[SOLVED] Prevent a specific USB key from mounting ?

Hi,
I have a USB key containing my keyfile to decrypt my hard disk. I'd like to prevent it from being mount by any user except root (to prevent a malicious script running at startup and dumping it or so).
My problem is that I can specify it in the fstab directly because it is a removable device and the kernel may drop to emergency mode if I put it there. Or maybe there's some option which I don't know ?
Thanks
Last edited by doupod (2014-02-14 23:29:33)

Thanks !

Similar Messages

[SOLVED] install i686 on USB key from x86_64 : how ?

Hi.
As written in the title, I'm trying to install an Arch system on an usb stick, with i686 architecture, from the Arch x86_64 system on my computer.
I would like to do it without copying the iso to an extra usb key.
From the wiki : "If you are already running Arch, simply install arch-install-scripts and proceed with the installation guide just like you would from the iso, [...]"
1) I'm not sure about what it means : can I actually do the install using arch-install-script, without using the iso or the bootstrap image ? Is that correct ?? (english is not my native language).
2) Anyway, it didn't work. So I downloaded the bootstrap(s) image(s).
Tried the i686 one, then the x86_64 one.
For each, I changed the architecture in pacman.conf from "architecture = auto" to "architecture = i686".
[~/tmp] tar xzf ~/downloads/archlinux-bootstrap-2015.03.01-x86_64.tar.gz
[~/tmp] vi root.x86_64/etc/pacman.conf
[~/tmp] vi root.x86_64/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[~/tmp] sudo root.x86_64/bin/arch-chroot root.x86_64/
sh-4.3#
sh-4.3# pacman-key --init
sh-4.3# pacman-key --populate archlinux
sh-4.3# lsblk
sh-4.3# mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
sh-4.3# pacstrap -c /mnt base base-devel
(I tried with and without the -c option)
will give :
==> Creating install root at /mnt
==> Installing packages to /mnt
:: Synchronizing package databases...
core is up to date
extra is up to date
community is up to date
:: There are 50 members in group base:
:: There are 25 members in group base-devel:
warning: skipping target: file
warning: skipping target: findutils
warning: skipping target: gawk
warning: skipping target: gettext
warning: skipping target: grep
warning: skipping target: gzip
warning: skipping target: pacman
warning: skipping target: sed
warning: skipping target: texinfo
warning: skipping target: util-linux
warning: skipping target: which
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package bzip2-1.0.6-5-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
[same message with coreutils-8.23-1-x86_64 cryptsetup-1.6.6-1-x86_64
and more than 50 other packages, up to sudo-1.8.12-1-x86_64]
Same with the i686 bootstrap image :
[~/tmp] tar xzf ~/downloads/archlinux-bootstrap-2015.03.01-i686.tar.gz
[~/tmp] sudo cp /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist root.i686/etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist
[~/tmp]♭ sudo root.i686/bin/arch-chroot root.i686/
sh-4.3# pacman-key --init
sh-4.3# pacman-key --populate archlinux
sh-4.3# lsblk
sh-4.3# mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
sh-4.3# pacstrap /mnt base base-devel
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
Thanks.
Last edited by Tétrapyle (2015-03-23 21:27:30)

Thanks for your reply. I just updated the whole system.
Then
[~]$ sudo mount /dev/sdc2 /mnt
[~]$ sudo vi /etc/pacman.conf
My system is x86_64. I'm trying to install from that an i686 system.
If I run pacstrap now, it'll run ok but obviously it'll install an x86_64 system.
So, in pacman.conf, I changed Architecture from auto to i686 and I commented out the Multilib lines.
It seems it's not enough.
[~]$ sudo pacstrap -c /mnt
error: failed to prepare transaction (package architecture is not valid)
:: package bash-4.3.033-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package bzip2-1.0.6-5-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package coreutils-8.23-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package cryptsetup-1.6.6-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package device-mapper-2.02.116-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package dhcpcd-6.7.1-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package pkg-config-0.28-2-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
:: package sudo-1.8.12-1-x86_64 does not have a valid architecture
==> ERROR: Failed to install packages to new root
Where do these x86_64 come from ? Could it be they stand for the $arch in the Server line from /etc/pacman.d/mirrorlist ?

