Baslinux mailing list

[Christof Lange <cce.zizkov AT volny.cz>]

David, Sindi, Steven, others, 

I enclose my first attempt to make mounting USB storage devices 
more user-friendly. The scripts below will probably be included 
on the RAM disk I am going to create for one of Sindi's 2.4.31
kernels. 

The quoted files are: 

    1. usbinit
    2. usbdetect
    3. usbmount
    4. usbumount
    5. issue
    6. profile

I uploaded only these scripts at: 

    http://www.volny.cz/cce/linux/sb-usb/

I apologize for the length, but this is probably the best way to
give a report about my tests during the last days.

Christof



1. usbinit
==========

a script to load all the necessary modules. 

------- usbinit ------------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
for i in scsi_mod sd_mod usbcore usb-uhci uhci usb-ohci usb-storage
do insmod $i; done
mount -t usbdevfs /proc/bus/usb /proc/bus/usb 
----------------------------------------------------


2. usbdetect
============

contains commands that help to find the devices on the system,
after they have been plugged in. 

------- usbdetect ----------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
# Screen output to detect USB devices that are attached at this 
# moment or were attached before .
#detected=`grep 'Attached: Yes' /proc/scsi/*/*|
       sed -e 's/.*\///;s/:.*//'`
#mounted=`mount|cut -d ' ' -f 1 |grep '\/dev\/sd.1'|
       sed -e 's/\/dev\/sd//g'`
#echo $mounted
#echo $detected
#mount|grep '\/dev\/sd.1'
cat /proc/scsi/*/*|more 
----------------------------------------------------

3. usbmount
===========

is an ugly script (will anybody on the list be able to simplify it 
or make it more compact?) to mount the attached storage devices. 

It follows the approach from usbdetect and scans /proc/scsi. Then 
it mounts the devices from /dev/sda1, /dev/sda2, etc. to /USB-A, 
/USB-B, /USB-C, etc. This allows to mount up to four different 
devices, while user does not have to care for the locations. 
Screen output is minimized. When a device is plugged in, however, 
the screen output is still enormous. 

There is one big problem with this script. As the system puts every 
new device that is plugged into the computer on a new /dev/sdX1 
address, you can only use up four memory sticks (when you use 
the same memory stick for a second time, it seems to be recognized 
and goes to its forner location). After unplugging a device, it stays
in /proc/scsi, only gets the desciption "Attached: No". The address
cannot be used by the next device. 

A hardly satisfying work around would be to add more devices (I got
to work /dev/sde1 four the fifth memory stick, but /dev/sdf1 to
/dev/sdh1 seemed not to be supported by the kernel). In that case 
you need only to add theses addresses to the scripts usbmount and 
usbumount and you will be able to mount more than four different 
devices. Has anybody an idea how this problem could be solved 
basically? 

------- usbmount -----------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
# Unmounts and deletes mount points of all devices which are no 
    longer attached.
# Then mounts all devices which are attached and have not been 
    mounted yet.

detected=`grep 'Attached: Yes' /proc/scsi/*/*|
        sed -e 's/.*\///;s/:.*//'`
mounted=`mount|cut -d ' ' -f 1 |grep '\/dev\/sd.1'|
        sed -e 's/\/dev\/sd//g'`
#echo $mounted
#echo $detected
echo $detected | grep -v '0' >/dev/null && echo $mounted |
        grep 'a' >/dev/null && umount /dev/sda1 && rmdir /USB-A
echo $detected | grep -v '1' >/dev/null && echo $mounted |
        grep 'b' >/dev/null && umount /dev/sdb1 && rmdir /USB-B
echo $detected | grep -v '2' >/dev/null && echo $mounted |
        grep 'c' >/dev/null && umount /dev/sdc1 && rmdir /USB-C
echo $detected | grep -v '3' >/dev/null && echo $mounted |
        grep 'd' >/dev/null && umount /dev/sdd1 && rmdir /USB-D
echo $detected | grep '0' >/dev/null && echo $mounted | grep -v
        'a' >/dev/null && mkdir /USB-A && mount /dev/sda1 /USB-A
echo $detected | grep '1' >/dev/null && echo $mounted | grep -v
        'b' >/dev/null && mkdir /USB-B && mount /dev/sdb1 /USB-B
echo $detected | grep '2' >/dev/null && echo $mounted | grep -v
        'c' >/dev/null && mkdir /USB-C && mount /dev/sdc1 /USB-C
echo $detected | grep '3' >/dev/null && echo $mounted | grep -v
        'd' >/dev/null && mkdir /USB-D && mount /dev/sdd1 /USB-D
mount|grep '\/dev\/sd.1'
----------------------------------------------------

