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#1 2006-05-17 05:46:54

drakosha
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Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
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auto mounting - what to use?

I'm from time to time thinking of the idea to add auto mounting of CDs and USB stuff (disk-on-key, flash card reader, MP3 player, photo-camera, etc).

There're several options for auto mounting: use udev itself for USBs and auto-eject-cdrom for CDs, use autofs, submount, supermount, ivman, gnome-volume-manager, and there are probably more… I really don't know what to choose. I'm counting on your help smile

Just in case if it's needed, i'm using XFCE.

So, what are you using and why?

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#2 2006-05-17 07:22:10

Romashka
Forum Fellow
Registered: 2005-12-07
Posts: 1,054

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

I'm using Xfce too. I don't wont to use gnome-volume-manager, because it depends on libgnomeui. I tried ivman but it worked bad for me, I have serious problems after I restarted PC with running ivman and default settings, so I removed it.
I haven't tried other ways of automounting.  Which should I try?  I want to automount CDs, DVDs and USB flash sticks.


to live is to die

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#3 2006-05-17 07:48:56

FUBAR
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From: Belgium
Registered: 2004-12-08
Posts: 1,029
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

I used to use supermount, simply because I didn't know about AutoFS. Supermount needs to be patched into the kernel though, and if you want the latest and greatest kernel, that can be a problem (for me it was: I'm not a patch wizard).
AutoFS however, is already IN the kernel. You only need to enable it (Arch's stock kernel probably has it already) and then pacman -S autofs to make use of it.

I'm using it for NFS mounts, USB sticks and USB/FireWire external hard drives. The only problem I sometimes have is that the timeout is set too soon: I've done that to make sure everything I copied to the USB is actually written when I unplug the drive. However, when I don't copy anything and I simply browse the removable media, it's already unmounted when I'm ready to copy anything resulting in an error. I just open an aterm and ls /mnt and everything is fine.


A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a workstation.

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#4 2006-05-18 07:42:26

drakosha
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Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
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#5 2006-05-18 17:25:16

phrakture
Arch Overlord
From: behind you
Registered: 2003-10-29
Posts: 7,879
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

I've voted for udev.  The reason I like udev for this is that:
udev must be there.  It's not "another thing to add to get automounting working".  udev also works, regardless of your setup (you don't need gnome deps on the box if space is an issue, and you don't need gnome daemons running).

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#6 2006-05-18 17:34:49

codemac
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From: Cliche Tech Place
Registered: 2005-05-13
Posts: 794
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

The only problem with udev is that you have to mount with -o sync, or you can't tear out the usb cord.  Then again, I don't know if any of these methods can do that without it.

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#7 2006-05-18 17:39:12

phrakture
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From: behind you
Registered: 2003-10-29
Posts: 7,879
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

codemac wrote:

The only problem with udev is that you have to mount with -o sync, or you can't tear out the usb cord.  Then again, I don't know if any of these methods can do that without it.

Yeah, but that's not a "problem" - it's just something you need to watch for.  That's like saying "The problem with ssh is that you need to make sure your host isn't denied in hosts.deny/hosts.allow" - it's not a problem, but something that needs to be configured.

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#8 2006-05-18 21:26:10

codemac
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From: Cliche Tech Place
Registered: 2005-05-13
Posts: 794
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

Well, sync can be slower... that's the "problem"

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#9 2006-05-18 21:43:58

jakob
Member
From: Berlin
Registered: 2005-10-27
Posts: 419

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

codemac wrote:

The only problem with udev is that you have to mount with -o sync, or you can't tear out the usb cord.  Then again, I don't know if any of these methods can do that without it.

Maybe I understood something wrong, but since it interested me, i looked up "sync" in man mount and my first result was:

man mount wrote:

-o     Options are specified with a -o flag followed by a comma separated
          string of options.  Some of these options  are  only  useful  when
          they  appear  in the /etc/fstab file.  The following options apply
          to any file system that is being mounted (but not every file  sys-
          tem  actually honors them - e.g., the sync option today has effect
          only for ext2, ext3 and ufs):

Don't most of the usb sticks have a fat filesystem? So does this option have any effect?

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#10 2006-05-19 00:19:22

codemac
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From: Cliche Tech Place
Registered: 2005-05-13
Posts: 794
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

I use automounting for an external hard drive that has ext3 partitions on it!

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#11 2006-05-19 06:42:28

drakosha
Member
Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
Website

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

Some updates:

hal + dbus + gnome-volume-manager(run as user)
- works almost out-of-the-box. I just had to add myself to the hal and dbus groups. I don't like nautilus is being run and i don't know where to change it. I'll try other options later.

hal + dbus + ivman(run as root)
- i had to add a user (ivman), a group (plugdev), rename flies at /etc/ivman to  remove .default suffix, and it looks like working. I have one problem now - i don't know what to write in ivman config to make sure mounted directory is opened by file manager with correct user. Obviously, i can write "su ... my_user" but i don't want to do it in case my gf is logged in - she should get the same with her user... So the question is how to determine correct user?

hal + dbus + ivman(run as user)
i did not try it yet, but from previous section i assume it'll work like a magic smile[/b]

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#12 2006-05-19 06:55:53

FUBAR
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From: Belgium
Registered: 2004-12-08
Posts: 1,029
Website

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

jakob wrote:
codemac wrote:

The only problem with udev is that you have to mount with -o sync, or you can't tear out the usb cord.  Then again, I don't know if any of these methods can do that without it.