Purhcased lion 10.7.1 on usb key from apple - how do I upgrade to 10.7.2? not showing in AppStore as an upgrade

Purhcased lion 10.7.1 on usb key from apple - how do I upgrade to 10.7.2? The upgrade is not showing up in the AppStore nor the software update menu in the finder. Don't want to purchase once again.
Thank you,

Additionally, OS updates are not updated via the app store; they are updated via Software Update - so, have you checked that? That said, personally I prefer and use keg55's suggestion: download the combo and install it manually.

How prevent OS X backup volume from mounting at boot

I have 10.6.2 in a bootable GUID partition on my main drive (Bay 1) and another 10.6.2 in a bootable GUID partition on another drive (Bay 3).
How do I prevent the second bootable partition from mounting when the startup disk is my main drive?
How do I prevent the first bootable partition from mounting when the startup disk is the partition in Bay 3?
There disk utilities that cannot fix errors or volume fragmentation (not file fragmentation) on the boot drive.
Thank you,
Don

see this mac os x hint on how to prevent a partition from mounting at startup
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20060930150059172
you'll need to edit the file /etc/fstab separately on each boot drive.

[SOLVED] Preventing nonexistent filesystem in fstab from blocking boot

Some years ago I moved out of my parents house, but that didn't exonerate me from being their netadmin. I have an arch box there which provides local fileserver, DHCP, and NAT. It's set up with a RAID5+LVM samba server to give my parents an easy place to back up their local computers and dump photographs.
At one point while I was clear on the other side of the world from them, one of the drives in the RAID5 failed. No problem - the data's safe. But the bigger issue was that it prevented the system from booting. There are entries in fstab to mount filesystems, and when one doesn't exist the whole thing just hangs. Usually when problems occur I just ssh in from wherever I am and fix whatever is wrong. In this case, I had to walk my father through using single user mode and editing fstab with vim over the phone. It sucked.
Is there an elegant way to ensure that when a non-critical filesystem listed in fstab disappears that it does not prevent the system from booting? So far my kludge solution has been to remove the entry from fstab and just mount it manually from rc.local. But that seems like a hack. Is there a better solution?
Thanks,
Sasha
Last edited by kleptophobiac (2011-01-02 04:26:41)

Try using the option 'nofail'. For example, in fstab:
UUID=669b1bcd-5ae9-4ae9-868c-be327b044e23 /mnt/backup jfs defaults,nofail,noatime,nodiratime,noexec,nosuid 0 2

