folder/file names not updating. (Solved - sort of!)

[Howard]

I have just replaced my now defunct sansa clip mp3 player with a sansa clip+ player.  Now my wife and I have similar models.  I transfer podcasts into them by dragging and dropping in PCman windows and had no problem when we were using different models.

Now, if I do something with one player, unmount it and then mount the other (even a day later) I still get the folder/file list from the first device unless I log off or reboot.  Going up and down the directory tree does not clear it.

[Just17]

maybe if you apply a label name to each then they will be distinguishable by the system

[Howard]

maybe if you apply a label name to each then they will be distinguishable by the system

How? Without reformatting!  I tried to rename as root, but that didn't work.

[daniel]

PCManFM > View > Reload folder PCManFM will close.
Start again...

Some bugs there...

[Howard]

PCManFM > View > Reload folder PCManFM will close.
Start again...

Thanks Leiche, that works.  Doesn't fix the bugs, but it's quicker than rebooting

[djohnston]

maybe if you apply a label name to each then they will be distinguishable by the system

How? Without reformatting!  I tried to rename as root, but that didn't work.

Depends on what the filesystem is. If it's ext2, ext3 or ext4, use e2label. (All label commands must be run as user root.)

e2label /dev/sdxx LabelName

Replace sdxx with the actual partition (examples /dev/sdb1 or /dev/sdc1). Replace LabelName with the label you want to use. Don't include spaces in the label name.

If it's a FAT file system, use mlabel:

mlabel -i /dev/sdxx ::LabelName

If it's an NTFS file system, use ntfslabel:

ntfslabel sdxx LabelName

[Howard]

Trying to find out what format it's in, but PCC doesn't recognise it as a partition, it's mounted as /media/SANSA CLIPP (with a space!)

How can I discover the format?  Would that command work here?

I don't want to ruin my new mp3 player!  I'm getting out of my depth here!

[djohnston]

Trying to find out what format it's in, but PCC doesn't recognise it as a partition, it's mounted as /media/SANSA CLIPP (with a space!)

How can I discover the format?  Would that command work here?

I don't want to ruin my new mp3 player!  I'm getting out of my depth here!

If it's mounted as /media/SANSA CLIPP, then SANSA CLIPP is the partition's label. Otherwise, it would be mounted as /media/sdb1 or something similar. Having spaces in the name just makes it more difficult for you, and possibly disk utilities, to work with the partition by label name. If the player's still mounted, either mount or df -T will show the partition's filesystem type. If you want a GUI, gparted or diskdrake will give you that. Just find the partition and highlight it. The filesystem used will be shown.

[Howard]

So far so good, now I know it's vfat and /dev/sdc, but when I try to rename I get:

Total number of sectors (7683072) not a multiple of sectors per track (63)!
Add mtools_skip_check=1 to your .mtoolsrc file to skip this test

I cannot find any such file as .mtoolsrc using locate.

[djohnston]

So far so good, now I know it's vfat and /dev/sdc, but when I try to rename I get:

Total number of sectors (7683072) not a multiple of sectors per track (63)!
Add mtools_skip_check=1 to your .mtoolsrc file to skip this test

I cannot find any such file as .mtoolsrc using locate.

Nope. It's /dev/sdc1 or /dev/sdc2 or ... sdc is the entire device. The number following is the partition number. You have to label the partition, not the entire device.

[Howard]

Are we dealing with the same version?

mount gives me:

/dev/sdc on /media/SANSA CLIPP type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,uhelper=hal,shortname=lower,uid=500,flush,utf8)

using /dev/sdc or /dev/sdc1 gets the same response:

# mlabel -i /dev/sdc1 :"Howards Clipp"
Mtools version 4.0.17, dated June 29th, 2011
Usage: mlabel [-vscVn] [-N serial] drive:

I think the double colon in your message must be a typo?