4. usbumount
============

is a simple script to unmount the USB devices. It deletes the mount 
points as well. So in Midnight commander the user can see at first
glance which devices (also floppy and CD-ROM) are available. 

---------- usbumount -------------------------------
#!/bin/sh
# Unmounts and deletes mount points of one or all USB devices 
attached. 
# Specify one USB device with letters A, B, C, etc.
mounted=`mount|cut -d ' ' -f 1 |grep '\/dev\/sd.1'|
        sed -e 's/\/dev\/sd//g'`
case $1 in
  A|a) echo "Unmounting USB storage device on /USB-A" 
      echo $mounted | grep 'a' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sda1 && rmdir /USB-A >/dev/null
      ;;
  B|b) echo "Unmounting USB storage device on /USB-B" 
      echo $mounted | grep 'b' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdb1 && rmdir /USB-B >/dev/null
      ;;
  C|c) echo "Unmounting USB storage device on /USB-C" 
      echo $mounted | grep 'c' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdc1 && rmdir /USB-C >/dev/null
      ;;
  D|d) echo "Unmounting USB storage device on /USB-D" 
      echo $mounted | grep 'd' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdd1 && rmdir /USB-D >/dev/null
      ;;
  *)  echo "Unmounting all USB storage devices" 
      echo $mounted | grep 'a' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sda1 && rmdir /USB-A >/dev/null
      echo $mounted | grep 'b' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdb1 && rmdir /USB-B >/dev/null
      echo $mounted | grep 'c' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdc1 && rmdir /USB-C >/dev/null
      echo $mounted | grep 'd' >/dev/null && umount
        /dev/sdd1 && rmdir /USB-D >/dev/null
      ;;
esac

----------------------------------------------------

5. issue
========

explains the future RAM disk to new users. 

---------- /etc/issue ------------------------------

Welcome to USB storage support in BasicLinux


This RAM disk is based on BasicLinux 2.1 (compatible with Slackware
7.1) and can be run with a USB-capable 2.4.31 kernel. Its main
purpose is to provide support for USB storage devices and CD burner.
Users will be able to copy the contents of their USB storage devices
from or to hard disk partitions or save them to CD-ROM.

Commands
~~~~~~~~
 usbinit     initializes USB storages (necessary for u: and :u)
 mc          file manager 
 edit        edit a file
 zgv         browse graphic files (not yet included)
 a: and :a   mount and unmount floppy on /A
 c: and :c   mount and unmount 1st hard disk partion on /C
 d: and :d   mount and unmount 2nd hard disk partion on /D
 e: and :e   mount and unmount 3rd hard disk partion on /E
 r: and :r   mount and unmount CD-ROM on /R
 u:          mount all attached USB devices on /USB-A, /USB-B etc.
 :u [X]      unmount device on /USB-X or all attached USB devices 
 cdhelp      display commands for CD burning (not yet included)

To start BasicLinux, enter root at the login prompt.
----------------------------------------------------

6. profile
==========

runs at login time and defines aliases to mount and unmount devices. 

------ /root/.profile ------------------------------
alias a:='mkdir /A ; mount /dev/fd0 /A'
alias c:='mkdir /C ; mount /dev/hda1 /C'
alias d:='mkdir /D ; mount /dev/hda2 /D'
alias e:='mkdir /E ; mount /dev/hda3 /E'
alias r:='mkdir /R ; mount /dev/hdc /R'
alias u:='usbmount'
alias :a='umount /A;rmdir /A'
alias :c='umount /C;rmdir /C'
alias :d='umount /D;rmdir /D'
alias :e='umount /E;rmdir /E'
alias :r='umount /R;rmdir /R'
alias :u='usbumount '
----------------------------------------------------


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