[Solved] Wait for external usb disk before mounting partition

Hello,
I have a fresh setup where 3 btrfs subvolumes are supposed to be mounted on /var /home and /opt. Those subvolumes are on an external usb drive (root fs is on a sd card).
During boot, systemd tries to mount /var first but encounter "var not empty, mounting anyway" (probably due to several boot attempts) and then "special device uUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 does not exist" where 12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 is the correct id of the drive.
From journactl extract it seems that usb drive is not ready yet when /var is being mounted.
Is there a way to make systemd wait for "the disk is ready" before trying to mount /var ?
Information:
- mounting /var in rescue mode works perfectly (mount -o subvol=var /dev/sda /var)
- device is a raspberry but I think it has no link to the issue (except maybe being slow to send power to usb)
- the usb drive is behind a 4 port usb hub (externally powered)
- the usb drive indeed take some time to be powered up
- /home and /opt are mounted in rescue mode automatically a few seconds later
journatctl wrote:Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: Starting Local File Systems (Pre).
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: Reached target Local File Systems (Pre).
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: Mounting /var...
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: var.mount: Directory /var to mount over is not empty, mounting anyway.
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd-udevd[138]: starting version 218
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte mount[139]: mount: special device uUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 does not exist
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte kernel: scsi 0:0:0:0: Direct-Access Inateck 0001 PQ: 0 ANSI: 6
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] 1953525168 512-byte logical blocks: (1.00 TB/931 GiB)
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: var.mount mount process exited, code=exited status=32
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 43 00 00 00
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Write cache: disabled, read cache: enabled, doesn't support DPO or FUA
Jan 01 01:00:07 capodimonte systemd[1]: Failed to mount /var.
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: sda: unknown partition table
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: sd 0:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI disk
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: random: nonblocking pool is initialized
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: BTRFS: device label external_hdd devid 1 transid 24 /dev/sda
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Found device NS1066 external_hdd.
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Mounting /home...
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Mounting /opt...
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: BTRFS info (device sda): enabling auto defrag
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: BTRFS info (device sda): disk space caching is enabled
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte kernel: BTRFS: has skinny extents
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Mounted /home.
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Mounted /opt.
Jan 01 01:00:09 capodimonte systemd[1]: Startup finished in 5.088s (kernel) + 4.607s (userspace) = 9.696s.
My fstab:
# /dev/mmcblk0p3
UUID=4660fa0a-bcf6-4d83-b956-d7bf9df222b9 / ext4 rw,relatime,data=ordered 0 1
# /dev/sda LABEL=external_hdd
UUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 /home btrfs rw,relatime,space_cache,noatime,compress=lzo,autodefrag,subvol=home 0 0
# /dev/sda LABEL=external_hdd
uUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 /var btrfs rw,relatime,space_cache,noatime,compress=lzo,autodefrag,x-systemd.device-timeout=30s,subvol=var 0 0
# /dev/sda LABEL=external_hdd
UUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 /opt btrfs rw,relatime,space_cache,noatime,compress=lzo,autodefrag,subvol=opt 0 0
# /dev/mmcblk0p1
UUID=95DB-C13B /boot vfat rw,relatime,fmask=0022,dmask=0022,codepage=437,iocharset=ascii,shortname=mixed,errors=remount-ro 0 2
Last edited by kamaradclimber (2015-03-12 19:25:40)

