Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:Working with Disks function GetCookie (name) { var arg = name + "="; var alen = arg.length; var clen = document.cookie.length; var i = 0; while (i < clen) { var j = i + alen; if (document.cookie.substring(i, j) == arg) { var end = document.cookie.indexOf (";", j); if (end == -1) end = document.cookie.length; return unescape(document.cookie.substring(j, end)); } i = document.cookie.indexOf(" ", i) + 1; if (i == 0) break; } return null; } var m1=''; var gifstr=GetCookie("UsrType"); if((gifstr!=0 ) && (gifstr!=null)) { m2=gifstr; } document.write(m1+m2+m3);            Keyword Title Author ISBN Publisher Imprint Brief Full  Advanced      Search  Search Tips Please Select ----------- Components Content Mgt Certification Databases Enterprise Mgt Fun/Games Groupware Hardware IBM Redbooks Intranet Dev Middleware Multimedia Networks OS Prod Apps Programming Security UI Web Services Webmaster Y2K ----------- New Titles ----------- Free Archive To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles. Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux (Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing) Author(s): Manuel Ricart ISBN: 078971826x Publication Date: 12/22/98 function isIE4() { return( navigator.appName.indexOf("Microsoft") != -1 && (navigator.appVersion.charAt(0)=='4') ); } function bookMarkit() { var url="../../../../../www.itknowledge.com/PSUser/EWBookMarks.html@url="+window.location+"&isbn=0"; parent.location.href=url; //var win = window.open(url,"myitk"); //if(!isIE4()) // win.focus(); } Search this book:   Previous Table of Contents Next To enable regular users to mount a floppy in /mnt/floppy, you need to add a comma (,) and then the user option to the list of options for the floppy device. To enable use of the CD-ROM by regular users, you’ll need to modify the entry that contains both the text /mnt/cdrom and the file system type iso9660. In my case, the entry for my IDE CD-ROM begins with /dev/hdd. To allow regular users to mount the CD-ROM drive, add a comma (,) and then the user option to the list of options for the CD-ROM device, like this: /dev/hdd /mnt/cdrom auto ro,noauto,user 0 0 After you have completed your modifications, save the file and exit KEdit and the root KFM window. Creating kdelnk Files for the Floppy and CD After you make your CD and floppy drives accessible to all users, you will want to easily access the device through an icon. This will allow you to mount the volume using your mouse instead of having to use command line tools. KDE has special files whose names have a .kdelnk extension. These files are used for several purposes, including to relate devices to icons. Although creating one of these files is a bit awkward, it is not difficult to do, especially if we use the device template that is built into the KDE. To create an icon for your floppy drive, begin by right-clicking on the desktop. On the popup menu that appears, select New, and then Device. A window will appear, asking for a file name for your icon. Replace the default name “Device.kdelnk” with a name to represent your floppy drive, such as “Floppy.kdelnk.” A new icon will appear on your desktop; the icon will be a question mark to indicate that the new device is not yet configured. To configure the device, right-click on the icon and select Properties from the popup menu. This will cause KFM to display its window for configuring .kdelnk files. Select the Device tab at the top of the window to display options pertaining to mounting. In the box labeled Device, type /dev/fd0, but don’t press Enter yet. Don’t enter anything into the Mount Point or Filesystems boxes. The new device icon must be configured before it will work. Since it hasn’t been configured yet, it appears as a question mark. KFM uses a special window to configure .kdelnk files. To configure a device icon: •  Select the Device tab at the top of the window. •  Enter the device filename in the Device box. •  Select an icon for the device while mounted. •  Select an icon for the device while not mounted. You need to select two new icons for the device: one which will show when your floppy drive is mounted and another which will show when it is not. To select the icons, click on the button labeled Mounted Icon. Choose the icon that looks like a floppy disk with a little green light next to it, and click Ok. Now, click on the button labeled Unmounted Icon. This time, choose the icon which looks like a floppy disk without a little green light next to it, and click OK. Now, click the OK button at the bottom of the KFM window to accept your changes. On your desktop, you should see an icon that looks like a floppy disk. Select Icon window. When you click on a button to select icons, KDE presents you with a panel where you can select an icon to represent your device. Typically there will be two icons per type. Icons with a green square next to them represent active devices. If you assign the pair, KDE will change the icon to provide visual feedback on mounted devices. To configure your CD-ROM drive, follow the same steps, but name your icon file CD-ROM.kdelnk, enter /dev/cdrom into the Device box, and select the icons which closely resemble a CD in a personal CD player. To test the device icons, insert a CD-ROM or floppy disk and click on the matching icon. A window will appear to inform you that the disk is being mounted. After a few moments, a KFM window will appear which displays the contents of the disk, now located at /mnt/floppy or /mnt/cdrom, depending on which device you’re testing. Notice that a little green light has appeared next to the icon on your desktop; this indicates that the disk is currently mounted. Before ejecting your floppy disk or CD, you must always ensure that it has been unmounted, otherwise you may lose data. To unmount the disk, right-click on the device icon and select the Unmount command. The little green light now disappears, indicating that your device has been unmounted. It is now safe to eject the device. A KFM window listing files contained on a CD-ROM disk. The icon has changed to indicate that the device is mounted. Copying Files to or from a Floppy To copy files to and from your floppy drive, first you need to click on the floppy icon to display a KFM window focused to the device. You can then drag and drop files between the two KFM windows. Keep in mind that floppies have a limited capacity. If you try to copy a file that is larger than what fits on the floppy, the copy process will fail. Currently there’s no way to determine how much free space is available on a disk using graphical tools. The “Monitoring Your Disk” section of Chapter 22, “System Monitoring: Keeping an Eye on Your System,” explains how to determine free space information using the command line. You will learn how to format a floppy disk at the end of this chapter. Opening and Saving Files to a Floppy Disk Opening and saving files to a floppy disk is the same as saving between directories. Just mount a floppy disk and save your file in the /mnt/floppy directory. Make sure that the file you are saving fits within the free space available on your disk. Previous Table of Contents Next Products |  Contact Us |  About Us |  Privacy  |  Ad Info  |  Home Use of this site is subject to certain Terms & Conditions, Copyright © 1996-2000 EarthWeb Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of EarthWeb is prohibited.