Re: Fstab

[David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com>]

On 12/30/18 7:09 PM, Jorin Gedamke wrote:
> Hello. I want to use a USB stick, but it never appears in fstab. Nor can I
> use genfstab; it's not installed. Please, can someone tell me which package
> contains genfstab, or how to search apt for it?

/etc/fstab is a file that the system administrator (you) is expected to 
maintain.  But, you don't need an fstab(5) entry to access a USB stick.


If you are using a graphical desktop, the USB stick should be 
"automagically" mounted when inserted.  Be sure to right-click and 
"eject" the USB stick before removing it.


If you are using the console or a terminal, log in to the root account.


Connect your USB stick.


Use dmesg(1) to view kernel messages:

2018-12-30 21:23:39 root@tinkywinky ~
# dmesg
...
[42625.040087] usb 3-3: new high-speed USB device number 3 using ehci-pci
[42625.191031] usb 3-3: New USB device found, idVendor=12f7, idProduct=1c00
[42625.191043] usb 3-3: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, 
SerialNumber=3
[42625.191049] usb 3-3: Product: Flashdrive 303B
[42625.191056] usb 3-3: Manufacturer: Memorex
[42625.191062] usb 3-3: SerialNumber: ************
[42625.372593] usb-storage 3-3:1.0: USB Mass Storage device detected
[42625.378256] scsi host2: usb-storage 3-3:1.0
[42625.378416] usbcore: registered new interface driver usb-storage
[42625.381818] usbcore: registered new interface driver uas
[42626.397636] scsi 2:0:0:0: Direct-Access     Memorex  Flashdrive 303B 
PMAP PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[42626.398632] sd 2:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[42626.568113] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] 251776 512-byte logical blocks: (129 
MB/123 MiB)
[42626.569429] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[42626.569434] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 23 00 00 00
[42626.570095] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] No Caching mode page found
[42626.570103] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[42626.575875]  sdb:
[42626.578571] sd 2:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk


Note "[sdb]" in the last six lines.  The device node corresponding to 
the USB stick on my machine is /dev/sdb.  On your machine, it could be 
sdb, sdc, sdd, etc., or even sdb1, sdc1, sdc1, etc..  Use that value in 
place of 'sdb' for the following commands.


Use mkdir(1) to create a mount point:

2018-12-30 21:27:11 root@tinkywinky ~
# mkdir /mnt/sdb


Use mount(8) to mount the USB stick file system:

2018-12-30 21:27:18 root@tinkywinky ~
# mount /dev/sdb /mnt/sdb


You should now be able to navigate to the file system on the USB stick.

2018-12-30 21:37:45 root@tinkywinky ~
# cd /mnt/sdb

2018-12-30 21:38:24 root@tinkywinky /mnt/sdb
# ls -w 72
COPYING        elf.c32		   ldlinux.c32	 poweroff.c32
README.txt     ethersel.c32	   ldlinux.sys	 prdhcp.c32
boot	       f1.txt		   lfs.c32	 pwd.c32
cat.c32        f2.txt		   libcom32.c32  pxechn.c32
chain.c32      f3.txt		   libgpl.c32	 reboot.c32
cmd.c32        gfxboot.c32	   liblua.c32	 rosh.c32
cmenu.c32      gpxecmd.c32	   libmenu.c32	 sanboot.c32
config.c32     hdt.c32		   libutil.c32	 sdi.c32
cptime.c32     hexdump.c32	   linux.c32	 sysdump.c32
cpu.c32        host.c32		   ls.c32	 syslinux.c32
cpuid.c32      ifcpu.c32	   lua.c32	 syslinux.cfg
cpuidtest.c32  ifcpu64.c32	   mboot.c32	 vesa.c32
debug.c32      ifmemdsk.c32	   meminfo.c32	 vesainfo.c32
dhcp.c32       ifplop.c32	   memtest	 vesamenu.c32
disk.c32       images		   menu.c32	 vmlinuz
dmi.c32        instroot.img	   message	 vpdtest.c32
dmitest.c32    ipcop-2.1.8.tar.gz  pci.c32	 whichsys.c32
doc	       kbdmap.c32	   pcitest.c32	 zzjson.c32
dosutils       kontron_wdt.c32	   pmload.c32


When you are done, change your working directory back to home:

2018-12-30 21:41:08 root@tinkywinky /mnt/sdb
# cd


umount(8) the USB stick:

2018-12-30 21:44:08 root@tinkywinky ~
# umount /mnt/sdb


Remove the USB stick.


David