• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Before I throw my linux computer out the window...

its not your fault or anything .... but everything that doesnt work isnt linux's fault .. now to access it, which distro are you using? 'mount -t msdos /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy' if its a windows formated disk, .. you can also edit /etc/fstab and put something like
'dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy auto user,defaults,noauto 0 0' in there it should mount automatically when you put a disc in, some distro's automatically set this up .. well good luck ..
-neural
 
If it's already mounted, which seems likely, you may need to just change directories into it. cd /mnt/floppy
 
It has been a hassle to use linux, so far. But I really want to learn and learning isn't easy.

Anyway, I am using Mandrake 8.1. I wanted to install VNC on the linux machine and I download VNC, which is a .zip file. So, I thought that I would unzip it on a win machine, put it on disk, then use the disk to install VNC on the linux machine. I couldn't find an A:.

I looked through the menus and can't find anything.

I am baffled. Why not just have a file manager and a button that says 'A:'? Or can I not find it?

Thanks for the help though.
 
there are a plethora of file managers, and ya Maetryx, i didnt thinnk bout it already being mounted, i assumed he was having trouble mounting it .. there are many file managers, but linux/unix doesnt have a concept of "drive letters", the directory you want to be in is most probably (well slam dunk) '/mnt/floppy' you can use ur web browser like mozilla or Konqueror if you want, or any of a number of others, or you can open an Xterm, and type 'cd /mnt/floppy' and voilla you will be in your floppy, in linux the device name of the floppy is 'fd0' .. well good luck ..
-neural
 


<< It has been a hassle to use linux, so far. But I really want to learn and learning isn't easy.

Anyway, I am using Mandrake 8.1. I wanted to install VNC on the linux machine and I download VNC, which is a .zip file. So, I thought that I would unzip it on a win machine, put it on disk, then use the disk to install VNC on the linux machine. I couldn't find an A:.

I looked through the menus and can't find anything.

I am baffled. Why not just have a file manager and a button that says 'A:'? Or can I not find it?

Thanks for the help though. >>



Luckily UNIX compatible systems dont use Drive Letters. They integrate things like that into the file system fairly smoothly. So, it will be located where you put it. Check /mnt/. It is probably under there. File Managers? Well that may help desktops, but for servers it is not as necessary. And servers is where linux shines right now. Get out of the Windows mindset, and understand the UNIX philosophy. It helps a lot when trying to learn a UNIX-compatible system. 🙂
 
Thanks Guys.
n0cmonkey:
I read alot of your replys to to others' questions and they have been very helpful. Thanks. Yes, I am stuck in a Windows mindset and trying to expand and broaden my computer knowledge. Like, I said, I am trying to learn linux from the desktop and then eventually learn a lot of code base linux or unix.

Thanks again for the help.
 


<< Thanks Guys.
n0cmonkey:
I read alot of your replys to to others' questions and they have been very helpful. Thanks. Yes, I am stuck in a Windows mindset and trying to expand and broaden my computer knowledge. Like, I said, I am trying to learn linux from the desktop and then eventually learn a lot of code base linux or unix.

Thanks again for the help. >>



Glad you didnt take that the wrong way. After I posted it I thought it might have been a little harsh 😛

To help with the UNIX philosophy, check out Whole Hawg UNIX in my sig. It may help a little. Its a cute story anyhow 😛
 


<< Will the linux machine read the disk from the windows machine. The disk has VNC install files on it from a zip file. >>



The -t msdos in the mount command tells mount that the device is using an msdos formatted file system (-t vfat for FAT32). So yes, it should be able to read that. Also, check to see if you have unzip on the linux machine. It should be able to unzip the zip file for you.
 
Linux and other unix-style OSs don't use drive letters, they use "mount points". A mount point is how a device or disk partition is associated to a directory on your file system. Once you get used to it, you'll find they're much more flexible and powerful than drive letters.

If you want to see what devices you have mounted on your system, you could use the "mount" command by itself. Or the "df" command, which will also show you block utilization on your devices.

Your floppy device is generally /dev/fd0, and is generally mounted on /mnt/floppy. The "/etc/fstab" file defines the devices and mount points your system knows about by default, so if your floppy isn't mounted, you can probably mount it with either "mount /dev/fd0" or "mount /mnt/floppy".

Remember to unmount it before you remove the disk.

There is also the mtools (mcopy, mdir, etc) package, which allows you to perform dos-like operations on dos floppies without mounting them.

But, since all you really want to do is unzip your VNC zip...why not try the "unzip" command (I'm on a Red Hat system right now, so I can't verify that unzip comes with Mandrake, but I believe so) on the file on your hard drive, and avoid messing with the floppy altogether?


 


<< Remember to unmount it before you remove the disk. >>




Just wanted to add that the unmount command is really umount. Kind of wierd and it confused me for a while atleast once 😛
 
Using drake 8.1? What desktop environment are you running. In KDE some of this stuff can be achieved through the GUI.