Thanks for your reply.
I don't see any btrfs subvolume information in /dev.
Here is the var.mount config:
systemctl show var.mount wrote:Where=/var
What=/dev/sda
Options=rw,relatime,compress=lzo,space_cache,autodefrag
Type=btrfs
TimeoutUSec=1min 30s
ControlPID=0
DirectoryMode=0755
SloppyOptions=no
Result=exit-code
ExecMount={ path=/bin/mount ; argv[]=/bin/mount -n uUID=12f15a3e-cf5c-4bc2-9475-6b4686a30f90 /var -t btrfs -o rw,relatime,space_cache,noatime,compress=lzo,autodefrag,subvol=var ; ignore_errors=no ; start_time=[Thu 1970-01-01 01:00:07 CET] ; stop_time=[Thu 1970-01-01 01:00:07 CET] ; pid=141 ; code=exited ; status=32 }
Slice=system.slice
ControlGroup=/system.slice/var.mount
Delegate=no
CPUAccounting=no
CPUShares=18446744073709551615
StartupCPUShares=18446744073709551615
CPUQuotaPerSecUSec=infinity
BlockIOAccounting=no
BlockIOWeight=18446744073709551615
StartupBlockIOWeight=18446744073709551615
MemoryAccounting=no
MemoryLimit=18446744073709551615
DevicePolicy=auto
UMask=0022
LimitCPU=18446744073709551615
LimitFSIZE=18446744073709551615
LimitDATA=18446744073709551615
LimitSTACK=18446744073709551615
LimitCORE=18446744073709551615
LimitRSS=18446744073709551615
LimitNOFILE=4096
LimitAS=18446744073709551615
LimitNPROC=7329
LimitMEMLOCK=65536
LimitLOCKS=18446744073709551615
LimitSIGPENDING=7329
LimitMSGQUEUE=819200
LimitNICE=0
LimitRTPRIO=0
LimitRTTIME=18446744073709551615
OOMScoreAdjust=0
Nice=0
IOScheduling=0
CPUSchedulingPolicy=0
CPUSchedulingPriority=0
TimerSlackNSec=50000
CPUSchedulingResetOnFork=no
NonBlocking=no
StandardInput=null
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=inherit
TTYReset=no
TTYVHangup=no
TTYVTDisallocate=no
SyslogPriority=30
SyslogLevelPrefix=yes
SecureBits=0
CapabilityBoundingSet=18446744073709551615
MountFlags=0
PrivateTmp=no
PrivateNetwork=no
PrivateDevices=no
ProtectHome=no
ProtectSystem=no
SameProcessGroup=yes
IgnoreSIGPIPE=yes
NoNewPrivileges=no
SystemCallErrorNumber=0
RuntimeDirectoryMode=0755
KillMode=control-group
KillSignal=15
SendSIGKILL=yes
SendSIGHUP=no
Id=var.mount
Names=var.mount
Requires=-.mount
Wants=system.slice
RequiredBy=systemd-journal-flush.service man-db.service shadow.timer man-db.timer local-fs.target systemd-random-seed.service logrotate.timer systemd-update-utmp.service
Conflicts=umount.target
Before=systemd-journal-flush.service man-db.service shadow.timer man-db.timer local-fs.target systemd-random-seed.service logrotate.timer systemd-update-utmp.service umount.target
After=local-fs-pre.target -.mount systemd-journald.socket system.slice
RequiresMountsFor=/
Documentation=man:fstab(5) man:systemd-fstab-generator(8)
Description=/var
LoadState=loaded
ActiveState=active
SubState=mounted
FragmentPath=/run/systemd/generator/var.mount
SourcePath=/etc/fstab
UnitFilePreset=disabled
InactiveExitTimestamp=Thu 1970-01-01 01:01:11 CET
InactiveExitTimestampMonotonic=71204114
ActiveEnterTimestamp=Thu 1970-01-01 01:01:11 CET
ActiveEnterTimestampMonotonic=71204114
ActiveExitTimestampMonotonic=0
InactiveEnterTimestamp=Thu 1970-01-01 01:00:07 CET
InactiveEnterTimestampMonotonic=7409499
CanStart=yes
CanStop=yes
CanReload=yes
CanIsolate=no
StopWhenUnneeded=no
RefuseManualStart=no
RefuseManualStop=no
AllowIsolate=no
DefaultDependencies=yes
OnFailureJobMode=replace
IgnoreOnIsolate=yes
IgnoreOnSnapshot=no
NeedDaemonReload=no
JobTimeoutUSec=0
JobTimeoutAction=none
ConditionResult=yes
AssertResult=yes
ConditionTimestamp=Thu 1970-01-01 01:00:07 CET
ConditionTimestampMonotonic=7365732
AssertTimestamp=Thu 1970-01-01 01:00:07 CET
AssertTimestampMonotonic=7365738
Transient=no

MacBook (not unibody) will not boot from Boot Camp USB Key

Hello
I have a MacBook Pro 2007 (17", 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM and SSD) with a defect SuperDrive, and I want to install Windows using an USB key instead. But the computer will not boot from the USB Key, even though the USB key works on my MacBook Retina. Also I was able to install Mountain Lion using USB Key, on the MBP 2007.
Here is a bit more details:
I've installed Mountaion Lion from the same USB Key (so boot from USB works).
I've installed a Windows 7 Boot Camp using the SuperDrive before (when it was not defected)
I've partitioned the harddisk using the Boot Camp assistant (this requires a Windows DVD in the SuperDriver... however it worked just enught to be able to have OS X recognize the Windows DVD, and create the Boot Camp partition). So far so good. Installing from the SuperDriver howerver does not work.
I've created an Windows USB Key using my MacBook retina. Because the Retina does not have a DVD, the Boot Camp assistant offers the creation of a bootable Windows USB Key from an Windows ISO file. I've used this USB key to install Windows on my MacBook retina.
When I try to boot my MacBook 2007 with this Boot Camp USB Key, it shows an "EFI Boot" option (with a orange USB logo) in the MacBook boot menu. When I select this nothing happpens. The mouse freezes, and the computer never boots.
Questions:
Shouldn't I be able to boot from an EFI USB Key on this MacBook 2007, when I'm able to install Mountain Lion using a USB Key?
When I installed BootCamp using the SuperDrive, I had to do som "magic" to make it bootable. Like this: http://www.logicalvue.com/2009/10/installing-window-7-x64-on-a-macbook-pro-using -bootcamp. I tried doing the "oscdimg -n -m -bc:\efi-dvd\boot\etfsboot.com c:\efi-dvd c:\efi-iso\win7x64.iso" trick and create a EFI bootable ISO and created the from this USB key using http://unetbootin.sourceforge.net/. Same result... the USB key shows up in the boot menu, but nothing happens when I select it (except the mouse freezes).
Any suggestions? Right now it feels like I have a bricked computer, because my kids needs Windows to run their games.
: Thomas

