USB Hard Disk

[I have just noted a recent thread that may partly address my problem,
so will look at it.  However, to be safe, I'll still post this 
inquiry; if the other thread does answer my problem, again apologize 
for the extra noise.]

I _think_ this is an LVM question, and so take the liberty of 
submitting this.  If it is not, though, I apologize for the extra 
noise.

I have a USB Hard Disk, formatted JFS, that is dedicated for Backups. 
 Since the backups are all Zip files, the subject is one (1) 
Volume/Partition.  For the desktop computer, it is fully recognized - 
as a drive, by LVM and <USBMON.EXE> - as Drive Q (the desktop hard 
disk 
having partitions C through P).

Attaching it to my ThinkPad, it having Drives C through N, LVM 
recognizes the subject as a second disk with partition Q on it.  (LVM 
also shows 2 "dummy" volumes, O and P, possibly because I did have a 
</REMOVABLES:3> switch on the BASEDEV=USBMSD.ADD line for awhile - 
something that I am going to try to clean-up w/ DFSee and may or may 
not be a factor in my problem.)  However, I cannot access drive Q on a

command line, not does it show up in the DRIVES folder (a "dummy" T 
drive showing presently.)

Do I have to use LVM to add the partition on the USB Hard Disk as a 
volume, in order to access it?  If I do - and, say, assign a new 
letter 
to it like Y, since Q is already assigned to it - will this create a 
problem in accessing the disk from the desktop computer?  It doesn't 
seem having this portable disk, to move around from one computer to 
another for backups should be so difficult, but I'm presently stumped 
on what to safely do.

-- 

Wayne A. Smith wrote:

> Attaching it to my ThinkPad, it having Drives C through N, LVM 
> recognizes the subject as a second disk with partition Q on it.  (LVM 
> also shows 2 "dummy" volumes, O and P, possibly because I did
have a 
> </REMOVABLES:3> switch on the BASEDEV=USBMSD.ADD line for awhile - 
> something that I am going to try to clean-up w/ DFSee and may or may 
> not be a factor in my problem.)  However, I cannot access drive Q on a
> command line, not does it show up in the DRIVES folder (a "dummy"
T 
> drive showing presently.)

I had a long term problem with accessing any form of USB mass storage on 
my Thinkpad. With help from Jim Read, I eventually discovered that the 
cause of the problem was PCMCIA support. Specifically, PCCARD.SYS (hope 
thats the right one - PCMCIA mass storage device driver, anyway). With 
that remmed out of CONFIG.SYS, I suddenly had no problems accessing USB 
mass storage devices. I filed a bug, but don't know if anything has been 
done to investigate the problem.

> Do I have to use LVM to add the partition on the USB Hard Disk as a 
> volume, in order to access it?  If I do - and, say, assign a new 
> letter 
> to it like Y, since Q is already assigned to it - will this create a 
> problem in accessing the disk from the desktop computer?  It doesn't 
> seem having this portable disk, to move around from one computer to 
> another for backups should be so difficult, but I'm presently stumped 
> on what to safely do.

Not a definative answer, but I originally assigned a drive letter to the 
USB hard drive I was using. I have subsequently plugged it into a machine 
which alrady has that drive letter in use locally. All that happened was 
that the USB drive was moved to the next available drive letter.

I've also experimented with another USB hard drive, making it a 
compatability volume with LVM, but not giving it a drive letter at all. 
This seems to work ok as well - anytime I plug it in, it gets whatever is 
the next available letter on the local system.

Hope that at least gives you some avenues to explore... 

paul.

Paul,
Thanks much to you and Jim then for steering me in the right 
direction.  Though I guess I vaguely wondered if the difference 
between a ThinkPad and a desktop might be a factor, I don't know 
whether it would have ever occurred to me to investigate the PCMCIA 
drivers - even though one of them immediately precedes the 
<USBMSD.ADD> line.

I think the driver in question is the <PCM2ATA.ADD> driver.  With this
line REMd, the Removable Device Monitor promptly issued its warning 
upon attachment of the subject, and I could acess it just fine.

I noticed that disabling this driver also disabled the PCM2SRAM driver
but, since I have no expansion memory cards I am using, this absence 
is without effect.  If one was using such a card, though, I wonder if 
experimenting with rearranging the order of the lines, with 
<USBMSD.ADD> loading first, might be a solution.

And the ThinkPad is using the assigned drive letter for the subject 
and; since I of course have less partitions on it, this works just 
fine also.  Your experiment of making one of those drives a 
compatibility volume w/out a drive letter is most interesting.  I 
don't think I had that as an option, though, since, because of its 
size and my preference for it being just one partition, I formatted it
JFS; but it surely would be worthwhile exploring if I want to get 
another one and experiment.

