Re: drive labels

[cletusjenkins <cletusjenkins@zoho.com>]

 >  
 > I add one line to /etc/fstab for each labeled usb external drive like 
 > the following: 
 >  
 > LABEL=gflx1     /media/gflx1    ext3        rw,user,noauto  0       0 
 >  
 > And I create the named mount point in /media with: 
 >  
 > mkdir /media/gflx1 
 >  
 > I have my own system of choosing label values 
 > <mnemonic-letter-group><digits>, but you can create your own 
 > system. (gflx is a contraction of Seagate GoFlex) Don't try to use 
 > labels that are informative of the contents of the drive. You can 
 > easily maintian a text database of <label> <contents>. If you choose 
 > to have the label never change, then the extra work of adding a line 
 > to /etc/fstab is done only once when a new device is originally 
 > acquired and adds very little to the drill of writing and ext3 file 
 > system onto the partition Avoid giving two devices the same LABEL. The 
 > text database is a good aid in this. 
 >  
 > Its also a good idea to write the LABEL on a stickum label and place 
 > the stickum label on the device. 
 >  
 > HTH 
 > --  
 > Paul E Condon            
 > pecondon@mesanetworks.net 

Thanks for your reply. I never thought of trying to specify these drives in the fstab file. I would have thought that doing so would hose-up the auto-mounter. But I'll give it a try.

These are little 1TB drives that get their power via the USB cable, so the first thing I do when I get one is slap an old VHS label (the one for the top of the tape not the long one for the edge) on the back of the drive to catalog what it is for. I haven't bought a VHS tape in at least 9 years, but like a mental patient I've kept every single extra label I ever bought for every single type of media I've used. I even have extra labels for the 8" floppies I used with a mini-computer my school had.