Howto: access removable media from andLinux - Revision history

Lewis at 18:10, 22 April 2009

2009-04-22T18:10:18Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 18:10, 22 April 2009
Line 24:		Line 24:

	The directions above are the way to go if your media is readable by Windows but what		The directions above are the way to go if your media is readable by Windows but what
-	if it's formatted with a Linux filesystem that Windows won't ~~recongnize~~? The following instructions have been used successfully on Windows Vista.	+	if it's formatted with a Linux filesystem that Windows won't recognize? The following instructions have been used successfully on Windows Vista.

	Start a windows command line: cmd.exe and run diskpart.exe;		Start a windows command line: cmd.exe and run diskpart.exe;

Lewis at 18:09, 22 April 2009

2009-04-22T18:09:48Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 18:09, 22 April 2009
Line 5:		Line 5:

	<h1>Workaround</h1>		<h1>Workaround</h1>
-	Fortunately, there is a solution to that, using Windows itself and the power of NTFS. Like Unix file systems, NTFS supports mount points, which allows a physical drive to be mounted inside an empty directory and its contents seamlessly displayed. This works for USB drives and CD/DVDs as long as the host drive is formatted with NTFS.	+	Fortunately, there is a solution to that, using Windows itself and the power of NTFS. Like Unix file systems, NTFS supports mount points, which allows a physical drive to be mounted inside an empty directory and its contents seamlessly displayed. This works for USB drives and CD/DVDs as long as the host drive is formatted with NTFS. The external drive can be formatted with anything that Windows will read.

	Here's how to mount a drive as a directory in Windows XP:		Here's how to mount a drive as a directory in Windows XP:

Lewis at 18:06, 22 April 2009

2009-04-22T18:06:40Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 18:06, 22 April 2009
Line 21:		Line 21:
	Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like [http://alax.info/ Alax.Info NTFS Links].		Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like [http://alax.info/ Alax.Info NTFS Links].

-	<h1>Accessing non-~~NTFS~~ media</h1>	+	<h1>Accessing non-Windows compatible media</h1>

-	The directions above are the way to go if your media is ~~NTFS~~ but what	+	The directions above are the way to go if your media is readable by Windows but what
-	if it ~~isn~~'t? The following instructions have been used successfully	+	if it's formatted with a Linux filesystem that Windows won't recongnize? The following instructions have been used successfully on Windows Vista.
-	on Windows Vista.	+

	Start a windows command line: cmd.exe and run diskpart.exe;		Start a windows command line: cmd.exe and run diskpart.exe;

Sim: Added section on mounting non-NTFS disks

2009-03-24T22:45:56Z

Added section on mounting non-NTFS disks

←Older revision		Revision as of 22:45, 24 March 2009
Line 20:		Line 20:

	Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like [http://alax.info/ Alax.Info NTFS Links].		Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like [http://alax.info/ Alax.Info NTFS Links].
		+
		+	<h1>Accessing non-NTFS media</h1>
		+
		+	The directions above are the way to go if your media is NTFS but what
		+	if it isn't? The following instructions have been used successfully
		+	on Windows Vista.
		+
		+	Start a windows command line: cmd.exe and run diskpart.exe;
		+
		+	*** 1s Microsoft Windows [Version 6.0.6001]
		+	Copyright (c) 2006 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
		+
		+	C:\>diskpart
		+
		+	Another window will open and you should see something like the following;
		+
		+	Microsoft DiskPart version 6.0.6001
		+	Copyright (C) 1999-2007 Microsoft Corporation.
		+	On computer: XXXXX-VISTA
		+
		+	DISKPART>
		+
		+	Use diskpart to determine the harddisk number and partition number.
		+
		+	First list all disks;
		+
		+	DISKPART> list disk
		+
		+	Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
		+	-------- ---------- ------- ------- --- ---
		+	Disk 0 Online 298 GB 0 B
		+	Disk 1 Online 75 GB 0 B
		+
		+	In this case the external disk is ~80GB so we need to list the
		+	partitions on "Disk 1", first we need to select it and then we can
		+	list the partitions;
		+
		+	DISKPART> select disk 1
		+
		+	Disk 1 is now the selected disk.
		+
		+	DISKPART> list partition
		+
		+	Partition ### Type Size Offset
		+	------------- ---------------- ------- -------
		+	Partition 1 Primary 71 GB 32 KB
		+	Partition 0 Extended 3153 MB 71 GB
		+	Partition 2 Logical 3153 MB 71 GB
		+
		+	We now have all the information we need to create device entry
		+	for the andLinux settings.txt file. The device to map is the
		+	first disk and the first partition, this translates to;
		+
		+	hda1=\Device\Harddisk1\Partition1
		+
		+	You may choose to have something like the following in your /etc/fstab;
		+
		+	/dev/hda1 /mnt/usb reiserfs rw,user

