[CALUG] trouble mounting usb cdrw

[Bernard Karmilowicz]

Hi Russ:

> Once again, thanks for the help, and I appreciate the valuable input.

You are welcome.



> I have never used cpio/rdist.

cpio is a good tool for archiving and copying files. rdist is a good 
tool for replicating file-systems (in whole or in part) across multiple 
computers:

     http://www.intencorp.com/karmilow/share/howto-cpio.html
     http://linuxgazette.net/issue29/pate.html



> The machine that I want the files off of does not have an ethernet card.

Part of the fun of computers in general, and Unix/Linux in particular, 
is playing with networking. Ethernet PCI cards are almost free ($5 
mail-order, $7 local). For example:

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?pfp=BROWSE&N=200140&Ns=display%5Fprice%7C0&product_code=50098247
http://www.startech.com/Product/ItemSpecs.aspx?productid=ST100SW&c=US



> since I'm fairly new and, I think Linux is very cool, I thought making 
> it work would be a nice challenge for me. It has become a bit 
> exhaustive though.

Linux is a great learning tool. Please ask for help if challenge turns 
to frustration.



> One of my thoughts during this challange was to buy and ethernet card 
> and copy across my own network. Being a newbie, I figured setting up 
> the ethernet card would be a challenge for me, so I focused on the USB 
> CDRW.
> my goal is to copy the home directory off of the older machine. So, 
> any ideas or enlightenment are very much appreciated.

If your new computer will include a CD burner, then I'd save the $30 for 
an internal CD burner for the PII machine, and instead buy a $5 Ethernet 
card. Your $5 investment will allow you to connect your old and new 
computers so you can play with networking and replicate your /home 
volume, and you can still learn CD burning over Linux on your new 
computer to backup /home to CD-R for safe off-site storage.

Regarding enlightenment; The Linux HOWTOs (including CD-Writing and 
NET3-4) are well-written and insightful resources:

     http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/HOWTO-INDEX/howtos.html


Sincerely,

- Bernie

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