Floppy drive not responding.

[HermanAA]

CONCLUSION:
When Ubuntu 8.10-Intrepid has been installed and you add a
floppy drive to the system (afterwards):
DO NOT CREATE A LINE IN FSTAB! (it messes up the system)
 (complete story below)

On Fri, 2009-06-26 at 10:26 -0700, NoOp wrote:
> On 06/26/2009 02:42 AM, HermanAA wrote:
> > my (newly added) floppy does not show up.
> > Cannot mount drive ... seems to be the problem.
> > The floppy drive is working under WINdows.

> Mine:
> /dev/fd0 /media/floppy0 auto rw,user,noauto,exec 0 0

> > n0jn at bsw:~$ mount /media/floppy0
> > mount: /dev/fd0 is not a valid block device
> > n0jn at bsw:~$ 
> 
> Makes sense if you have no floppy in the drive.

Thanks to the list, it was clear that nothing major was wrong with my
setup. The problem was in the details.
I started digging:

checking 'ownner' of other disks: (comparing)
 (I can see ALL partitions. fd0 is handled comparably) 
n0jn at bsw:/dev$ ls -l            ... gives:
   (edited for brevity)
brw-rw----  1 root   disk      8,   0 2009-07-08 12:47 sda
brw-rw----  1 root   disk      8,   1 2009-07-08 12:47 sda1
brw-rw----  1 root   disk      8,   2 2009-07-08 12:47 sda2
brw-rw----  1 root   disk      8,  16 2009-07-08 12:47 sdb
brw-rw----  1 root   disk      8,  17 2009-07-08 12:47 sdb1

n0jn at bsw:/dev$ ls -l f*
lrwxrwxrwx  1 root root        13 2009-07-08 12:47 fd -> /proc/self/fd
brw-rw----  1 root floppy  2,   0 2009-07-08 12:47 fd0
brw-r-----  1 root disk    2,  84 2009-07-08 12:47 fd0u1040
brw-r-----  1 root disk    2,  88 2009-07-08 12:47 fd0u1120
brw-r-----  1 root disk    2,  28 2009-07-08 12:47 fd0u1440

n0jn at bsw:/dev$ 

# /etc/fstab:  (comparing with cdrom. No obvious clue)

/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0       0
/dev/fd0  /media/floppy0  auto        rw,user,noauto,exec  0       0

I removed /dev/fd0: Just testing. (I was the one that put this line).
# /dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto,exec  0       0

I restarted Ubuntu and I CAN ACCESS the floppy in the drive.

But the name is not Floppy0 but '090702'  ???
 (funny ... but it works)
Location: /media/090702

Right-click on /media/090702 shows I can UNmount it.

When I UNmount:
/media/090702 disappears and is replaced by:
 Name: /media/disk

To keep this short:

8.10-Intrepid has automatic mounting of all partitions on all disks on
the system. AUTO-INSTALLED as part of the 8.10 installation.

I guess my floppy is part of that process of auto-install.
 (there was NO floppy drive installed when I installed 8.10)

My entry in fstab :
/dev/fd0  /media/floppy0  auto        rw,user,noauto,exec  0       0
 ........ caused my problems.

Testing the above:
 I can access my disket in the floppy drive. (drive is auto-mounted).
I can UNmount, put a different floppy in the drive:
 I click on the drive-icon (drive is named 090702):
 It auto-mounts.
 (I have perfect access). I can 'Create Folder/ Create Document'.
The floppy mounts, read/writes, un-mounts OK.
  ( 'identical' to a USB-flash-drive. )
 (I have to exit the file-browser first, else I get an error message).

PROBLEM SOLVED.
..... except that my floppy drive is called /media/090702.
As long I remember my floppy is called 090702, all is OK.
 (the icon is OK, shows a floppy)

n0jn at bsw:/media$ ls -l
total 19
drwx------ 2 n0jn root 7168 1970-01-01 08:00 090702
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    6 2009-01-14 17:42 cdrom -> cdrom0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-01-14 17:42 cdrom0
drwx------ 2 root root 4096 2009-03-06 10:46 disk
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 2009-06-17 09:22 floppy0
n0jn at bsw:/media$ 


CONCLUSION:  When Ubuntu 8.10-Intrepid has been installed and you add a
 floppy drive to the system (afterwards):
 DO NOT CREATE A LINE IN FSTAB! (it messes up the system)
 (even when the system says: No entry found in fstab or m...?)
 (at one point, a restart of the OS proved essential)
All partitions on all mounts have been made accessible by the
installer-program (auto-mount, no less).
In same way, Ubuntu 8.10 gives access to the floppy drive:
 AUTO-MOUNT ON ACCESS.
I think it is all provided for and automatic.

The name (hardware name) of the floppy is /dev/fd0.
The mount point is /media/floppy0
  (see up: n0jn at bsw:/media$ ls -l)
 (but that mount point is not established via fstab. It is provided
somewhere else).
I have not found yet where/how that mount point is established.

As floppies are no longer part of my setup (except to help a young
friend with NO cdrom). I will not pursue this further.
Thanks Ubuntu/Canonical for doing all the work !
 (you just had me confused for a while)

Herman in PHL.