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[SOLVED] Sharing a FAT32 USB drive with rw access using samba

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    [SOLVED] Sharing a FAT32 USB drive with rw access using samba

    What I wanted to do:
    Share a 250 Gig WD usb hdd conected to my kubuntu box on a winblows network.

    I was pulling my hair out for a couple days and after researching the forums I finally put all the pieces together and thought I'd share it with everyone else.

    Problem #1:

    First off I figured I'll just right click on the drive located in /media/usbdrive (automatically mounted) and enable file sharing. To my surprise all of the share options were greyed out even in sudo mode. The options were also greyed out in the Sharing setting located >kmenu>System Settings>Network & Connectivity>Sharing

    Solution #1:

    All options are greyed out because nfs components aren't installed by default with ubuntu or kubuntu. Install the packages using the Adept Manager located Kmenu>System>Adept Manager. Load up Adept Manager and search for "nfs". 3 components must be installed. nfs-common, nfs-kernel-server and libnfsidmap1. select all three of them by clicking "Request Install" and hit Apply. Problem number uno solved. All sharing options are now available in sudo mode.

    Problem #2:

    Ok so now I think I'm on a role. I right click on the drive and hit properties>Sharing>Configure File Sharing I used Simple Sharing added the folder using Share with NFS and Share with Samba and click ok. DONE. PROBLEM... I can't see the shared drive on any windows system on the network.

    Solution #2:

    Only the Samba-common files are installed by default with ubuntu/kubuntu and the samba service isn't running. Click Kmenu>System>Adept Manager and search for samba. You'll notice samba-common is listed as "installed" but samba isn't. Install it. I also installed the samba.doc just for the hell of it. the more info the better. once installed the samba service will always be running by default.

    Next step is to configure samba. Click Kmenu>RunCommand>kcontrol (enter). Under Internet & Network>Samba, enter Administrator mode. Now under Server Identification mode, enter the Workgroup of the network that your on and enter you're desired computer's name under NetBIOS name:. Hit Apply and your done

    Problem #3:
    Awsome! so samba's up and running and I can see my kubuntu box on any windows system on the network including the shared usbdrive. uh oh WTF is this?? I try to access the drive and it doesn't let me! I get an error message "you may not have sufficient permission.. bla bla bla". I get the point. I right click on the /media/usbdrive and check the permissions tab. Owner: Can View and Modify Content but Group and Others are set to Forbidden. so I try to change it and click ok.. no use the permissions seem to be locked down.

    Solution #3:

    You have to edit your /etc/fstab. But first thing's first. Create a folder where you want to mount your usb drive. By default it's /media/usbdrive but I decided I wanted to mount the usb drive in my home folder (figured I'd save myself some problems in the future). Pull up a command prompt and type: sudo vi /etc/fstab and press enter.. (or use any text editor that allows you to work in sudo mode)
    go down to the last character of the last line in fstab and in case you don't know how vi works, press "o" and hit enter, vi is now in insert mode after the last line. Type in:
    /dev/sda1 /home/sean/mybook1 vfat user,umask=0,noauto 0 0

    so /dev/sda1 is the usb device (change to suite you're system if needed), /home/sean/mybook1 is the mount location so change it to where you created the folder. Change the "user,umask=0" to suite your permission needs.

    In vi, press escape to get out of insert mode and type ":wq" without the quotations and hit enter. this will save the file and quite vi.

    That's it you're done!! reload your fstab or restart your box and the permissions will all be set and you'll be able to access your drive remotely on a windows box.

    Hopes this helps.

    #2
    Re: [SOLVED] Sharing a FAT32 USB drive with rw access using samba

    THANK YOU

    HOW CAN I SAY MORE?

    THIS SHOULD BE POSTED IN THE TUTORIAL SECTION.
    Everything went real smooth in ubuntu, however, in kubutnu - - this saved me how much time I can not venture to guess.

    THANK YOU ! ! !

    Comment


      #3
      Re: [SOLVED] Sharing a FAT32 USB drive with rw access using samba

      NP
      Glad I could help!

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