Lewis at 03:20, 8 November 2008

2008-11-08T03:20:14Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 03:20, 8 November 2008
Line 1:		Line 1:
-	Accessing removable media from andLinux	+	Accessing removable media from andLinux using COFS

	<h1>Abstract</h1>		<h1>Abstract</h1>

Lewis at 13:57, 1 October 2008

2008-10-01T13:57:35Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 13:57, 1 October 2008
Line 5:		Line 5:

	<h1>Workaround</h1>		<h1>Workaround</h1>
-	Fortunately, there is a solution to that, using Windows itself and the power of NTFS. Like Unix file systems, NTFS supports mount points, which allows a physical drive to be mounted inside an empty directory and its contents seamlessly displayed. This works for USB ~~drive~~ and CD/DVDs as long as the host drive is formatted with NTFS.	+	Fortunately, there is a solution to that, using Windows itself and the power of NTFS. Like Unix file systems, NTFS supports mount points, which allows a physical drive to be mounted inside an empty directory and its contents seamlessly displayed. This works for USB drives and CD/DVDs as long as the host drive is formatted with NTFS.

	Here's how to mount a drive as a directory in Windows XP:		Here's how to mount a drive as a directory in Windows XP:

Lewis at 13:55, 1 October 2008

2008-10-01T13:55:39Z

←Older revision		Revision as of 13:55, 1 October 2008
Line 19:		Line 19:
	andLinux/coLinux having mounted a NTFS partition as cofs will see these subdirectories as genuine NTFS folders. Any automatic volume mounting will be handled by Windows and will be transparent to Linux.		andLinux/coLinux having mounted a NTFS partition as cofs will see these subdirectories as genuine NTFS folders. Any automatic volume mounting will be handled by Windows and will be transparent to Linux.

-	Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like Alax.Info NTFS Links.	+	Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like [http://alax.info/ Alax.Info NTFS Links].

Lewis: New page: Accessing removable media from andLinux

Abstract

Having instant access to hot pluggable or removable media (such as USB sticks) on andLinux can be tricky. There is no direct way ...

2008-09-30T14:37:20Z

New page: Accessing removable media from andLinux <h1>Abstract</h1> Having instant access to hot pluggable or removable media (such as USB sticks) on andLinux can be tricky. There is no direct way ...

New page

Accessing removable media from andLinux

<h1>Abstract</h1>
Having instant access to hot pluggable or removable media (such as USB sticks) on andLinux can be tricky. There is no direct way to do so from the UI and users typically have to edit fstab or other configuration files, with mixed success. In addition, automatic mounting is not fully supported and the mounted volume may no longer be accessible to Windows.

<h1>Workaround</h1>
Fortunately, there is a solution to that, using Windows itself and the power of NTFS. Like Unix file systems, NTFS supports mount points, which allows a physical drive to be mounted inside an empty directory and its contents seamlessly displayed. This works for USB drive and CD/DVDs as long as the host drive is formatted with NTFS.

Here's how to mount a drive as a directory in Windows XP:
* Insert the external drive or media
* Open Control Panel/Administrative tools
* Open Computer Management
* Select Disk Management in the storage section
* Right-click the desired drive or partition
* Select "Change drive letter and path"
* Add a mount point to an empty NTFS folder
* If you want, you can now remove the drive letter in the previous dialog

andLinux/coLinux having mounted a NTFS partition as cofs will see these subdirectories as genuine NTFS folders. Any automatic volume mounting will be handled by Windows and will be transparent to Linux.

Other low level NTFS features that will show up in mounted cofs partitions are junction points and hard links, which are equivalent to directory symlinks and file hard links in Linux. These features are hidden from the standard UI but can be accessed with free third party tools like Alax.Info NTFS Links.