I have to copy a file to a folder (see below) but the file manager seems unable to access the internal memory of the N810 to do so. Presumably there's a way it can access this memory but I can't find it.
Or do I have to resort to some arcane Linux jiggery pokery?:-(
If so, is there any definitive documentation of how to do this kind of thing?

For Linux OS (and others), you need to copy this file as
"/usr/share/doc/notecase/notecase.key" (alternatively, you can copy it to
the same directory with "notecase" executable).
Make sure to make this file readable to all your user accounts.

to copy the file, use

cp /usr/share/doc/notecase/notecase.key /media/mmc1 (or /media/mmc2)

to move the file, use

mv /usr/share/doc/notecase/notecase.key /media/mmc1 (or /media/mmc2)


either of these commands can be typed in from the xterm prompt (logged in as user), and should copy (or move) the file without issue.

...or, maybe i'm not understanding what (exactly) you need to do. in either case, for both commands outlined above, the first parameter is the "from" and the second parameter is the "to"... upon re-reading the subject title of your message, it looked like maybe you wanted to copy the file in to /usr/share/doc/notecase from somewhere else (such as the removable media stores?) /media/mmc1 is the internal card (adjacent to the battery in the back of the device), and /usr/mmc2 is the external card (accessed behind the door on the front lip of the device).

so, then:

[cp|mv] <origin file or directory> <destination file or directory>

briand: Isn't that backwards? /media/mmc1 is the external card, and /media/mmc2 the internal one, at least it is on my n800 OS2008.

lemmy: whilst the cp command from an xterm is easiest, and not too arcane , you might also try an alternative file mugger, e.g. the powerful emelFM2:

http://maemo.org/downloads/product/OS2008/emelfm2/

although a little care needs to be taken, as it is quite a powerful filemgr.

quite possible... I was working on a single cup of coffee and late for a meeting, when I typed that up...

ah, lack of coffee, amen to that

Sorry if I was not specific enough.

I have the put the file (notecase.key) on the internal card, thus (from File Manager); Internal Memory/tmp/notecase.key

I need to move or copy it from there to:

/usr/share/doc/notecase/

No reference to 'notecase' appears at all in File Manager on the internal card, so I assume 'usr/share/doc/notecase/' must be on the internal 256mb memory.

Would this be it?

~$ mv /media/mmc2/tmp/notecase.key usr/share/doc/notepad

I'm familiar with the DOS command line so this all seems familiar enough to me. I note that on my N810, the removable media is mmc1, the internal card is mmc2.

Unfortunately the message I get is 'mv: cannot remove /usr/share/doc/notecase/notecase.key. No such file or directory.

I can navigate to both directories involved and list the contents. Using /usr/share/doc/notecase and not giving the filename for the moved file in the destination yields the same result. This all feels like when I was using MSDOS 3 many years ago!

lemmy --

yes, it is very much like MSDOS, in some respects.

from the $ prompt (ie: ~$) you would type:

mv /media/mmc2/tmp/notecase.key /usr/share/doc/notecase/

(I think you typed 'notepad' in one reference, above...)

it is possible that the directory "notecase" does not exist in /usr/share/doc/ ..if that is the case, and the mv command above fails again, try:

mkdir /usr/share/doc/notecase

...then, try the mv command, again.

Struggled on, nothing worked. I'm experienced with MSDOS and there was nothing wrong with the paths, the directories and files all existed.
As a last resort, I downloaded a proper file manager which can look at the system disk and conformed that all was correct.
So then I tried a new tack and got myself root access. Everything then went as it should have.
It points to a couple of things for me.

1/ I do not appreciate a file system which locks me, the owner, out of it so that I cannot perform a basic file operation. Even Windows has the grace to ask if you really want to and then steps aside. And it requires a download for me to do it! Nanny state or what?

2/ The error messages given by Linux seem even more opaque than Windows. A proper error message would have said 'you require root access to perform this operation'. Instead I got 'file or directory does not exist' when I knew they both did.

I wonder whether this is an attempt to keep the OS to geeks (no insult intended, I'm one in other systems) or that in the open source filed there's no incentive to improve it.

Thanks for the help, folks.

I wouldn't call myself a hardcore linux g33k but I figured out that you need to be root to write to the /usr/share directory.

But I agree with you that error messages could be better.