Again, thanks much for the direction.



On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:35:43 UTC, 
paul.marwick@none-of-your-business.net (paul marwcik) wrote:

> 
> I had a long term problem with accessing any form of USB mass storage on 
> my Thinkpad. With help from Jim Read, I eventually discovered that the 
> cause of the problem was PCMCIA support. Specifically, PCCARD.SYS (hope 
> thats the right one - PCMCIA mass storage device driver, anyway). With 
> that remmed out of CONFIG.SYS, I suddenly had no problems accessing USB 
> mass storage devices. I filed a bug, but don't know if anything has been 
> done to investigate the problem.
> 
> > Do I have to use LVM to add the partition on the USB Hard Disk as a 
> > volume, in order to access it?  If I do - and, say, assign a new 
> > letter 
> > to it like Y, since Q is already assigned to it - will this create a 
> > problem in accessing the disk from the desktop computer?  It doesn't 
> > seem having this portable disk, to move around from one computer to 
> > another for backups should be so difficult, but I'm presently stumped

> > on what to safely do.
> 
> Not a definative answer, but I originally assigned a drive letter to the 
> USB hard drive I was using. I have subsequently plugged it into a machine 
> which alrady has that drive letter in use locally. All that happened was 
> that the USB drive was moved to the next available drive letter.
> 
> I've also experimented with another USB hard drive, making it a 
> compatability volume with LVM, but not giving it a drive letter at all. 
> This seems to work ok as well - anytime I plug it in, it gets whatever is 
> the next available letter on the local system.
> 
> Hope that at least gives you some avenues to explore... 
> 
> paul.
> 


-- 

Funny thing: For a long time, I could not use a memory stick (USB007, 
1GB) in my thinkpad (A31p, eCS 1.2R), when the same stick works well in 
my desktop (Dell 5150, eCS 1.2R). Following Paul and Wayne's notes, 
remming out PCM2ATA.add in the thinkpad config.sys, the stick now works 
well in both 'puters. Thus far, I have not discovered any adverse 
effects related to the remmed driver.

Interestingly, I was able to use a thinkpad T40 (eCS 1.2R). There the 
same stick worked immediately, without fooling with config.sys. Could 
that be related to the fact that the T40 is USB 2.0, while the A31p is 
USB 1.1?

Thanks to Paul ad Wayne!
Lothar


Wayne A. Smith wrote:
> Paul,
> Thanks much to you and Jim then for steering me in the right 
> direction.  Though I guess I vaguely wondered if the difference 
> between a ThinkPad and a desktop might be a factor, I don't know 
> whether it would have ever occurred to me to investigate the PCMCIA 
> drivers - even though one of them immediately precedes the 
> <USBMSD.ADD> line.
> 
> I think the driver in question is the <PCM2ATA.ADD> driver.  With
this
> line REMd, the Removable Device Monitor promptly issued its warning 
> upon attachment of the subject, and I could acess it just fine.
> 
> I noticed that disabling this driver also disabled the PCM2SRAM driver
> but, since I have no expansion memory cards I am using, this absence 
> is without effect.  If one was using such a card, though, I wonder if 
> experimenting with rearranging the order of the lines, with 
> <USBMSD.ADD> loading first, might be a solution.
> 
> And the ThinkPad is using the assigned drive letter for the subject 
> and; since I of course have less partitions on it, this works just 
> fine also.  Your experiment of making one of those drives a 
> compatibility volume w/out a drive letter is most interesting.  I 
> don't think I had that as an option, though, since, because of its 
> size and my preference for it being just one partition, I formatted it
> JFS; but it surely would be worthwhile exploring if I want to get 
> another one and experiment.
> 
> Again, thanks much for the direction.
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:35:43 UTC, 
> paul.marwick@none-of-your-business.net (paul marwcik) wrote:
> 
> 
>>I had a long term problem with accessing any form of USB mass storage on

>>my Thinkpad. With help from Jim Read, I eventually discovered that the 
>>cause of the problem was PCMCIA support. Specifically, PCCARD.SYS (hope

>>thats the right one - PCMCIA mass storage device driver, anyway). With 
>>that remmed out of CONFIG.SYS, I suddenly had no problems accessing USB

>>mass storage devices. I filed a bug, but don't know if anything has been

>>done to investigate the problem.
>>
>>
>>>Do I have to use LVM to add the partition on the USB Hard Disk as a

>>>volume, in order to access it?  If I do - and, say, assign a new 
>>>letter 
>>>to it like Y, since Q is already assigned to it - will this create a

>>>problem in accessing the disk from the desktop computer?  It doesn't

>>>seem having this portable disk, to move around from one computer to

>>>another for backups should be so difficult, but I'm presently
stumped 
>>>on what to safely do.
>>
>>Not a definative answer, but I originally assigned a drive letter to the

>>USB hard drive I was using. I have subsequently plugged it into a
machine 
>>which alrady has that drive letter in use locally. All that happened was

>>that the USB drive was moved to the next available drive letter.
>>
>>I've also experimented with another USB hard drive, making it a 
>>compatability volume with LVM, but not giving it a drive letter at all.

