Flash Drive Confusion

Forum: Other Help Topics
Topic: Flash Drive Confusion
started by: adssse

Posted by adssse on June 09 2005,13:40

I am having a bit of trouble with my flashdrive. It is formatted in FAT32 and I use it between dsl and windows for homework and such. When I first plug it in in dsl and type "cat /etc/fstab" it will usually show up as /dev/sda and I will not be able to mount. But if I unplug it and plug it in again (sometimes a couple times) it will usually than be recognized as /dev/sda1 and than I am able to get it to work. The same thing happens whether I am using dsl on my desktop or laptop. I just found it wierd that I would have to do this and wanted your comments and suggestions on what I might be doing wrong.

Posted by Guest on June 09 2005,16:21

How long did you wait after plugging it in before you attempted to mount it? You should see at least two spikes from the CPU activity monitor before you use the flash drive. In my case, it takes about 15 to 30 seconds. I think it has to do with the fact that two to three modules have to load before the usb drive gets identified properly. Try this: take note of the installed modules before you plug the drive, when the drive is plugged in with error, and when the drive is plugged in without error (using command "lsmod"). Compare to see what things take time to load.

Posted by clivesay on June 09 2005,16:43

I have noticed lately that my thumb drives are hit and miss. Sometimes I can hotplug and sometimes I can't. I haven't had the time to really mess with it but I just wanted you to know that you're not alone.

Chris