HOWTO fix floppy disk mounting issues

[tseliot]

The following guide aims to fix a common Breezy bug which doesn't allow your floppy disk to be mounted.

Open Terminal or Konsole and type:

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
OR
sudo nano /etc/apt/sources.list
Enable the backports i.e. add the following lines at the end of the file:
deb http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-backports main restricted universe multiverse
deb http://ubuntu-backports.mirrormax.net/ breezy-extras main restricted universe multiverse

Save the file and exit.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install pmount

Then:

sudo gedit /etc/fstab

OR

sudo nano /etc/fstab

You will see a line which begins with /dev/fd0. Replace it with the following:

/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0

Save the file and exit.

Now you can access your floppy disk from your favourite filemanager with a mouse click.

Enjoy!

Alberto

[manicka]

I have added this howto to the Ubuntu Document Storage Facility

[stanz]

Hi All,
Thanks for the instructions, I'm looking around for all info, i can remember!
I've been trying to acess a floppy, that has gif's & jpeg's on it- and I've not been about to mount or get to them.
I've followed your instructs- and found my file to be like that, already.
My response is: Unable to mount the selected volumn.
Warning: device /dev/fd0 is already handled by /etc/fstab,
supplied label ignored
mount: I could not determine the filesystem type, and none was
specified
Error:could not excute pmount

I'm not understanding this. Is this all, because i saved this disk, in M$ ?
Supply 'file type'? How, When?
:confused: I'm clueless, but continue searching for answers...
Any advise ya got~ be welcomed!
Thanks...

[tastyturkey]

Now I can mount a floppy in Ubuntu Breezy but I cannot write to it.

What do I modify to allow writing to a floppy in Ubuntu Breezy?

[tseliot]

Hi All,
Thanks for the instructions, I'm looking around for all info, i can remember!
I've been trying to acess a floppy, that has gif's & jpeg's on it- and I've not been about to mount or get to them.
I've followed your instructs- and found my file to be like that, already.
My response is: Unable to mount the selected volumn.
Warning: device /dev/fd0 is already handled by /etc/fstab,
supplied label ignored
mount: I could not determine the filesystem type, and none was
specified
Error:could not excute pmount

I'm not understanding this. Is this all, because i saved this disk, in M$ ?
Supply 'file type'? How, When?
:confused: I'm clueless, but continue searching for answers...
Any advise ya got~ be welcomed!
Thanks...
Weird... Did you install the latest version of "pmount" ?

[tseliot]

Now I can mount a floppy in Ubuntu Breezy but I cannot write to it.

What do I modify to allow writing to a floppy in Ubuntu Breezy?
If your fstab looks like mine, try this:
If you use GNOME:
sudo nautilus
and then try to access your floppy (and write it) from it.

Oh, and another thing (which I know to be too naive;) ) make sure that your floppy disk is not protected from writing.

[NeTo]

If your fstab looks like mine, try this:
If you use GNOME:
sudo nautilus
and then try to access your floppy (and write it) from it.

Oh, and another thing (which I know to be too naive;) ) make sure that your floppy disk is not protected from writing.

If that doesn't work, you could try to change the line in fstab to the following (assuming you'll use only floppies formatted with FAT):/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0It seems that the filesystem isn't automatically recognized for some floppies.

[handy]

I allready had the current version of pmount, & the prescribed line for fd0, tried it with vfat also, still no sign of life in the old floppy? It works fine on xp?

Any suggestions are wellcome?

Thanks.

[tseliot]

I allready had the current version of pmount, & the prescribed line for fd0, tried it with vfat also, still no sign of life in the old floppy? It works fine on xp?

Any suggestions are wellcome?

Thanks.
Could you try an Ubuntu Dapper livecd and see if you can use your floppy there?

[handy]

Could you try an Ubuntu Dapper livecd and see if you can use your floppy there?

Thanks for your reply!

I'll have a go at that later in the week, & let you know here, how it went...

[handy]

Could you try an Ubuntu Dapper livecd and see if you can use your floppy there?

I just went looking to download Dapper LiveCD?

Where do you get it? :KS

[tseliot]

I just went looking to download Dapper LiveCD?

Where do you get it? :KS
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/daily-live/current/

[bfonseca]

Hi, I followed the instructions and boom it worked but then I restarted and now I can not mount it anymore. It is still within the fstab but when I try to mount I get nothing. It seems like it had worked but it is not mounted. Any suggestions?

Brian

[tseliot]

Hi, I followed the instructions and boom it worked but then I restarted and now I can not mount it anymore. It is still within the fstab but when I try to mount I get nothing. It seems like it had worked but it is not mounted. Any suggestions?

