Very Computer

i've added in the ide-floppy module to a 2.2.14 kernel with the command:
insmod /lib/modules/2.2.14/block/ide-floppy.o

i've added in entries to the fstab file.  i've got the harddrive on hda,
CD-ROM a hdc, a floppy at fd0, i think the LS-120 is at fd1, i guess
there's nothing at hdb (where i thought the LS-120 would be) because
that covers all of the drives that i have.

when i try mounting fd1 as vfat, msdos, umsdos or auto, mount give me
the same response :
"mount: block device /dev/fd1 is write-protected, mounting read-only"
and then after 30 seconds or so :
"mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/fd1,
       or too many mounted file systems"

i do have a Superdisk in the drive while issuing this command.  after putting
the disk into the drive there's no way to get it back out unless i shutdown,
because the eject button stops responding.

what am i missing?  is there are daemon or some kind of driver?  do i need
to recompile the kernel?  is there any documentation out there? (i looked on
LDP and other sites.)

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well thanx, H. Dziardziel.  that link dosen't say much about setting things
up though.  it goes more into the inner workings of IDE and the LS-120
than i want to learn.  i finally found the homepage of the driver, if anyone
wants it.
http://paul.bristow.free.fr/linux/ide-floppy.html

the LS-120 came with the computer so i can already boot off of it.  single
disk boot though.  now i need to get it reading, writing and ejecting.

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dmesg|grep LS-120

Mine is the second drive on the second ide channel so I get:

hdd: LS-120 COSM 05 UHD Floppy, ATAPI FLOPPY drive

In fstab use a line like

/dev/hdd        /mnt/superfloppy auto user,exec,dev,suid,rw,noauto      0 0

then you can either

mount /dev/hdd or mount /mnt/superfloppy

Of course you need to be sure the mount point (/mnt/superfloppy) exists.

"hdd: ?, ATAPI UNKNOWN (type 31) drive"

so i don't think that mount is my problem right now.  i think that the
problem is at a lower level.  i believe that the LS-120 is installed as
the ide's secondary slave because i saw that the BIOS had the
secondary slave set to be the LS-120.

i don't know if this is relevant, but here's the only other dmesg that reffers
to the secondary slave (hdd):
"PIIX4: not 100% native mode: will probe irqs later
    ide0: BM-DMA at 0x1020-0x1027, BIOS settings: hda:DMA, hdb:pio
    ide1: BM-DMA at 0x1028-0x102f, BIOS settings: hdc:DMA, hdd:pio"

this is leading me toward the kernel.  i've never re-compiled it before.  but
i tried re-configuring it with the ide-floppy module compiled into the kernel,
but i haven't gotten that kernel to boot.  so i think that adding the module
into the kernel is a difficult path to continue on.

i've tried passing '/lib/modules/2.2.14/block/ide-floppy.o' to the kernel on
boot up.  the kernel booted but i got the same dmesg about hdd.  (i haven't
figured out if that's a legal way load a module into the kernel.)

yesterday i was installing the module with 'insmod
/lib/modules/2.2.14/block/ide-floppy.o' but that didn't help the mount succeed.
mount always tells me : "mount: /dev/hdd is not a valid block device"

i've also tried installing the module by putting an insmod command at the end
of /etc/rc.d/rc.modules init script.

can anyone give me any suggestions how to make sure that the kernel is seeing
the LS-120 correctly?

Quote:>i've tried passing '/lib/modules/2.2.14/block/ide-floppy.o' to the kernel on
>boot up.  the kernel booted but i got the same dmesg about hdd.  (i haven't
>figured out if that's a legal way load a module into the kernel.)

i don't think there are any kernel configuration files that came with
my kernel package (Caldera's eD2.4  linux-source-common-*.rpm)
so i don't know what the configuration is for my current kernel.  all i
know is that the ide-floppy.o is a module sitting in my modules directory.

if getting that module compiled into the kernel is the solution, then i'll
work at that some more.  but if there was a way to avoid re-compiling, i'd
prefer that since re-compiling the kernel isn't going simply for me so far.

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well, now i've found a file with the settings of how they configured the
kernel that i'm using.  instead of giving me a copy of the .config file,
Caldera only game me the tee'd output from the 'make config' command.  it
took forever to mimick all of the configuration options by hand!

but my kernel is now compiling and booting and i have the
"CONFIG_BLK_DEV_IDEFLOPPY=y" in the configuration, so the ide-floppy
driver should be in the kernel now.

dmesg still dosen't recognize hdd (the LS-120) and gives that wierd message:
"hdd: ?, ATAPI UNKNOWN (type 31) drive"

when put a super disk in and i try to mount, regardless of what type i use
(msdos, vfat, umsdos, auto), mount allways says:
"mount: /dev/hdd is not a valid block device"

are there any more things that i can try to get linux to see and mount this
drive?  are there any other tests i can perform to gather evidence, like the
'dmesg' suggestion?

