partitioning/troubleshooting.

https://www.system-rescue-cd.org/SystemRescueCd_Homepage

Later, Seeker

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Michael Milliman]

On 11/11/2016 09:47 AM, Richard Owlett wrote:
Several years ago I purchased an external 1 TB USB connected drive for 
backups.

The base of the enclosure says it is a Seagate drive.
Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label


I successfully mounted partitions 1 and 5.  Both are readable and 
contain files from unknown Windows machines. On my Windows Desktop 
hardware C:\Documents and Settings\user\Recent indicates that it had 
been used on that machine back in 2011. There is similar evidence that 
it had been used on my Windows Laptop in 2012. Neither machine reports 
files with "goflex" in filename {case insensitive search}.


I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu 
option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem 
creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


It has been some time since I have had to do anything similar. However, 
as I recall, if the partition is mounted, gparted will not add/change 
the label.  You have to unmount the partition first, which gparted will 
do (with a different command).  Once unmounted, gparted is then willing 
to modify the partition.  I know this sounds obvious, but then sometimes 
it is the most obvious things we overlook:-)



Any suggestions as to what the problem is?
Is there another option that would allow me to label the partition 
with no other effects on that partition?




TIA



--
73's
Mike, WB5VQX

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 20:32:52 (+0100), Nicolas George wrote:
> Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, David Wright a écrit :
> > Does a partition have a label?
> 
> Yes, depending on the partition scheme.

Any reference. You see, I find label a very slippery word.
You can label a disk at almost every level: a sticky label,
a disklabel (partition table), a filesystem label, a volume label
(perhaps those two are equivalent), and whatever is handled by
devlabel (which might be historic).

So I'm unsure what you mean by a partition label, where it's
stored, and how it differs from a filesystem label.
Is it new-fangled?

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 19:30:51 -0600, Doug wrote:

> 
> On 11/11/2016 01:07 PM, Pascal Hambourg wrote:
> >Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :
> >>Partitions:
> >>  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
> >>  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
> >>  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label
> >(...)
> >>I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu
> >>option was greyed out.
> >>The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
> >>creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.
> >
> >Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
> >According to , mtools is
> >required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.
> >
> >
> I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various external software
> files? It would be handy to have such a disk.
> If anyone knows of such, please advise.

  http://cdimage.debian.org/debian-cd/current-live/i386/iso-hybrid/

has files with package contents. Any use?

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Nicolas George]

Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, David Wright a écrit :
> Does a partition have a label?

Yes, depending on the partition scheme.

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George


signature.asc
Description: Digital signature

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Doug]

On 11/11/2016 01:07 PM, Pascal Hambourg wrote:

Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :

Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label

(...)

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu
option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to , mtools is 
required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.



I wonder if there is a LIVE disk that includes the various external 
software files? It would be handy to have such a disk.

If anyone knows of such, please advise.

--doug

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[David Wright]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 18:59:29 (+0100), Nicolas George wrote:
> Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, Brian a écrit :
> > gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.
> 
> dosfslabel label will not label a partition, it will label a filesystem.

Does a partition have a label?

Cheers,
David.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 20:07:24 +0100, Pascal Hambourg wrote:

> Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :
> >Partitions:
> >  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
> >  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
> >  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label
> (...)
> >I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu
> >option was greyed out.
> >The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
> >creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.
> 
> Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
> According to , mtools is
> required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.

A nice resolution of the issue; tested to work. mtools is a Suggests: of
gparted. People will not get it on a default Debian.

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Reco]

Hi.

On Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:52:06 +
Brian  wrote:

> On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 21:33:58 +0300, Reco wrote:
> 
> > As for the original problem - gparted is a GNOME application, so it's
> > expected to silently refuse doing potentially dangerous operations.
> 
> And yet gparted(8) and the manual at
> 
>   http://gparted.org/display-doc.php%3Fname%3Dhelp-manual
> 
> indicate setting a file system label is supported. Are we looking at a
> bug in gparted?

Beats me as I don't know C++ gparted is written in, nor have any desire
to learn it. Plain C is enough for me, and there's strace for the cases
when it does not.

Presumably gparted checks if a partition is used by something (a mounted
filesystem maybe?) and fails silently (i.e. makes a button inactive) if
it considers such check successful.

Whenever such check is justified, and whenever the implementation of
the check is flawless is something left to be seen.

Personally I'd say it's not worth the trouble to investigate the
issue as dosfslabel should do the job without the (potentially
dangerous) need to run GUI tool as root. There's a reason they use
PolicyKit for nearly everything else which requires root in a modern
GNOME, after all.

Reco

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Pascal Hambourg]

Le 11/11/2016 à 16:47, Richard Owlett a écrit :

Partitions:
  #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
  #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
  #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label

(...)

I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu
option was greyed out.
The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem
creating partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.


Gparted needs external software to enable some features.
According to , mtools is 
required to change the label on a FAT filesystem.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 21:33:58 +0300, Reco wrote:

> As for the original problem - gparted is a GNOME application, so it's
> expected to silently refuse doing potentially dangerous operations.

And yet gparted(8) and the manual at

  http://gparted.org/display-doc.php%3Fname%3Dhelp-manual

indicate setting a file system label is supported. Are we looking at a
bug in gparted?

-- 
Brian.

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Reco]

Hi.

On Fri, 11 Nov 2016 18:59:29 +0100
Nicolas George  wrote:

> Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, Brian a écrit :
> > gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.
> 
> dosfslabel label will not label a partition, it will label a filesystem.

gparted does not label partitions either, it does label any supported
filesystem or swap inside a partition. Brian's advice is valid.

As for the original problem - gparted is a GNOME application, so it's
expected to silently refuse doing potentially dangerous operations.

Reco

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Nicolas George]

Le primidi 21 brumaire, an CCXXV, Brian a écrit :
> gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.

dosfslabel label will not label a partition, it will label a filesystem.

Regards,

-- 
  Nicolas George


signature.asc
Description: Digital signature

Re: Gparted will not label an existing FAT32 partition

[Brian]

On Fri 11 Nov 2016 at 09:47:40 -0600, Richard Owlett wrote:

> Several years ago I purchased an external 1 TB USB connected drive for
> backups.
> The base of the enclosure says it is a Seagate drive.
> Partitions:
>   #1 is ntfs 293 GiB [146 GiB used] labeled "FreeAgent GoFlex Drive"
>   #2 is extended partition for remainder of drive
>   #5 is fat32 62.5 GiB [31.5 GiB used] with no label
> 
> 
> I successfully mounted partitions 1 and 5.  Both are readable and contain
> files from unknown Windows machines. On my Windows Desktop hardware
> C:\Documents and Settings\user\Recent indicates that it had been used on
> that machine back in 2011. There is similar evidence that it had been used
> on my Windows Laptop in 2012. Neither machine reports files with "goflex" in
> filename {case insensitive search}.
> 
> I attempted to label partition 5 with Gparted, but the "Label" menu option
> was greyed out.
> The "Label" option was available for partition 1. I had no problem creating
> partition 6 as fat32 and labeling it.
> 
> Any suggestions as to what the problem is?
> Is there another option that would allow me to label the partition with no
> other effects on that partition?

gparted for labelling a partition is overkill. Use dosfslabel.

-- 
Brian.