User Feedback :: usb floppy & mp3 player doesn't work



I got DSL up and running on my compaq n610c. Wonderful!

Then I notice that my usb floppy drive and mp3 player (plug-and-play flash memory) don't work. When I plug *either* one in, the device is detected as something like sda1, sda2, sda3 & sda4. Yes, one device becomes 4 !!! I forgot which one was mountable, but ALL not read/write-able.

Then I tried DSL-N. Both devices work!  But I like the DSL interface much better. Is there something I can do to make DSL work with my floppy and mp3 player?

Hotplug assigns USB mount points upon insertion. If you don't mount, it recyles the points it sets. If you do mount, then it assigns new points for subsequent devices per sda1, sdb1, sdc1, etc.

By not mounting, you're most likely getting excessive mount points; it's also possible your devices have multiple partitions (more likely the mp3 player). One way to check is to insert a device and (without mounting) in a terminal enter:
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

(That's a little L, not a one.)

Everything is a file in Linux and other Unix-like operating systems. New file systems (such as floppies and USB media) must be mounted. You can set those (USB-device, usually vfat) file systems to mount as read-only or read-write by editing /etc/fstab.

I have tried the following today:

First, both mp3 and floppy are not plugged in. I right click the desktop, point to mount, and there are two choices: \auto\floppy and \auto\cdrom

Then I plug in the mp3 player, right click the desktop, point to mount, and there are 4 extra choices: \mnt\sda1, \mnt\sda2, \mnt\sda3, \mnt\sda4 (Total 6 choices)

I am quite sure I only have one partition on the mp3 player, as it works with DSL-N, windows, fedora etc... so having 4 choices pop up is really puzzling.

I run the "sudo ..." command you gave me. This shows:

dsl@box:~$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 2046 MB, 2046648832 bytes
63 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 3906 * 512 = 1999872 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 ? 491539 630924 272218546+ 20 Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(356, 97, 46) logical=(491538, 56, 59)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(357, 116, 40) logical=(630923, 45, 23)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 ? 340549 478536 269488144 6b Unknown
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(288, 110, 57) logical=(340548, 59, 57)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(269, 101, 57) logical=(478535, 44, 52)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda3 ? 137991 495994 699181456 53 Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(345, 32, 19) logical=(137990, 7, 18)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(324, 77, 19) logical=(495993, 58, 49)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda4 * 357048 357053 10668+ 49 Unknown
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(87, 1, 0) logical=(357047, 33, 36)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(335, 78, 2) logical=(357052, 62, 44)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order
dsl@box:~$


Then I plug in the floppy as well, right click the desktop, point to mount, and there are another 4 extra choices: \mnt\sdb1, \mnt\sdb2, \mnt\sdb3, \mnt\sdb4 (Total 10 choices)

I run the "sudo ..." command you gave me. This shows:

dsl@box:~$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb

Disk /dev/sdb: 1 MB, 1474560 bytes
1 heads, 3 sectors/track, 960 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 3 * 512 = 1536 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 ? 567332875 1110505095 814758329+ 74 Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(288, 110, 36) logical=(567332874, 0, 3)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(366, 104, 37) logical=(1110505094, 0, 1)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb2 ? 443394731 623053494 269488144 65 Unknown
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(107, 121, 32) logical=(443394730, 0, 3)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(10, 121, 13) logical=(623053493, 0, 1)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb3 ? 179663131 645784101 699181456 53 Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(345, 32, 19) logical=(179663130, 0, 2)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(324, 77, 19) logical=(645784100, 0, 3)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sdb4 ? 1303039523 1303061302 32669+ bb Unknown
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(65, 1, 0) logical=(1303039522, 0, 1)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(96, 0, 7) logical=(1303061301, 0, 2)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order
dsl@box:~$


As a comparison, I try a flash memory stick that I know is working.
I unplug both the mp3player and floppy, plug in the memory stick, right click the desktop, point to mount, and there are now these choices: \mnt\sdb1, \mnt\sdb2, \mnt\sdb3, \mnt\sdb4, \mnt\sdc1, \mnt\sda (Total 8 choices)

I run the "sudo ..." command you gave me. This shows:
 
dsl@box:~$ sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdc

Disk /dev/sdc: 4127 MB, 4127194624 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 501 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 * 1 502 4030432 6 FAT16
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(500, 254, 63) logical=(501, 196, 14)
dsl@box:~$
 

Well, at least I have one memory stick working. It would be nice if I could get the mp3player and floppy working as well.

I like DSL because it is small and it loads much faster than other live CD! Keep up the good work!

Quote
I am quite sure I only have one partition on the mp3 player

From the output you pasted, I'm quite sure it has more than one partition and that its MBR appears to be pretty messed up. Have you done fdisk -l using any of those 2.6-based distros to see if they report the same? Have you always properly mounted and unmounted that device (including using "safe remove" in Windows)?

I know some flash devices come from factory with partitions like that, I've gotten some myself. It's easy to fix though, just repartition with only one partition, and format.
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