Thanks... I just tried rEFIt... and it almost worked.
After installing rEFIt I got several different boot options:
Bootmgr.EFI - This failed quick with a "unsupported" message
Bootx64.EFI - This actually started the Windows installation with "Loading files.............". But after a few minutes when all files was loaded, the screen went black. I tried ataching an external screen, but the screen was still black.
Boot from "Bootcamp" drive... as this drive is empty nothing happend.
Boot from "USB Key"... I'm not sure how this is different from the first 2 options... but nothing happend. I belive this is what happens if I try selecting the USB key from the build in boot manager.
Ofcause, whan I saw the "Loading files......" I thought I solved the problem, but as you can tell, I'm still stucked.
Actually... I tried with both Windows 7 64 bit, Windows 8 64 bit and Windows 8 32 bit. Only Windows 8 64 bit, got me to the "Loading files.....". This was created with the Retina Boot Camp assistant.
I also tried my own home made Windows 7 and Windows 8 ISO (created with this link: http://www.logicalvue.com/2009/10/installing-window-7-x64-on-a-macbook-pro-using -bootcamp).
I guess my problem is another now. I'll continue my hunt... but I don't have more time right now. So I've installed Parallels and Windows 8 for my kids. Not optimal, but at least the can play their games.

Prevent internal drive from mounting at startup

How do I easily prevent an internal hard drive from mounting at startup?
The machine has two internal drives and I want the upper drive to not mount unless needed. Both are bootable but lower is chosen as the startup drive.
Thanks for any help.
G5 dual 2.5 ghz Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Take it out and put it in a removable FW + SATA case.
There is little need or reason to have it not mount. If it is backup or emergency drive, external would be preferable... and put internal drive bay to some other use.

HOW TO UNLOCK A USB KEY (Locked by on a PC)

The other day whilst in the local shopping mall, I received a USB key from the stand advertising the lastest XBOX stuff. I have this along with another 2 which I received in the course of work.
Unfortunately, they are all locked. They do show up in Disk Utility, but I cannot partition, delete, restore etc.
It seems a shame to throw them away, so was wondering if anyone could tell me how to unlock - and make them functional (for me) again.
Thanks

Oracle documentation on locking, transaction management and consistent read are excellent. Previous post already contains link to that.
Some high level points (in the context o your questions).
1. Oracle does not lock table (unless specifically requested via LOCK TABLE ...). Oracle locking is at row-level.
2. In Oracle readers never block writers and writers never block readers.
3. Reading "dirty data" is not required (nor possible) in Oracle.
Why do you want to read "dirty data"? What problem are you trying to address?
vr,
Sudhakar B.