>>This seems to work ok as well - anytime I plug it in, it gets whatever
is 
>>the next available letter on the local system.
>>
>>Hope that at least gives you some avenues to explore... 
>>
>>paul.
>>
> 
> 

One more thing: I installed eCS 2.0 beta 3 on the A31p thinkpad, too, 
("easy installation")and found again that the memory stick was useless

on that 'puter. Then I remmed out PCM2ATA and - voila ! - the stick can 
now be used in that thinkpad (A31p) under eCS 2.0 beta 3 without further 
ado. I have no idea what remming out the PCM2ATA driver, which also 
leads to not loading PCM2SRAM, will do and how this could cripple the 
functionality of the A31p. But the memory stick (and perhaps all mass 
storage?) works now, and that is quite important (and totally 
unexpected) to me.

I tried to send a report to the eCS 2 beta 3 web page to that effect, 
but it doesn't seem to be set up yet right.


Wayne A. Smith wrote:
> Paul,
> Thanks much to you and Jim then for steering me in the right 
> direction.  Though I guess I vaguely wondered if the difference 
> between a ThinkPad and a desktop might be a factor, I don't know 
> whether it would have ever occurred to me to investigate the PCMCIA 
> drivers - even though one of them immediately precedes the 
> <USBMSD.ADD> line.
> 
> I think the driver in question is the <PCM2ATA.ADD> driver.  With
this
> line REMd, the Removable Device Monitor promptly issued its warning 
> upon attachment of the subject, and I could acess it just fine.
> 
> I noticed that disabling this driver also disabled the PCM2SRAM driver
> but, since I have no expansion memory cards I am using, this absence 
> is without effect.  If one was using such a card, though, I wonder if 
> experimenting with rearranging the order of the lines, with 
> <USBMSD.ADD> loading first, might be a solution.
> 
> And the ThinkPad is using the assigned drive letter for the subject 
> and; since I of course have less partitions on it, this works just 
> fine also.  Your experiment of making one of those drives a 
> compatibility volume w/out a drive letter is most interesting.  I 
> don't think I had that as an option, though, since, because of its 
> size and my preference for it being just one partition, I formatted it
> JFS; but it surely would be worthwhile exploring if I want to get 
> another one and experiment.
> 
> Again, thanks much for the direction.
> 
> 
> 
> On Fri, 15 Dec 2006 20:35:43 UTC, 
> paul.marwick@none-of-your-business.net (paul marwcik) wrote:
> 
> 
>>I had a long term problem with accessing any form of USB mass storage on

>>my Thinkpad. With help from Jim Read, I eventually discovered that the 
>>cause of the problem was PCMCIA support. Specifically, PCCARD.SYS (hope

>>thats the right one - PCMCIA mass storage device driver, anyway). With 
>>that remmed out of CONFIG.SYS, I suddenly had no problems accessing USB

>>mass storage devices. I filed a bug, but don't know if anything has been

>>done to investigate the problem.
>>
>>
>>>Do I have to use LVM to add the partition on the USB Hard Disk as a

>>>volume, in order to access it?  If I do - and, say, assign a new 
>>>letter 
>>>to it like Y, since Q is already assigned to it - will this create a

>>>problem in accessing the disk from the desktop computer?  It doesn't

>>>seem having this portable disk, to move around from one computer to

>>>another for backups should be so difficult, but I'm presently
stumped 
>>>on what to safely do.
>>
>>Not a definative answer, but I originally assigned a drive letter to the

>>USB hard drive I was using. I have subsequently plugged it into a
machine 
>>which alrady has that drive letter in use locally. All that happened was

>>that the USB drive was moved to the next available drive letter.
>>
>>I've also experimented with another USB hard drive, making it a 
>>compatability volume with LVM, but not giving it a drive letter at all.

>>This seems to work ok as well - anytime I plug it in, it gets whatever
is 
>>the next available letter on the local system.
>>
>>Hope that at least gives you some avenues to explore... 
>>
>>paul.
>>
> 
>