How to mount ZIP drive without prior root "modprobe"ing or "insmod"ing?

[Conrado Badenas <Conrado.Badenas@uv.es>]

Hi all!

I have just compiled a kernel for parport ZIP drive support, and now I
would want to get an automatic way to mount and umount the drive as a
NORMAL USER. I have added the next line in /etc/fstab:

/dev/sda4   /mnt/zip   msdos   rw,user,noauto,umask=007,gid=25   0   2

but when I type "mount /mnt/zip" with user conrado I get this error
message:
mount: the kernel does not recognize /dev/sda4 as a block device
       (maybe `insmod driver'?)

I don't know what's happening since when I mount /cdrom or /floppy I
have no problems.

I have to "modprobe ppa" as root (which is tedious since I have to open
a new xterm, make a su, enter password, and modprobe) and then I can
mount as a normal user (conrado).

Does anyone know why ppa cannot be loaded automatically when I mount the
ZIP drive? Why it does not work as /cdrom or /floppy?

For example, before I "mount /cdrom", lsmod says me:
Module                  Size  Used by
isofs                  17096   0  (autoclean)
sb                     30852   1  (autoclean)
uart401                 5628   1  (autoclean) [sb]
sound                  55108   0  (autoclean) [sb uart401]
soundcore               2192   6  (autoclean) [sb sound]
af_packet               5736   2  (autoclean)
unix                    9988  31  (autoclean)
serial                 16860   1  (autoclean)
nls_cp437               3548   2  (autoclean)
msdos                   7804   2  (autoclean)
fat                    24012   2  (autoclean) [msdos]

and after I "mount /cdrom" as a normal user (conrado), lsmod says:
Module                  Size  Used by
sbpcd                  51932   1  (autoclean)
cdrom                  11584   0  (autoclean) [sbpcd]
isofs                  17096   1  (autoclean)
sb                     30852   1  (autoclean)
uart401                 5628   1  (autoclean) [sb]
sound                  55108   0  (autoclean) [sb uart401]
soundcore               2192   6  (autoclean) [sb sound]
af_packet               5736   2  (autoclean)
unix                    9988  31  (autoclean)
serial                 16860   1  (autoclean)
nls_cp437               3548   2  (autoclean)
msdos                   7804   2  (autoclean)
fat                    24012   2  (autoclean) [msdos]

Thus, the mount command can insmod the modules properly (and also mark
them autoclean ==> very useful for the crontab rmmod!).

It works for /cdrom but doesn't for /mnt/zip. Why?

Thanks for your help and comments.

-- 
Conrado Badenas (Assistant Lecturer)
Department of Thermodynamics. University of Valencia
c/. Doctor Moliner, 50       | e-m: Conrado.Badenas@uv.es
46100 Burjassot (Valencia)   | Phn: +34-63864350
SPAIN                        | Fax: +34-63983385