Arch Linux

99Percent

Member

Registered: 2011-06-11

Posts: 32

[SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

For some reason I haven't been able to mount a vfat usbdrive on my Arch Linux for a while now. I have ignored the issue but now I really want to solve it.

My system is up to date and rebooted.

# mount -t vfat /dev/sdf /media/canon
mount: unknown filesystem type 'vfat'

# modprobe vfat
libkmod: index_mm_open: No such file or directory
libkmod: kmod_search_moddep: could not open moddep file '/lib/modules/3.1.5-1-ARCH/modules.dep.bin'

I have searched the forum to no avail. Any pointers?

Last edited by 99Percent (2012-02-06 15:56:16)

lilsirecho

Veteran

Registered: 2003-10-24

Posts: 5,000

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Perhaps you need ntfs-tools?

---

Prediction...This year will be a very odd year!
Hard work does not kill people but why risk it: Charlie Mccarthy
A man is not complete until he is married..then..he is finished.
When ALL is lost, what can be found? Even bytes get lonely for a little bit!     X-ray confirms Iam spineless!

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Have you tried just 'mount /dev/sdf /media/canon'?

99Percent

Member

Registered: 2011-06-11

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Perhaps you need ntfs-tools?

# pacman -S ntfs-tools
error: target not found: ntfs-tools

99Percent

Member

Registered: 2011-06-11

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Have you tried just 'mount /dev/sdf /media/canon'?

# mount /dev/sdf /media/canon
mount: you must specify the filesystem type

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

http://www.archlinux.org/packages/core/i686/linux/
The linux kernel in [core] repo is in version 3.2.2-1 now. Is your system up to date and have you rebooted after updating your kernel?
I'm running [testing] repo, but the point is, the version numbers should be the same:

[karol@black ~]$ uname -r
3.2.4-1-ARCH
[karol@black ~]$ pacman -Q linux
linux 3.2.4-1

Last edited by karol (2012-02-06 01:57:11)

Gusar

Member

Registered: 2009-08-25

Posts: 3,605

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

What does uname -a say?

99Percent

Member

Registered: 2011-06-11

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Yep, I had an older version of linux kernel running. I rebooted and its working now.

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

falconindy

Developer

From: New York, USA

Registered: 2009-10-22

Posts: 4,111

Website

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Yep, I had an older version of linux kernel running. I rebooted and its working now.

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

It's a kernel upgrade. Like any other, it needs a reboot. We could add a warning telling you to reboot, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't read it.

---

blog | ±github

99Percent

Member

Registered: 2011-06-11

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Yep, I had an older version of linux kernel running. I rebooted and its working now.

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

It's a kernel upgrade. Like any other, it needs a reboot. We could add a warning telling you to reboot, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't read it.

That is a very patronizing attitude.

Anyway, I will be sure to check if a kernel upgrade was done even though it sometimes means looking through lots of Pacman lines of output

bjackman

Member

Registered: 2011-12-27

Posts: 32

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Yep, I had an older version of linux kernel running. I rebooted and its working now.

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

It's a kernel upgrade. Like any other, it needs a reboot. We could add a warning telling you to reboot, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't read it.

That is a very patronizing attitude.

Anyway, I will be sure to check if a kernel upgrade was done even though it sometimes means looking through lots of Pacman lines of output

Yeah, I always skim over the output from pacman but as a casual (by Arch standards) user, the phrase "upgraded linux" doesn't automatically mean "reboot" to me, so it would be a nice feature to have "==> kernel updated: you should reboot" afterwards - it wouldn't add any complexity, it would just save alot of peolpe the "hmm.. that doesn't make sense" minutes before the "oh yeah the kernel was upgraded"!

karol

Archivist

Registered: 2009-05-06

Posts: 25,440

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

There were some threads about what does a user have to do after an upgrade, when reboot is advised, when not necessary.
If you want a feature added to e.g. pacman, open a feature request.

willbprog127

Member

Registered: 2011-11-09

Posts: 59

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

That would be a nice thing to have, but with Arch, you just have to make it a habit of looking over which packages are going to be updated and make a mental note to reboot after kernel upgrades, etc.

ernetas

Member

Registered: 2011-03-13

Posts: 79

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Yep, I had an older version of linux kernel running. I rebooted and its working now.

Perhaps Pacman should alert me when a reboot is required?

It's a kernel upgrade. Like any other, it needs a reboot. We could add a warning telling you to reboot, but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't read it.

REALLY SMART. Considering the fact, that one might be using UEFI stub kernel, so called "GRUBless boot". FYI, EFI partitions must be FAT and in this case I have to reboot my system, then copy the kernel and again reboot...

---

Hire me!

pjezek

Member

From: Praha - CZ

Registered: 2005-05-19

Posts: 79

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

Solved? After updating to the latest linux 3.13 and clean reboot my usb stick lacks to be recognized for  vfat kernel driver error. The problem has arisen exactly after kernel upgrade and rebooting. Tested on several different usb sticks. Could you report the same buggy feature of the new kernel?

As I wrote, I had that problem. After next reinstalling linux and api-headers and rebooting the problem have diminished. I wonder why a standard procedure of upgrading packages can lead to that issues I described. So, the problem IS SOLVED, but via a strange way that I cannot appreciate. I am not a coder, unfortunately...

Last edited by pjezek (2014-02-25 10:22:56)

---

Our tomcat for your mice! Archlinux for your comps! Alfa Romeo for your roads! Faster running guaranted!

ewaller

Administrator

From: Pasadena, CA

Registered: 2009-07-13

Posts: 19,797

Re: [SOLVED] Unable to mount vfat usb drive

So, the problem IS SOLVED, but via a strange way that I cannot appreciate. I am not a coder, unfortunately...

When this sort of thing happens, it is often a mismatch between the running kernel and the installed kernel modules.  There are a few ways this can happen.

I am going to go ahead and close this old thread.  If the problem persists, lets start a new thread.

---

Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way