Brian
Try to double click on the floppy icon once and then double click it again

[bfonseca]

thanks for the reply, I have tried the steps again and the floppy will still not mount. What is wierd is that it mounted the first time I tried it and an icon even appeared on my desktop. It seemed to have worked. Then when I restarted the icon went away and it was no longer mounted. here is my fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda6 /boot reiserfs notail 0 2
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdb /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0

Its wierd because there use to be a fd0 with in my /dev dir but not anymore, now I only have fd:
/dev

root@goofy:/dev# ls -dl fd*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 2006-02-25 12:41 fd -> /proc/self/fd
root@goofy:/dev#


This is all that is in the /dev I'm not sure what happened or what I can do to fix this issue. Any other suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Brian

[bfonseca]

oh one other thing inside of my disk manager it does recognize it.:

Storage Properties Partitions

Properties

Unknown
/dev/fd0

General Information

Type: Hard Disk
Device: /dev/fd0
Speed: Not Available

I for some reason couldn't put a picture in but that is what is inside the disk manager.
Brian

[tseliot]

thanks for the reply, I have tried the steps again and the floppy will still not mount. What is wierd is that it mounted the first time I tried it and an icon even appeared on my desktop. It seemed to have worked. Then when I restarted the icon went away and it was no longer mounted. here is my fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda6 /boot reiserfs notail 0 2
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdb /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0

Its wierd because there use to be a fd0 with in my /dev dir but not anymore, now I only have fd:
/dev

root@goofy:/dev# ls -dl fd*
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 13 2006-02-25 12:41 fd -> /proc/self/fd
root@goofy:/dev#


This is all that is in the /dev I'm not sure what happened or what I can do to fix this issue. Any other suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.

Brian
Modify the line about your floppy disk in your fstab:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0

[dcstar]

And of course, we all know that to be able to use pmount:

All pmount users need to be in the plugdev group.

[bfonseca]

Thanks for all your help. It still is not working. I have tried exactly what you said about adding this line above my other floppy /dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0 here is what it looks like now:


# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda6 /boot reiserfs notail 0 2
/dev/sda1 /media/sda1 ntfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdd /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy rw,user,noauto 0 0

I have tried other approaches as well and have got nowhere. I have tried:

root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# mount /mnt/floppy
mount: special device /dev/fd0 does not exist
root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# mount /media/floppy0
mount: special device /dev/fd0 does not exist
root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# modprobe floppy
root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# mount /media/floppy0
mount: /dev/fd0: can't read superblock
root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# mount /mnt/floppy
mount: /dev/fd0: can't read superblock
root@goofys-computer:/home/bfonseca# fdmount
fdmount (/dev/fd0): Can't access /fd0: No such file or directory


Thanks again for your help. Any other ideas?

Brian

[bfonseca]

ok I have made some progress. Now when i reboot the fd0 is there but I can not mount it to the desktop or anywhere else. I keep getting:

mount: /dev/fd0: can't read superblock

How do I get passed this?

here is what my fd0 looks like:

brwxrwxrwx 1 root floppy 2, 0 2006-02-26 13:41 fd0

here is my mtab:

/dev/hda1 / ext3 rw,errors=remount-ro 0 0
proc /proc proc rw 0 0
sysfs /sys sysfs rw 0 0
devpts /dev/pts devpts rw,gid=5,mode=620 0 0
tmpfs /dev/shm tmpfs rw 0 0
usbfs /proc/bus/usb usbfs rw 0 0
tmpfs /lib/modules/2.6.12-10-386/volatile tmpfs rw,mode=0755 0 0
/dev/hda6 /boot reiserfs rw,notail 0 0
/dev/sda1 /media/sda1 ntfs rw 0 0
tmpfs /dev tmpfs rw,size=10M,mode=0755 0 0
vfat/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 unknown rw 0 0
/dev/fd0/media/floppy vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0

here is my fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda6 /boot reiserfs notail 0 2
/dev/sda1 /media/sda1 ntfs defaults 0 0
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdd /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 vfat rw,user,noauto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,owner,noauto 0 0


here is my lsmod:

Module Size Used by
vfat 12288 0
fat 46492 1 vfat
radeon 68352 0
drm 58004 1 radeon
agpgart 32328 1 drm
ipv6 217408 10
ipt_limit 2432 8
iptable_mangle 2816 0
ipt_LOG 6400 8
ipt_MASQUERADE 3328 0
iptable_nat 21076 1 ipt_MASQUERADE
ipt_TOS 2432 0
ipt_REJECT 5248 1
ip_conntrack_irc 71824 0
ip_conntrack_ftp 72336 0
ipt_state 2048 6
ip_conntrack 39864 5 ipt_MASQUERADE,iptable_nat,ip_conntrack_irc,ip_con ntrack_ftp,ipt_state
iptable_filter 2944 1
ip_tables 18176 9 ipt_limit,iptable_mangle,ipt_LOG,ipt_MASQUERADE,ip table_nat,ipt_TOS,ipt_REJECT,ipt_state,iptable_fil ter
video 16004 0
tc1100_wmi 6916 0
sony_acpi 5516 0
pcc_acpi 11392 0
hotkey 9508 0
dev_acpi 11396 0
i2c_acpi_ec 5760 0
i2c_core 19728 1 i2c_acpi_ec
button 6672 0
battery 9604 0
container 4608 0
ac 4996 0
af_packet 20232 2
nls_cp437 5888 1
ntfs 92016 1
reiserfs 217200 1
floppy 52692 0
piix 9476 0
evdev 9088 0
tsdev 7616 0
snd_via82xx 25792 2
gameport 14472 1 snd_via82xx
snd_ac97_codec 72188 1 snd_via82xx
snd_pcm_oss 46368 0
snd_mixer_oss 16128 1 snd_pcm_oss
snd_pcm 78344 3 snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss
snd_page_alloc 10120 2 snd_via82xx,snd_pcm
snd_mpu401_uart 6784 1 snd_via82xx
snd_seq_dummy 3844 0
snd_seq_oss 29440 0
snd_seq_midi 8608 0
snd_rawmidi 22816 2 snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq_midi_event 6656 2 snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi
snd_seq 44688 7 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_seq_mid i_event
snd_timer 21764 2 snd_pcm,snd_seq
snd_seq_device 8204 5 snd_seq_dummy,snd_seq_oss,snd_seq_midi,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq
snd 48644 16 snd_via82xx,snd_ac97_codec,snd_pcm_oss,snd_mixer_o ss,snd_pcm,snd_mpu401_uart,snd_seq_oss,snd_rawmidi ,snd_seq,snd_timer,snd_seq_device
soundcore 9184 1 snd
psmouse 26116 0
mousedev 10912 1
parport_pc 31812 1
lp 11460 0
parport 32072 2 parport_pc,lp
ext3 115976 1
jbd 48536 1 ext3
thermal 13192 0
processor 23100 1 thermal
fan 4740 0
via_rhine 20356 0
mii 5248 1 via_rhine
ehci_hcd 29448 0
uhci_hcd 28048 0
ohci_hcd 18564 0
usbcore 104316 4 ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd,ohci_hcd
sd_mod 17424 2
ide_cd 36996 0
cdrom 33952 1 ide_cd
ide_disk 16128 4
ide_generic 1664 0
via82cxxx 12188 1
ide_core 125268 5 piix,ide_cd,ide_disk,ide_generic,via82cxxx
sata_via 8836 1
libata 47876 1 sata_via
scsi_mod 124872 2 sd_mod,libata
unix 24624 631
vesafb 8088 0
capability 5000 0
commoncap 6784 1 capability
vga16fb 12232 1
vgastate 8320 1 vga16fb
softcursor 2432 2 vesafb,vga16fb
cfbimgblt 2944 2 vesafb,vga16fb
cfbfillrect 3840 2 vesafb,vga16fb
cfbcopyarea 4480 2 vesafb,vga16fb
fbcon 34176 72
tileblit 2560 1 fbcon
font 8448 1 fbcon
bitblit 5248 1 fbcon

The progress shows, it shows now on the lsmod that there is a floppy but it also shows a few others. So are they conflecting with each other?

Brian

[bfonseca]

When I try to mount it the floppy drive lights up and it looks like it is being read. But then gives me:

mount: /dev/fd0: can't read superblock

Any thoughts?

[stanz]

Hi All, Hey Tseliot, ~ Thanks for your reply & help/time here...!! I've been 'out' for awhile, and continue where i left off.
----------------
you replied: Weird... Did you install the latest version of "pmount" ?
----------------
Yes,
Terminal Response:Preparing to replace pmount 0.9.5-0ubuntu5 (using .../pmount_0.9.6-1~breezy1_i38 6.deb) ...
Also, I am in the "plugdev" group~ {good info BTW!}
I'll also try adding the 'vfat' to fstab & will let ya know the result.
Aside from trying the disk with pics & such, i'ld aquired scammodem.gz, from linmodem site, ~
which didn't work either. Again, also done on M$. :-#

[dsimpson]

Hi, I tried your solution and after entering the code into the terminal I received the message: command not found Am I doing something wrong? I don't really understand how to enter the code commands into the terminal, especially the parts of entering 2 lines of code, when I enter one line and try to move to the next it finalizes the command and I am brought to a new line to enter.
Anyway, here is where I am at, I need to mount the floppy drive so that I can read the downloaded file I need to open, the file was downloaded on another computer, I am not able to access the internet with the computer I installed Ubuntu onto. I downloaded scanmodem and cannot open it to unzip it to my system. Could you please help me.