Cannot install Logic 8 Studio due to lost v7 USB key

I am wondering if someone can point me to the correct Apple support email address to address my problem. I have scoured these boards and can only seem to find email support for iTunes and iPod (sigh).
I have been a Logic user since the early Emagic days and have upgraded to every major version.
I have all my receipts dating back to Logic 5 from Emagic.
I bought the Apple Logic 7.2 crossgrade in February 2006, and the Logic Studio 8 upgrade in September 2007. At the time, my house was being renovated, so things were in boxes and life was in turmoil.
When I got Logic Studio 8, I installed it successfully on my MacBook Pro using the v8 serial number and the USB key.
Now that my renovations are finished and I've moved back into my house, I need to install v8 Studio onto my G5 tower which has been optimized for my music production. When I went to install it, it asked me for either my earlier serial number (none of my old Emagic numbers worked from earlier Emagic receipt emails) or it asked me to insert my USB key from v7 which appears to have been lost in my move (I have turned the house upside down looking for it).
So I am currently stuck. I cannot install v8 Studio and I would like to contact Apple via email with all my receipts and order information to see if there is anything they can do to help me out. I registered both v7.2 and v8 online during the installation process, but unfortunately (unlike Adobe or Native Instruments) there doesn't seem to be anywhere on the Apple site where I can log in to look up serial numbers for previous registrations.
This is really frustrating. I've spent hundreds (maybe thousands) supporting Logic over the years and I'd be really ****** off if I have to go and buy the full version of Logic 8 again.
So, if any can advise me the best path to follow in contacting Apple about this for assistance, I'd certainly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.

I just got off the phone with Apple support and they were extremely helpful. I explained my situation, and luckily I was armed with every Apple invoice for Logic that I had since it took the product over, and all my earlier emails (circa 2002) with Emagic. I was also 'showing up' in Apple's system so they were able to verify my purchases from my Apple Web Order numbers.
The support agent asked me for my old Emagic XS key number, which I luckily had in a very old email. He then offered me two options: a) I could buy a new Logic 7 dongle for $90, or 2) if I wasn't going to be using Logic 7 anymore, he could generate a new full retail serial number for Logic Studio 1.0 (v8) for me. The latter was my choice, and I do not need to have my old XS key, or any old serial numbers to now install Logic Studio.
I did wait 30 minutes for my call to be answered and about another 10 minutes while the agent went off to check some stuff and generate the new serial number - a small price to pay instead of having to go and buy the whole thing over again!

[SOLVED] Attempting to boot from USB key in UEFI mode

I am attempting to boot from a USB Key in UEFI mode to dual boot windows 8 and arch linux. I'm unsuccessful in getting the USB key to boot in UEFI mode.
I am following the guide on page: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Un … _Interface due to the fact that I am receiving error " No loader found. Configuration files in /loader/entries/*.conf are needed."
I am attempting to use the archiso media and have created refind.conf according to https://bugs.archlinux.org/task/31894#comment102233 in (USB)/EFI/boot/refind.conf
However, I'm stuck on the initial step from the wiki: Install refind-efi pkg. In the usb's filesystem, overwrite the file EFI/boot/bootx64.efi with /usr/lib/refind/refind_x64.efi.
My question is: How do I install the refind-efi package onto the USB key using an arch linux host machine and the USB plugged into the machine.
Last edited by tonysoprano (2013-02-13 04:09:56)

swordfish wrote:1. Might be possible, that the uefi integration is pretty bad. Have you already looked for an update of the uefi bios?
This is my thought, too. The "memory map has changed" message sounds like the firmware is messing with the way memory is laid out in the middle of the boot process. A firmware update, if available, is likely to be the best way to deal with this problem. If not, trying Fedora's patched GRUB Legacy and GRUB 2 are also worth doing; it's conceivable that one of them includes a workaround for the problem.
2. In your first posting you mention Windows 8 on this machine. Is W8 starting in uefi mode?
This is important, but if the disk uses GPT partitioning, then Windows is starting in EFI mode.
3. If W8 is starting in uefi mode, are you sure that secure boot is disabled?
It is; if it weren't, neither rEFInd nor ELILO could start -- or even if they were configured to start in Secure Boot mode, ELILO doesn't launch its kernels in a way that respects Secure Boot, so the ELILO failure can't be caused by Secure Boot. Also, when launched with Secure Boot active, rEFInd returns a clear error message about a security violation and then returns to its main menu; it doesn't hang the computer.
One possible workaround occurs to me if all else fails: Have rEFInd launch a BIOS version of GRUB. The setup procedure, in outline, is as follows:
Create a BIOS Boot Partition on the disk.
Install the BIOS version of GRUB 2.
Configure rEFInd to include a scan for BIOS-mode boot loaders by uncommenting the "scanfor" line in refind.conf and adding "hdbios" to it.
Thereafter, you'll see a new "generic" icon, which should launch GRUB, which should launch Linux in BIOS mode, even though Windows launches in EFI mode. This will work on most modern UEFI-based computers with a single hard disk, but things get trickier with multiple disks and with some UEFI implementations that lack the necessary firmware features. If a future firmware update fixes the problem, or if a future kernel's EFI stub loader includes a workaround, the EFI-mode booting will become an option once again.

