USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

Hi,

This is my first post and I think I've searched as much as possible to try and find an answer to this. I'm a linux newbie so sorry if this is a dumb question.

I enabled host mode (flash)

I bought the correct cables to enable 5v to N770 and connect USB devices.

I can mount the devices and browse to them using 'mount -t vfat /dev/sba /media/mmc1/usb' (I'm remembering that off the top of my head but the beginning is definitely right).

I can stream things off my iPod / Digital Camera, I can even mount both of them at once through a hub, but only thing I can't do which I'd like to do is write to them. If I try and do this (e.g. by trying create a new folder on my iPod or trying to copy a file to it) a message says 'folder already exists' or a similar.

I'm guessing it's a simple case of setting permissions somewhere but I'm not sure where and how.

Thanks in advance.

James

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

If you need me to post more information then tell me what and I'll do it.:)

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

I can think of a number of things that could be causing this. The first obvious one is that the media is write-protected. Some external hard drives have write protection switches :)

More likely, it's a problem with permissions, or just not being mounted read-write. Try adding the flag "-orw" to mount, to enable the Read/Write Option. The other possibility is that it's not set for the proper user / group id, so you don't have permission. To set those, specify -ouid= and -ogid=. Unfortunately, I don't have my N800 on me at the moment, so I'm not sure what ID "user" runs as.

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

Thanks, I'll try that switch tomorrow (it's 2.20am now and I'm getting tired).

I found I have write access as root so it's likely something like you suggest.

When I get it working I'll put a guide up...I've found concise information on this topic hard to come by & there are lots of new N770 users because of the price crash.

This is one of those things that's easy when you know how - I hope!

Regards,

J

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

Still no luck and it's pretty frustrating.

I'm getting root via dbclient root@127.1

Connecting device (eg iPod)

mount -t vfat -orw /dev/sda2 /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod

Can xterm browse as root and mkdir but exiting from root and trying same or using file manager results in permission denied message or similar if trying to copy to device.

Help!

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

What does "ls -la /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod/" list as file/directory owners and permissions?

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

This should make the problem clearer:


/ $ dbclient root@127.1
Password:


BusyBox v1.01 (Debian 3:1.01-4.osso12) Built-in shell (ash)
Enter 'help' for a list of built-in commands.

Nokia770-49:~# cd ..
Nokia770-49:/# mount -t vfat -orw /dev/sda2 /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod
Nokia770-49:/# ls -la /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod
drwxr-xr-x 11 root root 4096 Jan 1 1970 .
drwxr-xr-x 4 user users 0 Aug 18 01:54 ..
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Aug 17 12:36 Armies of You
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 4096 Aug 17 12:55 Audioz
drwxr-xr-x 8 root root 4096 Jun 19 15:34 CDs
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 19 13:24 Calendars
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 19 13:24 Contacts
drwxr-xr-x 3 root root 4096 Aug 17 12:54 Kennedy Sunday
drwxr-xr-x 31 root root 4096 Jun 19 16:03 My Pictures
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Jun 19 13:24 Notes
drwxr-xr-x 5 root root 4096 Jun 19 13:24 iPod_Control
Nokia770-49:/#

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

so all you need do is

chown -R user /home/user

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

I tried that with no success:

Nokia770-49:/# chown -R user /home/user
chown: /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod: Operation not permitted
chown: /home/user/MyDocs/USB/ipod: Operation not permitted
Nokia770-49:/#

Anything else I can try?

Re: USB Host enabled can read but can't write to external storage
 

try adding uid=user to your mount options. the vfat filesystem doesn't support chown.

--francois