[tseliot]

Hi, I tried your solution and after entering the code into the terminal I received the message: command not found Am I doing something wrong? I don't really understand how to enter the code commands into the terminal, especially the parts of entering 2 lines of code, when I enter one line and try to move to the next it finalizes the command and I am brought to a new line to enter.
Anyway, here is where I am at, I need to mount the floppy drive so that I can read the downloaded file I need to open, the file was downloaded on another computer, I am not able to access the internet with the computer I installed Ubuntu onto. I downloaded scanmodem and cannot open it to unzip it to my system. Could you please help me.
If you're trying to type this exact word "Code:" you shouldn't. Just ignore it Instead you should copy the commands which are in the frame below the word "Code:".

Another thing: you should type ONLY ONE command per time.

[Ferri]

I've also had problems accessing to my floppy drive. After looking around I found I could mount it only after doing this:
sudo modprobe floppy
After that I was able to access to the floppy and the "fd0" that should be in my /dev folder appeared. The problem is that at reboot I had to repeat the same command. To bypass this I edited my "modules" file:
sudo kedit /etc/modules
And added "floppy" (without quotes) at the end. I don't know it this is the best way, but it did the trick for me.

[stanz]

Hi All...Hey tseliot....
My last attempt didn't change anything.
"I'll also try adding the 'vfat' to fstab & will let ya know the result."
I've gotton tired of: "need to be superuser", and found/added,
a 'Root': " gksudo "nautilus --browser %U" ~so i/we, can get access.
It's not just floppy- cdrom,dvd-rom too.
Since i'm a home-box, it be nice to have wife/kids, access mounting
when they want...but, it don't look like its happening.

[jason.b.c]

So did this ever get resolved..????

Is there any better way of doing this..???

How did everybody make out with this..????

:confused: :-k

[stanz]

I gave up on floppies...and now- since upgrade,~ I still haven't tried. :)

[tseliot]

So did this ever get resolved..????

Is there any better way of doing this..???

How did everybody make out with this..????

:confused: :-k

Post your /etc/fstab

[stanz]

Post your /etc/fstab
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/hda3 / ext3 defaults,noatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/hda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hdc /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,auto 0 0
/dev/hdd /media/cdrom1 udf,iso9660 user,auto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto, rw,user,auto 0 0 Ha.. I was just trying to save a Oo doc, to floppy- since printer is on da blink.
I grabbed a disk, & figured to format- using dappers "floppy formatter", & noticed the choice of 'DOS' or 'EXT2'.
Choosing Linux, with a successful format, I went to save the file...
which gave me a quick "unknown file format".
Again with mounting: mount: unknown filesystem type ''.
Even trying to use the 'DOS', gave error & I figure since I used 'EXT3',
I'm SOL with 'EXT2'.?!=P~
Just venting...asta!

[tseliot]

Ha.. I was just trying to save a Oo doc, to floppy- since printer is on da blink.
I grabbed a disk, & figured to format- using dappers "floppy formatter", & noticed the choice of 'DOS' or 'EXT2'.
Choosing Linux, with a successful format, I went to save the file...
which gave me a quick "unknown file format".
Again with mounting: mount: unknown filesystem type ''.
Even trying to use the 'DOS', gave error & I figure since I used 'EXT3',
I'm SOL with 'EXT2'.?!=P~
Just venting...asta!

Make the following line look like the line I put in red:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto, rw,user,auto 0 0

/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0


NOTE: don't put a "," after "auto"

[stanz]

Make the following line look like the line I put in red:
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto, rw,user,auto 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0

NOTE: don't put a "," after "auto"
Done Deal...Thanks again tseliot !
It all was tabbed in file, this must have compressed with copy/paste?

[heislord5]

I'm having the same problem.

/etc/fstab:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point> <type> <options> <dump> <pass>
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 / ext3 defaults,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/sda5 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/hda /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto 0 0
/dev/hda1 /windows vfat iocharset=utf8,umask=000 0 0
/dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto 0 0


error message:

mount: I could not determine the filesystem type, and none was specified.


I am in the group. I have pmount 0.9.11-1ubuntu1 installed.

help.

[Blur-king]

http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/mountlinux.html

did you " sudo mount -a " after changing your fstab.

then give it the proper permissions.

sudo chown -R username:username /media/floppy0
sudo chmod -R 755 /media/floppy0


I modify the instructions from the link and it work for me somehow.Please put in your username in the sudo above. Hope it works for you.