On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 00:11:43 -0700, Wills wrote:

> I am new to Linux.

Welcome.

> I am using Vector Linux Soho and it is
> good.When I use usb flash drive, it works when I mount the pen
> drive(which I learned and copied from the web after googling).I bought
> a new pen drive and it has a password protection( Kingston make, it
> says cruzer usb drive when I open in XP).This pen drive is never
> detected and no password window comes up even after I mount.While
> mounting linux says /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device.How mount
> the pen drive.

Before plugging in the pen drive, open a terminal and type "dmesg". Plug
in the pen drive and type dg again. Then show us exactly what new
messages come up at the end of the dmesg output.

Wills schreef:
> Hi,
> I am new to Linux. I am using Vector Linux Soho and it is
> good.When I use usb flash drive, it works when I mount the pen
> drive(which I learned and copied from the web after googling).I bought
> a new pen drive and it has a password protection( Kingston make, it
> says cruzer usb drive when I open in XP).This pen drive is never
> detected and no password window comes up even after I mount.While
> mounting linux says /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device.How mount
> the pen drive.
> Thanks in advance.

My guess is that the password protection software on that Kingston
drive is windows-only.
You will not be able to use this drive in Linux.

Eric

Eric Hameleers (eric1@sox.homeip.net) writes:
> Wills schreef:
>> Hi,
>> I am new to Linux. I am using Vector Linux Soho and it is
>> good.When I use usb flash drive, it works when I mount the pen
>> drive(which I learned and copied from the web after googling).I bought
>> a new pen drive and it has a password protection( Kingston make, it
>> says cruzer usb drive when I open in XP).This pen drive is never
>> detected and no password window comes up even after I mount.While
>> mounting linux says /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device.How mount
>> the pen drive.
>> Thanks in advance.
>
> My guess is that the password protection software on that Kingston
> drive is windows-only.
> You will not be able to use this drive in Linux.
>
> Eric

I saw something about talk like that elsewhere, though I don't
remember a password being mentioned, there was something about "hidden"
partition that Linux was unable to move. I wasn't paying attention,
other than to take note there might be some drives that aren't
suitable.

It would seem to be very specific, though. I bought some Kingston
"Data Traveler" 1gig USB flash drives a few weeks ago, and they both
work fine with Slackware. The card on the package even had a compatibility
table that included Linux.

Michael

You probably should just re-format the pen drive to remove the password
thing.

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:31:34 +0200, Eric Hameleers wrote:

> Wills schreef:
>> Hi,
>> I am new to Linux. I am using Vector Linux Soho and it is
>> good.When I use usb flash drive, it works when I mount the pen
>> drive(which I learned and copied from the web after googling).I bought
>> a new pen drive and it has a password protection( Kingston make, it
>> says cruzer usb drive when I open in XP).This pen drive is never
>> detected and no password window comes up even after I mount.While
>> mounting linux says /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device.How mount the
>> pen drive.
>> Thanks in advance.
>
> My guess is that the password protection software on that Kingston drive
> is windows-only.
> You will not be able to use this drive in Linux.
>
> Eric

I rather doubt that it isn't compatible with Linux. The password thingy
is likely for Windows only.

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:31:34 +0200, Eric Hameleers wrote:

> My guess is that the password protection software on that Kingston
> drive is windows-only.

Probably.

> You will not be able to use this drive in Linux.

I'd ask Mr. cfdisk what he thinks about that ;-)

On 2007-09-29, The Nolalu Barn Owl wrote:
> On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 15:31:34 +0200, Eric Hameleers wrote:
>
>> Wills schreef:
>>> Hi,
>>> I am new to Linux. I am using Vector Linux Soho and it is
>>> good.When I use usb flash drive, it works when I mount the pen
>>> drive(which I learned and copied from the web after googling).I bought
>>> a new pen drive and it has a password protection( Kingston make, it
>>> says cruzer usb drive when I open in XP).This pen drive is never
>>> detected and no password window comes up even after I mount.While
>>> mounting linux says /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device.How mount the
>>> pen drive.
>>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> My guess is that the password protection software on that Kingston drive
>> is windows-only.
>> You will not be able to use this drive in Linux.
>>
>> Eric
>
> I rather doubt that it isn't compatible with Linux. The password thingy
> is likely for Windows only.

what does dmesg show when you plug it in though? I have seen drives showing
up only as /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1, and still work fine.

> what does dmesg show when you plug it in though? I have seen drives showing
> up only as /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1, and still work fine.

The local dealer says that the password thingy will work only in
Windows.

Thanks.

Wills (wills.kingspanama@gmail.com) writes:
>> what does dmesg show when you plug it in though? I have seen drives showing
>> up only as /dev/sda, not /dev/sda1, and still work fine.
>
> The local dealer says that the password thingy will work only in
> Windows.
>
They were definitely talking about this sort of thing a couple of
months ago in comp.sys.mac.hardware. So there is definitely something
that can be there in some of the drives.

One poster was worried that the thing, whatever it is (it's not clear
if it's software or a partition or what), could not be deleted on
the Macintosh. Of course, it's also not clear whether they had direct
experience or had heard from some guy who said something.

There is apparently software to get rid of it, but that was said
to run only on Windows software.

It seems to be a security thing, and may only be on specific Sandisk
drives.

That thread was the first I'd heard about it, and it's always hard
to judge whether people are merely listening to what someone else said,
or have made an attempt to get rid of the thing without success.

Michael