[kde-linux] Re: mounting fixed and removable devices

[Duncan]

Dr.-Ing. Edgar Alwers posted on Fri, 14 Jan 2011 17:21:49 +0100 as
excerpted:

> We have a little issue with this devices:
> 
> Klicking in Lancelot "Computer", the fixed and the removable devices are
> displayed. However, I only can mount the removable devices. Attempting
> to mount one of the fixed devices we get
> ------------------
> Fixed:
> The requested device can not be accessed.
> Details
> org.freedesktop.Hal.Device.Volume.PermissionDenied: Device has /dev/sdb5
> volume.ignore set to TRUE. Refusing to mount.
> ------------------
> We presume, that we have to set the /dev/sdb5 volume.ignore to FALSE.
> The question is, where do we find this setting ?
> 
> Thanks in advance for an indication.
> 
> By the way, Dolphin do not even shows the fixed devices.

Hal (and thus KDE... thru 4.5 anyway, hal's deprecated and I believe 4.6 
switches to udev and friends for this) normally won't touch (ignores) 
anything listed in /etc/fstab , since it's presumed that the admin wants 
those managed manually.

It's thus likely that it's the fstab listing triggering the "ignore" 
rather than the fact that it's a fixed device, and removing/commenting 
that line in fstab should allow hal (and thus kde) to access it.

Of course that means you lose the other effects of the fstab line as well, 
like mount options, mounting it at the specified location instead of at an 
automatically chosen location under /media, etc.  That may not be desired.

Meanwhile, hal's system-specific (non-default) configuration is normally 
found in *.fdi files in the /etc/hal/fdi/* tree, with deactivated samples 
available in the /usr/share/hal/fdi/* tree.  But, based on previous 
experience editing them myself, I'd **STRONGLY** recommend that you avoid 
the experience if possible, as the format is XML and thus designed more 
for machine parsability than human editability, and finding documentation 
for it isn't always easy, either.[1]

Hopefully, therefore, you can either (1) solve the issue with an fstab 
edit alone, (2) decide that the policy encoded in fstab and doing it 
manually is enough, so messing with hal's config isn't necessary, or (3) 
decide that #2 will suffice at least temporarily, until kde 4.6 and its 
switch to udev and friends for this sort of thing.

Do note, however, that non-core kde apps such as k3b use hal as well (in 
k3b's case, for cd-burner detection and control), and that they'll need 
updated too, before hal can be entirely removed from the system (assuming 
such apps are installed of course), even after kde 4.6 where kde itself 
should no longer need it.  But the final extermination of hal on my 
systems is getting closer! =:^)

---
[1] My hal/fdi experience was with xorg-server, which used hal based input-
hotplugging from IIRC 1.5 thru 1.7.  With 1.8 it switched to a **MUCH** 
more sane and easy to configure udev based hotplugging, with better 
autodetection and saner defaults, as well as far easier configuration 
using xorg.conf/xorg.conf.d.  As I generally prefer fstab based policy for 
non-removable media and specific removable media as well, using kde/hal's 
device handling only for the generic removable media case, I've not had to 
worry about that angle, and have been able to put the memory of *.fdi 
editing behind me for my own systems.  Now, to get it dropped in kde, etc, 
so list posts don't keep dragging up old nightmares better forgotten... 
yes, *.fdi configuration was /that/ bad for me, tho I did get it working 
eventually!

-- 
Duncan - List replies preferred.   No HTML msgs.
"Every nonfree program has a lord, a master --
and if you use the program, he is your master."  Richard Stallman