setup of floppy drive have big problems

[Torkil Olesen]

There MUST be a serious bug in the setup for floppy drives in ubuntu.

I don't have much experience with linux or unix, but I have a lot of experience with DOS and floppy drives from PET in 1979, Apple II, AMIGA, and different PC's with DOS and Windows versions.

During 30 years I have NEVER got problems with floppy drives as in linux. The problems were there 10 years ago, when I tried Open Linux, and they exists in ubuntu 9.04 and 9.10.

I can see from questions, that many people have had problems, and I have tried some of the proposals given in the answers. They did not work on my system, but I have found a solution, which works for me in ubuntu in an upgraded version 9.10: The command in terminal:

mount /media/floppy0

works, and I get an icon Floppy0 on the desktop.

Although it works, the disk utility (Palimpsets) tells unknown size and no media in floppy disk drive at /dev/fd0 : It seems to check the drive; the light shows up, but nothing happens ??

In an old machine I have an Imation 120 MB drive, and this one is recognised at once by ubuntu 9.04 and works, but not so good as in Windows.

At a newer PC with upgraded ubuntu 9.10 I can use a usb disk drive - also without problems, but at both machines the build-in floppy drives gives problems. I have dual boot, and all drives works well in Windows.

I don't ask for workarounds. In all the systems I have known, the floppy disk drive works at the ever first setup!

So the conclusion must be, that there is a serious bug in ubuntu, and I just do not understand, why it has not been solved long ago.

[Torkil Olesen (torkilo-deactivatedaccount)]

I have reached a further step in analysing the bug:

I have installed the program StartUp-Manager in ubuntu 9.10, and with this program I have made a bootable Rescue Grub floppy disk.

It worked in my build-in floppy drive (although I had not mounted the drive), and the floppy disk can boot my computer in the same build-in floppy drive.

This tells me, that it is very unlikely, that there is any problems in the drive or in the driver for floppy drives.

The solutions given in answers to problems with floppy drives is also commands, and if it were problems in drive or driver, commands would not help. My drive works with the mount command.

The problem seems to be the in the interface and especially in the GUI interface.

In Filehandling (translated from Danish) I have a possibility with the Danish name: diskettedrev (floppy disk drive). If I click with left mouse button (one or two times) nothing happens. If I use the right button, I get the possibilities of: OPEN - nothing happens; or FIND MEDIA - the light of the drive turns on, and there is heard a bit noise - but nothing more.

  The computer knows, that there is a drive, but cannot handle it from the GUI interface. It is the same, which I already have mentioned happens in disk utility (Palimpsets). It knows, that the drive exists, and where it is, but cannot handle it.

I can open my disk with a click on the icon: Floppy0 on desktop, when I have mounted the drive in /media/floppy0 .

Why can't the GUI interface open the floppy disk with a click?
I my experience, (I think), it has been able to do it a few times, but not now! This unstableness might give a hint of, where to find the bug.

[Torkil Olesen (torkilo-deactivatedaccount)]

From my analysing of the problems in setup of floppy drives follows an intuitive understanding of what happens:

I think, that it works well in a totally new installed version, and from programmers viewpoint everything is OK.
Then I comes with habits from Windows. I open the floppy disk and use it, but later I remove the disk without unmounting it and insert another one. From the viewpoint of Linux Operating System this is a fatal error, and when I have done it a couple of times, my use of the floppy drive is automatically blocked!

From my viewpoint this is a bug. I think, I should have a warning from the GUI interface, when I remove a floppy disk without unmounting, and I think, there should be an alternative possibility in the GUI for removing the blocking of the floppy drive.

I do not think, I can do more relating this problem. I must ask, if one with sufficient knowledge of system and source code would please check my theory, and if it is correct, then make changes in the GUI interface.
If ubuntu should become a desktop solution for common users, I think it is important to solve problems of this kind.

--
A much bigger question is the necessity of mounting and unmounting in ubuntu. I think the implementing goes back to the use of big tape wheels mounted vertically. It was of course a fatal error to start the wheel without having mounted it safely, but this situation does not exist any more!

[Sergio Zanchetta (primes2h)]

Could you please open a terminal and give this command?
sudo apport-collect -p linux 485684

Please do it just after boot, without mounting floppy via "mount etc."

This retrieve useful information that help understanding the problem.
Thank you.

[Torkil Olesen (torkilo-deactivatedaccount)]

Architecture: i386
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC0: to 1508 F.... pulseaudio
CRDA: Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory
Card0.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:0 'CMI8738'/'C-Media CMI8738 (model 55) at 0xcc00, irq 20'
   Mixer name : 'CMedia PCI'
   Components : ''
   Controls : 41
   Simple ctrls : 22
Card1.Amixer.info:
 Card hw:1 'UART'/'MPU-401 UART at 0x330, irq 10'
   Mixer name : ''
   Components : ''
   Controls : 0
   Simple ctrls : 0
Card1.Amixer.values:

CurrentDmesg:
 [ 36.290597] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: AGP 2.0 bridge
 [ 36.290623] agpgart-intel 0000:00:00.0: putting AGP V2 device into 4x mode
 [ 36.290652] nvidia 0000:01:00.0: putting AGP V2 device into 4x mode
 [ 37.186466] eth0: no IPv6 routers present
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 9.10
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=d68c6b3c-4040-4a70-9a2e-c7445a7d1cfc
IwConfig:
 lo no wireless extensions.

 eth0 no wireless extensions.
Lsusb:
 Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
 Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Package: linux (not installed)
ProcCmdLine: root=UUID=ecc3425b-7ee3-4685-be29-3e8bef062f78 ro quiet splash
ProcEnviron:
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 LANG=da_DK.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.31-14.48-generic
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-backports-modules-2.6.31-14-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.24
RfKill:

Uname: Linux 2.6.31-14-generic i686
UserGroups: adm admin audio cdrom dialout fuse lpadmin plugdev root sambashare video
WpaSupplicantLog:

XsessionErrors:
 (gnome-settings-daemon:1565): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (gnome-settings-daemon:1565): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_propagate_error: assertion `src != NULL' failed
 (polkit-gnome-authentication-agent-1:1594): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_once_init_leave: assertion `initialization_value != 0' failed
 (nautilus:1585): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
 (nautilus:1675): Eel-CRITICAL **: eel_preferences_get_boolean: assertion `preferences_is_initialized ()' failed
dmi.bios.date: 02/21/2002
dmi.bios.vendor: Award Software International, Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 6.00 PG
dmi.board.name: MS-6513
dmi.board.vendor: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAwardSoftwareInternational,Inc.:bvr6.00PG:bd02/21/2002:svnMEDIONPC:pn:pvr:rvnMICRO-STARINTERNATIONALCO.,LTD:rnMS-6513:rvr:cvn:ct3:cvr:
dmi.sys.vendor: MEDIONPC

[Torkil Olesen (torkilo-deactivatedaccount)]

Before I gave the command, I had opened Thunderbird (and closed again)
to read the message and have the exact command.
I hope, this is OK.

Torkil

Sergio Zanchetta skrev:
> Could you please open a terminal and give this command?
> sudo apport-collect -p linux 485684
>
> Please do it just after boot, without mounting floppy via "mount etc."
>
> This retrieve useful information that help understanding the problem.
> Thank you.
>
>