WHY? is it so hard to get Linux to work?

[#1]

cd line resulted in
usb_modeswitch.d # (in blue)
and the next line sed -i -e resulted in the same....
BINGO again......
just plugged in the 3G wireless dongle, and it has magically appeared in the top right of the screen as " 3 Internet 1  established"    and it also appears on the list at the bottom of available networks...

[#2]

That's good. 

[#3]

Yup. !... the big test now is what happens tomorrow morning when I boot up ...!...
I hope everything wireless connection wise is now sorted... we shall see...
Thank you very much for all your help ejs...  (not forgetting the other guys as well......    )  much appreciated. 
and I do feel a much happier person now, to continue to see if I can get Linux to work for me ! ! ... we shall sort out the 2gb memory stick tomorrow,..... meanwhile....
as Zebedee said......  "time for bed"! ! ! ...
Thanks again,... and good night..
cheers
Gerry

[#4]

Quote from: ejs

That appears to have worked!

<Applause>
[me=Waldo]buys ejs a virtual beer  ;D[/me]

[#5]

Indeedy so, Waldo... virtual beers are good ! 
Good morning .... and I mean that most sincerely folks ! ! ! ... just booted up the Linux Laptop, and it connected immediately to my wireless router..... disconnected that, then plugged in my 3G mobile wireless dongle.... and it connected with that too... so all is well on the wireless connection front...
Many thanks to all concerned.
moving on.....
now need to sort out my 2Gb memory stick. and why I get the message .....
Unable to Mount 2.0 GB Filesystem
Error mounting: mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/sdb1
misssing codepage or helper program, or other error.
In some cases useful info is found in syslog - try dmesg tail or so.....
                                                                                          [ OK  ]
I copied this message to sandisk technical services and this is the reply......
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
Dear Gerry,
Thanks for emailing SanDisk Technical Support. It is our goal to make sure you have all the resources you need to get the most from your product.
According to your error description, it is a issue caused by the operating system that is not compatible with the filesystem of the flashdrive (most likely, FAT). I would recommend you to find further support for the operating system.
Please refer to your My SanDisk at http://kb.sandisk.com anytime to see all of your incident history and product registration information. You can log in using your email address as your login and the password that you created.
Also, you can visit http://kb.sandisk.com, our online keyword searchable Knowledgebase, to easily find answers to your Technical Support and Customer Service questions for all of SanDisk's products. Simply enter your search terms and our Knowledgebase will search an extensive database of commonly asked questions as well as our online forums at http://www.sandisk.com/sandisk-support/forums to provide you with the most complete answers possible.
Best regards,
Sorin Gabriel P.
SanDisk Technical Support
******************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************
my BOLD in the above answer....

[#6]

here is a copy of the dmesg in Terminal
******************************************************************************************************************************************************[  396.516089] usb 1-3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 5
[  396.658647] scsi6 : usb-storage 1-3:1.0
[  397.660779] scsi 6:0:0:0: Direct-Access    SanDisk  U3 Cruzer Micro  7.01 PQ: 0 ANSI: 0 CCS
[  397.668592] sd 6:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
[  397.669291] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] 3907583 512-byte logical blocks: (2.00 GB/1.86 GiB)
[  397.670512] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Write Protect is off
[  397.670521] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Mode Sense: 45 00 00 08
[  397.670525] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  397.673114] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  397.673996]  sdb: sdb1
[  397.675861] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Assuming drive cache: write through
[  397.675869] sd 6:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk
[  398.230907] FAT: count of clusters too big (122075)
[  398.230915] VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sdb1.

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

[#7]

Quote from: shutter

[  398.230907] FAT: count of clusters too big (122075) [  398.230915] VFS: Can't find a valid FAT filesystem on dev sdb1.

Thats the problem looks like the fs is corrupt. Plug it into a M$ Os and run a checkdisk on it if you can.

[#8]

I have had this problem before with the U3 software and Linux not recognising it, U3 would be installed and autostarts on the drive under windows.
If you go to  u3.sandisk.com there is a windows download that removes the U3 software and then should be able to re-format the flash drive and  it should then be treated as a standard mountable drive.

HTH.

[#9]

can you give me the full URL as the bit you quote does not give any result....
also.... do you mean that if I erase the drive, and then format it, it will be seen as a removable hdd? by windows AND Linux? and can just drag n drop or copy files to and from ?

[#10]

Linux is fine with the U3 partition, it just sees it as a readonly CDROM drive. I've got at least 3 Sandisk Cruzers and they work fine. It is possible to remove the U3 drive ( well reduce its size to 0 ) but not just by repartitioning.
@shutter, as HB says, can you try a checkdisc in a windows system? cos it looks like the device is corrupt.

[#11]

@shutter look <a href ="http://www.amershamphotosoc.com/message/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=299">here</a> for more details on removing U3.

[#12]

http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/2550/kw/linux%20u3

It looks as though the removal package does some reformatting as part of the uninstall and it should then be visible to both OS's.

[#13]

in the start box on windows, I typed chkdisk /e but nothing happened....  is that the correct syntax ?

[#14]

Ok... Numpty at work this end.....

the instructions on the linky by grimme said I had to click on the U3 icon.... which I did not have.... so I found the launchpad install.exe file and double clicked on it.... after it had installed itself on the usb stick, I took it straight to the Linux MINT 11 laptop, and plugged it on..... YUP !... it is recognised and I can now use it on both...
so... thanks guys..... "simulated" ice cold beer to each ! !.. 
cheers

[#15]

Odd that shutter, I've had a few Cruzers and never had to do anything to them before putting them in a Linux box. Looks like yours didn't have the U3 partition setup properly and so Linux was seeing it as invalid. The last one I had I even removed the U3 stuff on Linux using the u3-tool package.
Edit: just found this

Quote

Known Issues Natty Narwhal 11.04 is having issues with USB drives from SanDisk that have U3 Launchpad. You can either use another brand or use either u3-tool from Ubuntu Repositories or SanDisk's U3 Launchpad Removal Tool to remove U3.

on another article about USB sticks on the help.ubuntu.com. Might explain why yours didn't work (since Mint 11 is based on Ubuntu 11.04) and mine did, since I'm using Ubuntu 10.04