Password protected USB meomory stick

[nilsA]

Yesterday I purchased an 8 GB TDK USB bemory stick. It came with a penguin, Mac & Windows icons.

Installed on XP, ran on W2000, no problems. Partitioned into 2 4 GB, locked one partition, the other open.

But open in Kubuntu? Oh no. I can only access the open part of it.

I can see the FlashLockV22.exe file. This is used for administration and locking/unlocking in windows.

Any ideas how I can make this work?

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

Any ideas how I can make this work?

I think you just did!


OK, seriously -- what do you want to accomplish? Is it something that you could do from within wine?

[nilsA]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

Any ideas how I can make this work?

I think you just did!


OK, seriously -- what do you want to accomplish? Is it something that you could do from within wine?

I want to keep part of the stick private, requiring a password for access. And I want to be able to access from Kubuntu, not just W. I'll try installing Wine and see ...

[nilsA]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

Any ideas how I can make this work?

I think you just did!


OK, seriously -- what do you want to accomplish? Is it something that you could do from within wine?

I want to keep part of the stick private, requiring a password for access. And I want to be able to access from Kubuntu, not just W. I'll try installing Wine and see ...

EDIT: No luck with Wine. The icon is blinking for some time, then - nothing.

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

I dunno

It seems a tough challenge to have it BOTH readable AND password protected from two incompatible OSs. Obviously it can only be FAT or NTFS formatted, for Windows and Linux visibility.

Is there a file encryption algorithm that is common to Windows and Linux? Maybe instead of password protection on the whole filesystem, you could go with encrypted files?

Sorry, this is way far away from anything that I've done.

[nilsA]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

I dunno

It seems a tough challenge to have it BOTH readable AND password protected from two incompatible OSs. Obviously it can only be FAT or NTFS formatted, for Windows and Linux visibility.

Yes, and if this stick was made/sold by some unknown Shanghai based company I would not be surprised that they put the Linux and Apple logos on without really having a solution.

But TDK? I probably will try tracking down someone representing them.

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

But TDK? I probably will try tracking down someone representing them.

Good luck!

I suspect they will say that they only guarantee it to work in one or the other OS, not both with simultaneous password protection. But who knows -- maybe there's a way.

[nilsA]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

Good luck!

I suspect they will say that they only guarantee it to work in one or the other OS, not both with simultaneous password protection. But who knows -- maybe there's a way.

Ther intersting thing is - there is only one file on it. No hidden files, so if the non-windows can use it, then there has to be a way to run an .exe file, right?

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

The only ways to run a DOS-based executable (.exe file) in Linux is with wine or else from a Windows VM, as far as I know. Linux won't execute it by itself.

The other "logic trap", to my mind, is the fact that neither OS is going to be able to prevent the other from "seeing" that partition and filesystem.

It's a bit like a password-protected PC, booted with a Live CD. The protection that is afforded by the OS, whether it is Windows or Linux, is useless if that OS is not booted in the first place.

Which is why I'm left thinking that only encryption of the data itself would keep it from being readable by a person with both a Windows and a Linux boot capability. :P

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

I think something like this might get you to a shared Windows/Linux data partition on which the data are encrypted. But, obviously the software application has to be installed on both OSs to make it work, and so it won't be portable to computers that don't have the application installed.

[nilsA]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

I think something like this might get you to a shared Windows/Linux data partition on which the data are encrypted. But, obviously the software application has to be installed on both OSs to make it work, and so it won't be portable to computers that don't have the application installed.

Looks like what I see. It is obviously not a true partitioning, but some technology to hide part of the disk.

Regarding portability - if the program was written in java - would it not be possible to run og any type of PC?

[dibl]

Re: Password protected USB meomory stick

Regarding portability - if the program was written in java - would it not be possible to run og any type of PC?

If it is just a java application, then yes, I guess any PC that has java installed should run it.

Also I saw this yesterday, which may be relevant to your search:

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbuntuWeeklyNewsletter/Issue114

Go down to the interview with Dustin Kirkland and check out "ECryptFS".