[SOLVED]Cannot move files from mounted usb drive

When I try to move a file off of my usb drive I get the following error:
mv: cannot remove ‘homework-1.txt’: Permission denied
The usb drive is mounted to a folder that I created as a normal user in my home directory. However, when I call ls -l on my home directory it says that the directory I'm using as a mount point is owned by root:
$ ls -l | grep mnt/
drwxr-xr-x 10 root root 4096 Dec 31 1969 mnt
When I unmount the flash drive, the ownership of the mount point changes back to me:
$ ls -l | grep mnt/
drwxr-xr-x 2 hugo hugo 4096 Feb 4 16:12 mnt
When I move the file I want as a super user it works but I don't get to retain ownership of the file anymore.
How can I make it so that when I mount the usb drive I have access to it as a normal user?
Last edited by Hurricane (2014-02-05 20:19:37)

Mr.Elendig wrote:
fivedigits wrote:
Seems to me that udev is giving ownership of the device to root and no write permission to world. Try adding something like:
SUBSYSTEM=="block" ID_BUS=="usb" GROUP="users" MODE=0660
to /etc/udev/rules.d/10-locale.rules
Read up on http://www.reactivated.net/writing_udev_rules.html
no, just no.
To expand on this... the rule changes permissions on all USB block devices (and will change permissions on some sysfs nodes as well), which is dangerous and doesn't accomplish what the OP wants -- to change permissions on the filesystem. You've also given the rule an irrelevant name (locale? wat?), and then point to an incredibly outdated resource (last updated nearly 6 years ago!!!) about udev rules. udev(7) is far more relevant and up to date. It doesn't mention outdated commands which no longer exist (udev$foo were all merged into udevadm).

Disabling USB hard drives but allowing USB keys mounting, possible ?

Hi all,
I have a tricky request from one of my customers : they would like to block any external hard drives (firewire and USB) from mounting on the Desktop, BUT would like to allow USB keys only.
All the clients are unmanaged (local accounts, NOT bound to an Open Directory Master server) and are running OS X 10.4.8 (Intel).
I found the easy way to prevent any Firewire device to show up.
I also found how to disable all USB devices (except for keyboard/mouse) : renaming /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext
Problem is, this method won't make any difference between a hard drive and a key, it will block it, period.
Is there any way to allow some (or all) USB keys only to mount ? My only guess would be to unload some extensions which are listed by the "kextstat" command.
That could only be possible if USB keys and USB hard drives don't use the same kind/brand of controller/bridge and therefore don't use the same kernel extension.
Does anyone have a clue on this ?
Many thanks.
Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi all,
I have a tricky request from one of my customers : they would like to block any external hard drives (firewire and USB) from mounting on the Desktop, BUT would like to allow USB keys only.
All the clients are unmanaged (local accounts, NOT bound to an Open Directory Master server) and are running OS X 10.4.8 (Intel).
I found the easy way to prevent any Firewire device to show up.
I also found how to disable all USB devices (except for keyboard/mouse) : renaming /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext
Problem is, this method won't make any difference between a hard drive and a key, it will block it, period.
Is there any way to allow some (or all) USB keys only to mount ? My only guess would be to unload some extensions which are listed by the "kextstat" command.
That could only be possible if USB keys and USB hard drives don't use the same kind/brand of controller/bridge and therefore don't use the same kernel extension.
Does anyone have a clue on this ?
Many thanks.
Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Is there any way to retrive the data from my USB Key

Hello,
I have a usb key I have been using on a Win 7 desktop computer and a Mac Book Air to put in Data on a spread sheet.
I interchange to put in the data between the computer and my MBA without any problem.
I am today not able to open the usb memory key in either-Computer or the MAC Book Air.
Does that mean I have a coruppted USB memory key and the data lost for ever?
I have just put the USB memory key in my computer and it says File System CDFS.
I put it in MAC Book Air and it would not open either!!
Is there any way to access my data. I have no back up...

