[H-GEN] FAT32 HDD access

[Joel Michael]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and ]
[ Unix-related topics.  Please observe the list's charter.          ]

----- Original Message -----
From: David Duffy <avd at audiovisualdevices.com.au>
To: <general at lists.humbug.org.au>
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2000 11:26 AM
Subject: [H-GEN] FAT32 HDD access


> [ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and ]
> [ Unix-related topics.  Please observe the list's charter.          ]
>
> Hi all,
> What I want to do is install an extra 10GB HDD in my Linux box
> that can be accessed by the Win98SE machines on the LAN.
> I wanted to format it as FAT32 so that it can be swapped into
> a Win98SE machine (it's in a carrier) in the event of me trashing
> my Linux partition. (quite possible at this early learning stage!)
> The new 10GB drive will have data on it that gets used frequently
> during the day so I can't afford the downtime or the possibility of
> data loss in the event I muck things up. Does this make sense?
> Thanks...

Your best bet would be to format the drive in said windows machine and
later install it in the linux box.  Make sure you have the vfat driver
either in-kernel or (preferably) as a module.  look at /proc/filesystems
( run "cat /proc/filesystems") for an entry called "vfat", or look in
"/lib/modules/`uname -r`/fs/" for a file called "vfat.o".  If both these
checks fail, try manually loading the vfat module (just in case you have
it in a strange place) - run "modprobe vfat".  If this fails, you will
have to recompile your kernel with vfat filesystem support.  Once you
have determined that you have the vfat module available, simply mount
the partition somewhere, and do what you will with it.  just be aware
that it will only be good for storing stuff, not running stuff, as the
vfat filesystem lacks important things (to the UNIX world, at least)
like file permissions and symlinks.  if you want the drive mounted on
boot, just add an entry to your /etc/fstab, similar to the / and any
other file systems you have in there, except change the fstype to vfat
and the numbers at the end both to 0.

If you need any more pointers, don't hesitate to ask (email preferred)
---
Joel Michael
System Administrator

Diggy Internet Services
90 Petrie Terrace
Brisbane Qld 4000
Australia

Ph: +61 7 3367 3555
Fax: +61 7 3367 3544
Mob: 0401 039 462


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