[NTLUG:Discuss] Problem to mount USB memory stick

[steve]

David Simmons wrote:

>> Hmmm - that's interesting.  We have an MP3 player that Linux won't
>> mount.  I wonder if that's the same problem?   Of course it
>> would probably be a really, really bad idea to reformat an MP3
>> player's internal drive.
>>
>> Why can't Linux mount FAT16?
> 
> Haven't been following this thread from the
> beginning - so this might have already been stated......sure Linux can
> mount FAT16, etc....but remember that your device needs a DRIVER...the
> reason that some mount and other don't is (probably) not due to the
> formatting - it's due to the fact that Linux can find/load a module/driver
> for it.

I kinda doubt that - it didn't come with a Windows driver CD so
the manufacturers expect it to work under Windows using only the
standard USB filesystem interface.

But checking the options to mount, it definitely implies that
I can select fat=12, fat=16 or fat=32 because it has options
to override the autodetection of those three things.

It's a Samsung MP3 player - and of five different MP3 players
we've owned at various times, it's the first one that hasn't
"just worked" out of the box.

> Here's a quick test....plug in one that works...do a
> DMESG
> 
> you'll find information about the device...and how/where
> it's mounted.
> 
> now, plug in the one that's not testing....you'll
> see in 'dmesg' a different result.

Yeah - that's a good idea.