LinuxSA Mailing list archives

  From: Brenton Pettitt <pets@camtech.net.au>
  To  : linuxsa@linuxsa.org.au
  Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1999 07:40:56 +0930

Backing up to & mounting fd0

Hi,

This should be simple but I can't find documentation anywhere that
explains the logical sequence of the processes for a newcomer to
Linux,so reluctantly I admit defeat and now seek some help.

After a steep learning curve in setting up SuSe 6 and StarOffice 5 I
thought backing up to a floppy and mounting it would be a breeze but I
haven't managed it :-(.  

What I am trying to do is backup files to /fd0 with "tar cf /dev/fd0 ."
in the /cd directory of "home/pets/downloads" then view the backed up
files in Midnight Commander by mounting /fdo with "mount /dev/fd0
/mnt/floppy". Trouble is I get the message "you must specify a file
system type".

 So when I specify a filesystem type with "mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy -t
ext2" I get the message "wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on
/dev/fd0 or too many mounted file systems". When I try "ext2fs" instead
I get the message "not supported by the kernel".

Prior to backing up I have used the format command "fdformat /dev/fd0".
I also must admit to not being sure where "mkfs /dev/fd0" fits into all
of this, if at all. Its all a bit of a jumble in my head and any help
would be appreciated.

The default etc/fstab entry reads:

        /dev/fd0        floppy          auto            noauto,user    
0       0


I have created the sub-directory /mnt/floppy as my mount point.

Also another related question that exercises my mind is the following.
If a complete reinstall of the OS were necessary would the floppy backup
work after reinstall. I say this because MS Windows reads backup codes
in DOS to restore backups. Is this the case with Linux. If so where does
one find those backup codes to back them up too,in that event?

Thank you for any assistance.

Brenton Pettitt

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