bad fstab file{SOLVED}

[emer_son]

Hello
When I try to access my HDD /dev/sda1(not my os HDD) it tells me I have a bad line in fstab. I added the following line to mount sda1

/dev/sda1 /media/data ext3 rw,user,auto,exec, sync 0 0

Could anyone tell me what i did wrong.

Thanks

Dan

[Snowhog]

Re: bad fstab file

First, ensure that the directory data actually exists under /media. If it does not, you need to create it (as root).

Second, change the line to:

/dev/sda1 /media/data ext3 defaults 0 2

Partitions in fstab other than the root partition are set to 0 2 (not 0 0).

[walfred]

Re: bad fstab file

As an informational post, my partitions are:
proc /proc proc defaults 0 0
/dev/sda1 / ext3 relatime,errors=remount-ro 0 1
/dev/mapper/lvm0-home /home xfs relatime 0 2
/dev/sdb1 /mnt/c vfat utf8,umask=007,gid=46 0 1
/dev/sdc1 /mnt/sdc1 ext2 relatime,ro 0 2
/dev/sda6 none swap sw 0 0
/dev/scd0 /media/cdrom0 udf,iso9660 user,noauto,exec,utf8 0 0

That came from installation as default: only proc, swap and cdrom are 0 0.
Roots (or prime partitions on HDs) are 0 1.

I'll check what it means...

[Snowhog]

Re: bad fstab file

walfred@

Thank you. Yes, the proc entry in fstab is 0 0, the root partition is 0 1, other HD partitions are 0 2, swap is 0 0, and floppy/cd-rom/dvd drives are 0 0.

[klerfayt]

Re: bad fstab file

did you create the directory /media/data?

[emer_son]

Re: bad fstab file

the problem is solved. This may seem strange but all I did was move the word sync closer to exec,. I tried 0 2 but this didn't work. My original entry had the final 0 as showing in red. When I moved sync I then moved the 0 0 over and this solved the problem.

Thanks for your efforts they are appreciated.

Dan

[Snowhog]

Re: bad fstab file{SOLVED}

No, not strange at all. In the parameters portion of an fstab entry, each is separated by a comma. That you had a space after the comma would have created a problem, as it did. I didn't catch that.

You should still change the 0 0 to 0 2 for the reason previously provided.

[walfred]

Re: bad fstab file{SOLVED}

Indeed that's the problem :P
Very difficult to see...
What happen is the parser uses /s+ (one or more space or tab) to know which parameter is placed to the proper config option. Then, no spaces should be placed, it's a comma-separeted list.
I couldn't find any documentation reference, but there is a forum post reporting precisely that. Have a look.

[Snowhog]

Re: bad fstab file{SOLVED}

You might want to take a look at How to fstab - Understanding fstab on the Ubuntu Forums. This is an excellent post.