[djohnston]

No, the double colon is not a typo. I just wiped my thumb drive and formatted it as FAT32. Then I changed the /dev/sdd1 partition label.

df -T
Filesystem    Type    Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3     ext4     39G  6.6G   30G  18% /
none         tmpfs    2.0G   12K  2.0G   1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda2     ext4    244M   44M  188M  19% /boot
/dev/sda5     ext4    189G   54G  136G  29% /home
/dev/sdb1     ext4    294G  112G  167G  41% /mnt/Data
/dev/sdc1     ext4    367G  189G  160G  55% /mnt/Vault
/dev/sdd1     vfat     15G  8.0K   15G   1% /media/Voyager

mlabel -i /dev/sdd1 ::NewLabel

df -T
Filesystem    Type    Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda3     ext4     39G  6.6G   30G  18% /
none         tmpfs    2.0G   12K  2.0G   1% /dev/shm
/dev/sda2     ext4    244M   44M  188M  19% /boot
/dev/sda5     ext4    189G   54G  136G  29% /home
/dev/sdb1     ext4    294G  112G  167G  41% /mnt/Data
/dev/sdc1     ext4    367G  189G  160G  55% /mnt/Vault
/dev/sdd1     vfat     15G  8.0K   15G   1% /media/NEWLABEL

Well, the label name is all upper case, but the name was changed.

Your /dev/sdc on /media/SANSA CLIPP should not be a valid mount point. There should be a partition number, as previously indicated. Please post the results of running mount in a terminal, including the command.

One other thing. What does PCC > Local disks > Manager disk partitions show you when you click on the sdc tab?

[Howard]

Thanks for taking the time to help me sort this out.

What I posted was what I thought was the relevant part of the output from mount, but here's the lot:

[root@xxxxxx]# mount
/dev/sda7 on / type ext3 (rw,commit=0)
none on /proc type proc (rw)
none on /dev/pts type devpts (rw)
/dev/sda10 on /data/sda10 type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096,default_permissions)
/dev/sda11 on /data/sda11 type ext3 (rw,commit=0)
/dev/sda9 on /data/sda9 type ext3 (rw,commit=0)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/sda5 on /oss/sda5 type ext3 (rw,commit=0)
/dev/sda8 on /oss/sda8 type ext3 (rw,commit=0)
none on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw)
gvfs-fuse-daemon on /home/howard/.gvfs type fuse.gvfs-fuse-daemon (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=howard)
/dev/sda3 on /media/DELLRESTORE type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,uhelper=hal,shortname=lower,uid=500,flush,utf8)
/dev/sda2 on /media/OS type fuseblk (rw,nosuid,nodev,allow_other,blksize=4096)
/dev/sdc on /media/SANSA CLIPP type vfat (rw,nosuid,nodev,noatime,uhelper=hal,shortname=lower,uid=500,flush,utf8)


I have three partitions for operating systems usually the last PCLOS version, my current one, and the one I'm testing out.  They all access the data partitions using symbolic links so I can access my files from any of them, (and one from XP when it's occasionally necessary.)

Obviously I cannot reformat the mp3 player or I'd lose my firmware.

One other thing. What does PCC > Local disks > Manager disk partitions show you when you click on the sdc tab?

It's not there at all!  That was why I couldn't see the format type.

But it does mount, and can drag and drop files into its folders in the usual way.  Confusing

[Howard]

I just fired up my trusty old KDE3.5 (same machine) it gives exactly the same results for the SANSA CLIPP.

[djohnston]

Obviously I cannot reformat the mp3 player or I'd lose my firmware.

Definitely not. Don't lose your data!

It's not there at all!  That was why I couldn't see the format type.

But it does mount, and can drag and drop files into its folders in the usual way.  Confusing

Yeah, it's confusing, alright. I did a search for sansa clip mp3 player and I've learned something new. I had never heard of mounting an entire device, versus mounting a partition. And, I was convinced it wasn't possible. Most mp3 players are set up to use Windows Media Transport Protocol (MTP), which is incompatible with Linux. To get it to work with Linux as a storage device, change the usb mode on your mp3 player from MTP, to MSC mode. (USB mass-storage class device). That will make the mp3 player look like a usb flash drive.

Info on doing this on a Sansa Fuse mp3 player, (similar to yours), is here.

I would have to say, if it's working for you now, don't change it. If it ain't broken, don't fix it.