Maybe I understood something wrong, but since it interested me, i looked up "sync" in man mount and my first result was:

man mount wrote:

-o     Options are specified with a -o flag followed by a comma separated
          string of options.  Some of these options  are  only  useful  when
          they  appear  in the /etc/fstab file.  The following options apply
          to any file system that is being mounted (but not every file  sys-
          tem  actually honors them - e.g., the sync option today has effect
          only for ext2, ext3 and ufs):

Don't most of the usb sticks have a fat filesystem? So does this option have any effect?

It makes a major difference for me: from 5.5kb/s with -sync to ~5MB/s with -async on my USB stick (formatted FAT).


A bus station is where a bus stops.
A train station is where a train stops.
On my desk I have a workstation.

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#13 2006-05-19 08:45:36

lanrat
Member
From: Poland
Registered: 2003-10-28
Posts: 1,274

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

You don't have to use sync when using udev. You can change it to async if you want to. It's just that you need to run sync before you unplug the device.

BTW I've already mentioned that sync time can be configured if you're using ext3 (man mount). The default is 5 sec. So you can for example configure external hd with ext3 to sync every 3 seconds and just wait 3 seconds after last write before unplugging the device (that's a theory at least :-))

Also sync is important for writing. If you're only reading from usbstick it shouldn't affect the speed, I think.

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#14 2006-05-21 13:07:43

ujjwal
Member
Registered: 2006-01-31
Posts: 27

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

Thunar, the new default file manager for XFCE, provides some volume management functionality if HAL is running. I use that and it flawlessly mounts my cdrom and USB devices.

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#15 2006-05-21 13:11:23

drakosha
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Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

ujjwal wrote:

Thunar, the new default file manager for XFCE, provides some volume management functionality if HAL is running. I use that and it flawlessly mounts my cdrom and USB devices.

Can you please describe how does it work?

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#16 2006-05-21 15:35:22

stonecrest
Member
From: Boulder
Registered: 2005-01-22
Posts: 1,190

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

drakosha wrote:
ujjwal wrote:

Thunar, the new default file manager for XFCE, provides some volume management functionality if HAL is running. I use that and it flawlessly mounts my cdrom and USB devices.

Can you please describe how does it work?

It just shows all of your volumes and you can right-click them to mount/unmount. There's certainly no automounting going on. But I use it as well, I don't mind the additional step(s).


I am a gated community.

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#17 2006-05-21 16:46:17

McQueen
Member
From: Arizona
Registered: 2006-03-20
Posts: 387

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

stonecrest wrote:

It just shows all of your volumes and you can right-click them to mount/unmount. There's certainly no automounting going on. But I use it as well, I don't mind the additional step(s).

With hal running in Xfce (4.3.x) I can insert a data-CD and it will automount and (1) show up as a new icon on the Xfce desktop w/right-click properites, and (2) appear in Thunar's side panel. I've not tried it with other media types.


/path/to/Truth

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#18 2006-05-21 17:25:47

Chman
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Registered: 2006-01-31
Posts: 169
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Re: auto mounting - what to use?

drakosha wrote:

hal + dbus + gnome-volume-manager(run as user)
- works almost out-of-the-box. I just had to add myself to the hal and dbus groups. I don't like nautilus is being run and i don't know where to change it. I'll try other options later.

You need to install gconf-editor. Run it and change GVM parameters wink

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#19 2006-05-21 17:47:48

stonecrest
Member
From: Boulder
Registered: 2005-01-22
Posts: 1,190

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

McQueen wrote:
stonecrest wrote:

It just shows all of your volumes and you can right-click them to mount/unmount. There's certainly no automounting going on. But I use it as well, I don't mind the additional step(s).

With hal running in Xfce (4.3.x) I can insert a data-CD and it will automount and (1) show up as a new icon on the Xfce desktop w/right-click properites, and (2) appear in Thunar's side panel. I've not tried it with other media types.

Are you sure it has automounted? Yes it shows up, but I don't think it is mounted until you right-click and choose mount or double-click it..


I am a gated community.

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#20 2006-05-21 20:24:04

Moo-Crumpus
Member
From: Hessen / Germany
Registered: 2003-12-01
Posts: 1,487

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

I am sick of polls of people who down't wanna read readmes and wikis. Don't read, don't think. don't ask - let's start a poll.


Frumpus addict
[mu'.krum.pus], [frum.pus]

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#21 2006-05-21 20:29:07

stavrosg
Member
From: Rhodes, Greece
Registered: 2005-05-01
Posts: 330
Website

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

It is not automounted, but it get mounted as soon as you click on it to open it, which is imho fine for the typical use case.

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#22 2006-05-21 21:19:23

McQueen
Member
From: Arizona
Registered: 2006-03-20
Posts: 387

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

stonecrest wrote:

Are you sure it has automounted? Yes it shows up, but I don't think it is mounted until you right-click and choose mount or double-click it..

Yes, it is as you say. In my case I was just 2x clicking on the icon and then viewing the contents. I checked this by looking at what was mounted in a terminal session during the process.


/path/to/Truth

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#23 2006-05-23 13:56:17

drakosha
Member
Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
Website

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

Chman wrote:
drakosha wrote:

hal + dbus + gnome-volume-manager(run as user)
- works almost out-of-the-box. I just had to add myself to the hal and dbus groups. I don't like nautilus is being run and i don't know where to change it. I'll try other options later.

You need to install gconf-editor. Run it and change GVM parameters wink

i tried it, just did not found the relevant entry to change (even before i asked in the forum wink)

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#24 2006-05-23 13:58:35

drakosha
Member
Registered: 2006-01-03
Posts: 253
Website

Re: auto mounting - what to use?

Moo-Crumpus wrote:

I am sick of polls of people who down't wanna read readmes and wikis. Don't read, don't think. don't ask - let's start a poll.

If you'd read the poll and my posts you'd see i read both wikis and the docs. How else would i find all the solutions and make work all the packages?

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