Flash memory usb stick and Knoppix 4.02

**dennyk858** · 03-22-2006, 05:43 AM

Help, please.

I tried to recover data from a Dell Optiplex GX270 with a broken NTFS drive. I found the My Documents folder intact. I wanted to copy it to my Flash memory stick. I could not. The drive, a simpletech bonzai 512 card, was recognized. In the infocenter all of the hardware details were described correctly. I kept getting the "not a block device" and "not a valid format" when I tried to mount in the the various ways I found when searching Google. I know the drive is good because I used it in Windows. I finally gave up and formatted an old disk as a FAT32 and connected that to the usb port. The fat32 drive worked fine.

As I searched Google I found that Flash memory devices still seem to be a challenge to Knoppix even at release 4.02. Maybe I just didn't find the right mount instructions?

Can anyone give me a simple set of instructions?

Is another "live" cd better???

**nad** · 03-22-2006, 06:41 AM

Flash devices are _not_ a challenge to knoppix. Knoppix is a tool. Like any tool that you are not familiar with, it helps to read the instructions.

Try searching these forums for an answer to your question.

**dvryknopper** · 03-22-2006, 09:27 PM

so when you say you mounted an old FAT32 drive does that mean that the simpletech bonzai 512 card was NTFS? if so, that was your problem, no linux distro can reliably write to NTFS they can write w/ captive NTFS, but it is a dangerous procedure, nad is quite correct, these forums contain many references to the problems / dangers involved with NTFS, reading it is easy, writing to it is where the problems crop up. That is something I had to learn early on is to use the search tool here, the forums are well established and alot of the time the question has already been answered

**dennyk858** · 03-24-2006, 11:13 PM

A flash memory stick is a VFAT format disk. As I said I was able to read the NTFS folders and copy the information to a disk that I formatted as FAT32 and attach the FAT32 disk to the computer via USB 2.0 port. The fat32 mounted itself and was immediately useable. I did not have to do a special mount command and establish a mount point. Flash memory instruction that I found required mount instructions and none of them worked.

As to the comment that someone made about the answer being in previous posts that may be true but I could not find it.

I cannot see why a flash device cannot be recognized automatically life a FAT32 disk or even a NTFS disk. Flash devices are as common as floppies today.

Pls note I am NOT trying to put Knoppix down. Knoppix rescued my data when numerous expensive recovery programs failed. All I am looking for is an efficient way to Knoppix as a tool kit. BTW even the book "Knoppix Hacks" by Kyle Rankin published by O'Reilly does not address mounting a Flash memory stick.