If the USB drive won't mount on either computer, it's probable that the drive has failed, in which case it's unlikely that you can recover any data from it. You can do a web search for something like "flash drive file recovery" and you'll find a number of utilities that purport to do file recovery, but all the utilities I'm familiar with require that the drive at least be mountable. There may be services that could attempt recovery, but they tend to be expensive.
The moral of the story is: never have only a single copy of a critical document, and if you must, never, never have your single copy only on a flash drive (or floppy, for those "old timers" who still use floppies).
Regards.

[SOLVED] Arch Linux on encrypted luks partition on USB key

Hi
I've installed Arch Linux on a USB key following this Wiki page: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/In … _a_USB_key
I also used dm-crypt as described in this Wiki page: https://wiki.archlinux.de/title/Festpla … iante_1.29
I installed Arch Linux on the USB key using VirtualBox.
To do that, I created a "rawvmdk":
vboxmanage internalcommands createrawvmdk -filename ./usb.vmdk -rawdisk /dev/sdd
Everything works fine when I'm trying to start the system within VirtualBox.
Syslinux loads Arch using the following kernel command:
APPEND cryptdevice=UUID=6aa73872-3755-4bdf-bee3-d1cd7a3fe0bf:main root=/dev/mapper/main-root rw
/etc/mkinitcpio.conf holds the following "HOOKS" configuration:
HOOKS="base udev autodetect modconf block keyboard keymap encrypt lvm2 filesystems fsch resume"
As already mentioned the configuration works within VirtualBox. When I'm trying to boot from the USB key on my real computer, I'm getting an error. Syslinux works fine and loads Linux, but Linux is complaining. Here's the log:
:: running hoock [encrypt]
Waiting 10 seconds for device /dev/disk/by-uuid/6aa73872-3755-4bdf-bee3-d1cd7a3fe0bf ...
ERROR: device '/dev/mapper/main-root' not found. Skipping fschk.
ERROR: Unable to find root device '/dev/mapper/main-root'.
You are being dropped to a recovery shell
I'm not getting prompted for the passphrase since the cryptdevice can not be found. But why? It can be found when I'm booting within VirtualBox. What might be different? I successfully installed other Linux distributions (but without encryption and using GRUB as bootloader) previously within VirtualBox and was able to boot from the USB key on a real machine afterwards.
Some additional information that might help:
Here's the "lsblk -f output" for the stick:
sdd
├─sdd1 ext4 usbboot bb45e84e-842e-4209-8c44-1af3c7933389
└─sdd2 crypto_L 6aa73872-3755-4bdf-bee3-d1cd7a3fe0bf
When I'm running "lsblk" or "blkid" from the recovery shell after the failure, I'm getting no output. "ls /dev/sd*" returns nothing as well. The directory /dev/disk does not even exists in the recovery shell. (I'm not sure if this is normal or not.)
Thanks for helping.
Last edited by The Infinity (2014-08-14 20:26:06)

I still haven't solved the problem:
When starting the system on a machine with NVIDIA GTX 560Ti graphics card:
- X doesn't start using startx or xinit and there are no log entries in /var/log/Xorg.*.log (as I haven't tried to start X).
- I'm getting the message "Waiting for X server to begin accepting connections .. .. .. ..".
- I already tried to uninstall xf86-video-nouveau and nouveau-dri with no effect.
- Additionally: The "default terminals tty1/2/3/..." (which I'm using to start X) from have a poor resolution (I think 640x480 pixel).
When starting the system on a virtual machine or a machine with an ATI Radeon (mobile) graphics card:
- X starts and runs without any trouble the XFCE desktop environment.
- Additionally: The default terminals have a proper resolution (I think the maximal resolution of the display).

[SOLVED] Prevent a specific USB key from mounting ?

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