If you really like calling it the 'A' drive do this as root!

mkdir /Adrive

then add a line to fstab like this

echo "/dev/fd0 /Adrive auto defaults,user,noauto 0 0" >> /etc/fstab

then type mount /Adrive 8^D

Joking aside, Mandrake should have set you up a place to mount the floppy already with a line similar to the one above.

Take a look at the file /etc/fstab (fstab = file system table?)

The second entry tells you where it shows up once mounted. You can change it if you like. Mine is /floppy.

The auto line tells it to figure out what kind of disk it is on it's own - should work for DOS/Win disks.

Once it's mounted files show up just like it was a hard drive.


 
yeah dude you probably should have read up on linux directory structure and all the general info -before- you installed it. i'm not saying that to be a prick, just saying it cus it would have solved this headache before it happened. check out linuxnewbie.org and linuxdocs.org, look for a "intro to linux" type thing. READ, READ, READ.
 
n0cmonkey: Well said in that page... Love the analogy at the end... 🙂

I went from MS-DOS in the late 80's to being an OS/2 lover for 6 years and had to go back to Windows until Linux came along far enough to make me happy again... Now I (yet again) cannot take Windows seriously nor can I bring myself (even though my wife keeps laughing at me for constantly redoing my Linux partitions) to commit to Windows for anything but an occassional foray...

Now if I could only get Linux to actually use my firewire PCMCIA card then I could end this charade once and for all... 🙂

Palm (using infrared to sync), wireless and wired LAN, DVD, and the standard run of the mill stuff is all done on Linux... Now just for the last piece and I can go totally over and then only use vmware for the minimal stuff... 🙂
 


<< Is that the reason you want to throw your Linux box out of window? Then do it. >>





Hey thanks for the great advice!

Anyway, on a serious note. Who reads the directions first?!?!?! Come on man...

jc
 


<<

<< Is that the reason you want to throw your Linux box out of window? Then do it. >>





Hey thanks for the great advice!

Anyway, on a serious note. Who reads the directions first?!?!?! Come on man...

jc >>



I read about linux and UNIX in general for about a year to a year and a half before I started using it. But schoolwork was boring at the time 😛
 


<< I read about linux and UNIX in general for about a year to a year and a half before I started using it. But schoolwork was boring at the time >>



thats pretty much the same for me too.
 


<<

<< I read about linux and UNIX in general for about a year to a year and a half before I started using it. But schoolwork was boring at the time >>



thats pretty much the same for me too. >>



I wanted to be 31337 😛
 


<< I read about linux and UNIX in general for about a year to a year and a half before I started using it. But schoolwork was boring at the time 😛 >>



I hopped right into it. It took me a long time before I was comfortable but it's more fun doing the hands on thing. My advice when learning Linux at first though:
1. Don't do it on a machine that you need to do work on - Have the safety net of being able to screw the whole thing up and not care. If you're just playing around with Linux on a machine then in a worst case scenario fixing it is only a format/reinstall away.
2. Don't expect it to act anything like a Windows machine - Some things do work the same; others don't. No way is technically the right way, so don't get mad because the floppy is /dev/fd0 in linux instead of A:
 


<<

<< I read about linux and UNIX in general for about a year to a year and a half before I started using it. But schoolwork was boring at the time 😛 >>



I hopped right into it. It took me a long time before I was comfortable but it's more fun doing the hands on thing. My advice when learning Linux at first though:
1. Don't do it on a machine that you need to do work on - Have the safety net of being able to screw the whole thing up and not care. If you're just playing around with Linux on a machine then in a worst case scenario fixing it is only a format/reinstall away.
2. Don't expect it to act anything like a Windows machine - Some things do work the same; others don't. No way is technically the right way, so don't get mad because the floppy is /dev/fd0 in linux instead of A: >>



At the time I didnt have an extra machine (or a first machine for that matter), and definitely didnt have the funds to get one. But playing as you read is definitely the way to go. I learned more when I used slackware than I did with reading or playing with redhat.
 


<< At the time I didnt have an extra machine (or a first machine for that matter), and definitely didnt have the funds to get one. But playing as you read is definitely the way to go. I learned more when I used slackware than I did with reading or playing with redhat. >>



god n0cmonkey you sound alot like me. i never even had a computer till 6 months ago but even back then i knew about a billion times more than the average pc user. of course i had no internet access so i watched the tv show "the screen savers" on techtv all the time. sometimes it was a bit too simplistic but thats where i learned all about hardware for the first time, learned about linux/unix/just *nix in general and all the other crap i know, it all started there. now i watch that show and they are like "lets learn how to make a VCD" and i'm like oh god shut up. i almost never admit that i never had a computer till 6 months ago, most people think i've had a computer forever. its a sick thing to be me 😉
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top