I have a small scsi memory disk device that my computer claims is a /dev/sda mount type.. and I have mounted it in the past.. but I just recently reinstalled my whole system to check out a couple of things on my database. including the scsi device and now I can't get it to mount.. i tried to mount it in windows i get a com1 not available message.. I have windows mounted on my linux and niether seem to be working..
i tried this
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /usbdrive/
"no such device"
mount -t nfs /dev/sda /usbdrive/
"mount not mounted on host:dir"
i have alot of information on the device and need to download it to the system and then format it.. any ideas??
any feedback welcome
thanx moxxx68
I think you need to have the scsi module built in the kernel.
Run 'dmesg|less' and see if your sda is actually recognized by your Linux box.
it says it recognizes it..
scsi sda mass storage device>>>
by the way
thanx for answering and welcome... to Unix.com
Thanks. 
With "scsi sda mass storage device>>>", does it tell any partition just after it?
You can always check with /proc/partitions to make sure.
fdisk -l would do too.
it says something about sectors... and 125mb storage capability but thats as far as I can make of it.. I am still a little new to unix in certain areas.. ..
If you do an 'fdisk /dev/sda' and then type 'p' to display the partitions, what do you see?
Taking the answers from above, are you able to run fsck against the partitions?
unable to open /dev/sda ...
and if i fsck it
i get this:
/sbin/fsck /dev/sda
fsck 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
e2fsck 1.35 (28-Feb-2004)
fsck.ext2: No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/sda
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a correct ext2
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
run dmesg and get the information and post it.
As far as I see, the scsi driver doesn't contains a partition known to Linux.
try /dev/sda1.
dmesg | less:
Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...
scsi0 : SCSI emulation for USB Mass Storage devices
Vendor: Model: USB DISK 20X Rev: 1.01
Type: Direct-Access ANSI SCSI revision: 02
USB Mass Storage device found at 2
usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage
USB Mass Storage support registered.
SCSI device sda: 243712 512-byte hdwr sectors (125 MB)
sda: assuming Write Enabled
sda: assuming drive cache: write through
sda:
Attached scsi removable disk sda at scsi0, channel 0, id 0, lun 0
(END)
Are the actual device files still present on the system?
ls -l /dev/sda*
Cheers
ZB
this is what i am getting when i apply....
mount -t usbfs /dev/sda1 /usbdrive/
[root@localhost usbdrive]# cd /usbdrive/
[root@localhost usbdrive]# ls -ali
total 4
1294 drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 0 Nov 12 21:04 .
2 drwxr-xr-x 22 root root 4096 Nov 12 21:04 ..
1297 dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Nov 12 21:04 001
1377 dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Nov 12 21:04 002
1450 dr-xr-xr-x 2 root root 0 Nov 12 21:04 003
1295 -r--r--r-- 1 root root 0 Nov 13 07:08 devices
this is not the same directory that I had at all on the previous system nor is rw and I have tried to format it in windows ...reply "cannot complete format.. "
Is there anything in any of the 001, 002 or 003 directories?
I wouldn't have thought it necessary to format it - you could just remove any data you don't want.
Also, if it isn't writable maybe it's reached capacity?
Cheers
ZB
nope! checked windows everything.. this is not the same directory at all and it has no write not even in root.. I can't even creat a another directory in it even if I go through the whole mount bit... also the directory itself mounts even if the disk isn't in there ... I am pretty sure that I accidentally filled up all 125mb by accident post second installation of fedora anyway.. i have a question for you.. though.. if windows was taking up too much room on the computer would that prevent the all the memry being stacked onto the linux..??
moxxx68
The command should be:
mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /usbdrive
vfat for win partition
xfs/ext3/ext2/reiserfs/etc for linux partition
ufs for unix ones
usbfs is totally another thing that should be mounted under /proc/.
I have tried all the extension and I have actually had nno success except with usbfs and nfs
usbs gives the previous feedback and
nfs gives this which I am not understanding..
mount -t nfs /dev/sda1 /usbdrive/
mount: directory to mount not in host:dir format
moxxx68
NFS is used for mounting directories located on other machines. There is no way that your USB device will work using NFS!
Cheers
ZB
thanx very much for your input.. but chances are the device is not working or something.. so I'll get another one or try and convince my brother to take a look at it (very difficult!!!). I appreciate all the advice..
thanx moxxx68
cheers
what's the content of /proc/partitions?:).
usbdevfs ......... ...................... ................ proc/bus/usb..........
I know you've probably already tried this, but going back to basics....
Make sure the thing is properly connected, then, as root, issue
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt
Now, assuming the mountpoint /mnt exists, the fs type "vfat" will be autodetected, and the thing should mount (read-only).
I've just tried this with a 128 USB keydrive and my digital camera, and the same procedure works for both, no messing.
Does the /dev/sda1 device exist (i.e. ls -l /dev/sda1)?
If this doesn't work, and it was working for you before, then I think we can assume that the USB device is either corrupt or just plain busted, especially seeing as how the device is also failing under Windows.
Cheers
ZB