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To see what ide kernel drivers are fully compiled in (Y) take a
look at /proc/ide/drivers   and/or /proc/ide/hdx/.   If it not
listed  there ( mc at terminal makes this  easy to see while  an
X file manager may not show these file contents)  the recomplile
has not worked right..  It happens due to something as simple as
overlooking a confirmation etc.  

That may also be  the case where the  module  was installed by the
distro as a precompiled module group but actually  not configured
into the original kernel as a module (M).

If the driver is listed try booting with a ls120 disk inserted,  a
plain floppy inserted,  and/or change ide channel connections.
The bios may be quirky.

Quote:>when put a super disk in and i try to mount, regardless of what type i use
>(msdos, vfat, umsdos, auto), mount allways says:
>"mount: /dev/hdd is not a valid block device"

Quote:>are there any more things that i can try to get linux to see and mount this
>drive?  are there any other tests i can perform to gather evidence, like the
>'dmesg' suggestion?

>-

My experience with the LS120 is limited so hopefully someone more
knowledgeable can help here:

Try making a boot floppy if that is the normal boot floppy drive
also?   What probably happens with that LS120 drive is at boot the
bios sees a floppy for booting purposes but past that the o/s sees
it as an ATAPI drive.  This makes mounting interesting later (but
easliy done) but perhaps in this case that  transistion is not
happening for some reason.. What does  the bios see it as in the
bios setup?    Is it shown as a LS120 drive, an ide drive or a
floppy?  Or a combination?

If the bios first sees it as a floppy for booting then as an LS120
ide the boot floppy utility will not work since it is designed for
floppies not ide.  Some mounting tweaking is needed for that to go
right..   Is  there a  floppy drive attached?  Try detaching it
and see what happens at boot..
That's all I can think of for the nonce.  Good luck..

You must have a hardware or bios problem. I booted with a kernel I know
doesn't have the ATAPI-Floppy option enabled at all and still got the
hdd: LS-120 COSM 05 UHD Floppy, ATAPI FLOPPY drive
line in the boot messages. I believe at this point the kernel is just
polling the devices and echoing back what they report. This is handy when
trying to figure out what options you need when compiling the kernel.

You may want to muck about with the bios settings relating to hdd and
reseating the cables on the drive and main board.

You could also try moving the LS120 to hdb to see if it works there. I
wouldn't recommend using this a final setup though, it will probably slow
down access on hda.

then, i shutdown and swapped which connector was attached to the floppy drive
to put it back the way it originally was.  when i looked at the dmesg again, it
said "Q, ATAPI UNKNOWN (type 17) drive".  slightly different than on hdd but no
better.  uuuggghhhh!!!

so i put the floppy connector back to the other one, and that didn't help of
course.  i been swapping aound the cables and jumpers of the CD-ROM and
LS-120 to try every combination that the cables are long enough to make and
no more luck.

i had it working!  and it went away.

/proc/ide/drivers has the ide-floppy.  now proc/ide/hdb/model says 'Q'.
i may have lost my CD-ROM now too.  i'm not sure if it's working, even though
it's back on hdc.  

this has almost got me beat.  i've learned a lot though.  this is all new to me.

i've mucked with the bios settings and they're not much help.  the only way
that BIOS detects all of the drives is if i set each ide device for 'auto' and
then it detects all three (harddrive, CD-ROM, LS-120).

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Not too suprising that it works with Windoze, low level things are handled
quite differently sometimes.

Since it works intermittently, you could try replacing the cables. Also
from your description of when it worked, it may be jumper related.

As you have found, it is always a good idea to make a list of changes when
trouble shooting. That way you can duplicate conditions and change things
in a more controlled manner.

Quote:> As you have found, it is always a good idea to make a list of changes when
> trouble shooting. That way you can duplicate conditions and change things
> in a more controlled manner.

I THINK I'VE GOT IT!!!!!  

i was completely hopeless about getting this drive working.  but i thought i'd
give the Internet one last seach.  and i was elated Google found this:

http://www.esat.kuleuven.ac.be/~vdplas/linux/

which is a kernel patch that address my exact problem!  apparently it was
include in the kernel package since version 2.2.16.  i'm just a couple of
versions behind that.

i am mounting, reading, writing and it even stays that way after i try
rebooting!!!

thank you Noble Pepper and H. Dziardziel for your help.  

i've arranged the ide cables back they way they originally where : harddrive
(hda), CD-ROM (hdc) and LS-120 (hdd).  

i even found a page with a diagram of the LS-120's connectors that has
LABELS!  the makers of the drive didn't even bother to stamp lables for the
4 jumper positions.

whew, good learning experience, but man that was a tough.

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