not able to mount pen drive

[baltana]

I am using Ubuntu 8.10...

Pen Drive details:
8 GB Kingston USB 2.0 Data Traveler

Its getting detected but when I click on USB Drive,it shows "unable to mount file location"

Do I need to download some drivers? Please help.

Some more information which may (or may not) be useful:

$sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 80.0 GB, 80026361856 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 9729 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2f462f46

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *        3447        4851    11285662+  83  Linux
/dev/sda2            4852        9729    39182535    5  Extended
/dev/sda3               1        3446    27679963+   b  W95 FAT32
/dev/sda5            9089        9729     5148832+  82  Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda6            4852        7783    23551227   83  Linux
/dev/sda7            7784        9088    10482381   83  Linux

Partition table entries are not in disk order

Disk /dev/sdb: 8472 MB, 8472494080 bytes
64 heads, 32 sectors/track, 8080 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 2048 * 512 = 1048576 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x2c6b7369

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sdb1   ?      945327     1849555   925929529+  68  Unknown
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb2   ?      649505      912677   269488144   79  Unknown
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb3   ?      263179      945973   699181456   53  OnTrack DM6 Aux3
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb4   ?      680971      680981       10668+  49  Unknown
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order

$ cat /etc/fstab
# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
# /dev/sda1
UUID=f3c00c5c-4732-4eab-bc62-adb4feba2733 /               ext3    relatime,errors=remount-ro 0       1
# /dev/sda6
UUID=1a69cf1d-df52-4e9f-a065-fefa640bdc22 /home           ext2    relatime        0       2
# /dev/sda7
UUID=fce2d81c-26a4-43b7-a5d9-5c6e7cfaf6dc /media/disk     ext2    relatime        0       2
# /dev/sda3
UUID=48BA-5ADA  /media/disk-1   vfat    defaults,umask=007,gid=46 0       1
# /dev/sda5
UUID=c3678ccd-82b1-4dad-95b2-8689a86ce027 none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/scd0       /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0

Thanks

[graphicks]

I'm too new to offer much help, but here goes. Try looking under the menu 'System -- Administration -- Authorizations'. Make sure your user account is set for the ability to "Mount file systems from removable drives".
I'm also using Ubuntu 8.10, and my USB drive automatically mounts when inserted.
That's all I have. Someone with more experience will have to take it from here. Good luck.

[D-cat]

A google search implies that most people have no difficulty using these devices in Linux as long as you're using a 2.6 kernel.

The fdisk -l output makes me think that this device has a corruption issue, but just to make sure, I'd suggest trying it out on another computer first to see if it is working. If not, then diagnosis confirmed.

Only if confirmed device error:
You'll have to decide on the usage of this device, e.g. will you be sharing it with Windows computers? If yes, you should use a Windows compatible file system like NTFS. Otherwise, you can use a Linux one like ext2 (I find that ext3 slows things intolerably down on usb).

You can use sudo fdisk /dev/sdb to modify the partition table from scratch if you don't mind a text command interface, or if you prefer you can install a gui tool like gParted to do this job for you.

[baltana]

I tried it on other computers using Ubuntu, it didn't work...

But on Windows computers it works fine.
In fact, on top of the pen drive cover, its written that it is for Windows/Mac.

I feel cheated because when I had ordered it, the ads said that it supports Linux kernel above 2.6.

Isn't there any way to make it work on my comp?

It doesn't even show on gParted.
Which option to choose after sudo fdisk /dev/sdb.
I got the following output:

$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb

The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 8080.
There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
and could in certain setups cause problems with:
1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
   (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)

Command (m for help) :

[D-cat]

Note: All existing data will be erased
Disclaimer: I've never done this with a flash drive this size; noting that it works in Windows and not in Linux, this proceedure will destroy an existing partition design. This may render the stick unusable. I don't think it will, but it could happen.

Now, back to the answers.

o To erase the current partition table.

n for new partition
p for primary
1 for part 1
[Enter] Start at first cylinder.
[Enter] End at last cylinder.

A new partition will have been created, but ext(2/3) type, which will not be usable in Windows...

t to change the partition id type. Part 1, as the only existing partition, is selected automatically.

c [enter] to change the id type to FAT32. FAT32 has a file size limitation of 4 GB, but it also doesn't require the installation of additional tools to format.

p To list the proposed partition table. If correct

w To write and exit.


Now the new partition table is created and should be universal, however, it will still need to be reformatted to be usable.

mkfs.vfat (-n Volume_Label) /dev/sdb1

will reformat the device. The -n Volume_Label is optional, there's no parenthesis in the command.

Now, after unplugging and replugging the device, it should be automatically detected and mounted in any common operating system.

[baltana]

I am going to try your suggestion...

I got an idea (I am not sure of its sensibility)..
Maybe there is some partition editor using which I can partition the pen drive in Windows to two 4 GB drives and choose which kind of filesystem I want each partition to have...

One of them will be NTFS/FAT32 and the other ext3/ext2 and then maybe I can use the pendrive for both kinds of computers...

[baltana]

Thanks for the help.

What I did was, I formatted the pen drive in Windows Vista to FAT32 filesystem and it now works fine with my ubuntu too....

Earlier it had exFAT filesystem which probably Linux didn't recognise...

This problem can be regarded as solved.

Thanks again

[larryfroot]

I would highly recommend using ext2 and not ext3 on your pendrive. Ext3 doesn't fit in with the architecture of a solid state drive. Slowness will be the immediate symptom, and plenty of people around pendrivelinux.com are of the opinion that ext3 shortens the lifespan of solid state drives as well.