Floppy access for LTSP 3.0

This documents how to setup remote floppy access on an LTSP terminal equipped with a floppy drive.



Requirements:

Installation:

There are two methods to install. If you are running a RedHat based Linux distribution (i.e., one that uses RPM for package management), you can download the ltsp_floppyd-3.0.0-0.i386.rpm, and install it with the command “rpm -i ltsp_floppyd-3.0.0-0.i386.rpm”. Please note that you must be root to do this. The second is to download the “ltsp_floppyd-3.0.tar.gz” file, and untar it with the command “tar xzvf ltsp_floppyd-3.0.tar.gz”. This will create a directory called “ltsp_floppyd”. As root, run the “install_floppyd” script in that directory.



Configuration:



In your lts.conf file, for any workstation that you want to enable access to the floppy on, you'll need to modify the entry for that workstation to look like the following:



[ws001]

...

RCFILE_01 = floppyd


For each user who needs access to the floppy create a .mtoolsrc file in your home directory with the following line:


drive a: file="$DISPLAY" remote 1.44m mformat_only


If everything up to now has gone well, you should be able to type the following with a diskette in the drive:


mdir a:


You should see a directory listing of what's on the diskette.


File Management:


On the link http://www.core-coutainville.org/mfm/ you'll find a slick little graphical file manager which uses MTOOLS to manipulate floppy drives. It'll do a nice job of moving files to and from the floppy.


Closing Notes:



This is a quick hack that should allow remote floppy access. Once nbd (network block devices) fully support removeable media, this method of accessing a floppy becomes somewhat obsolete. However, for now, it's the most reliable method. If you have any comments or questions, you should be able to get a hold of me at sbalneav@legalaid.mb.ca



Cheers!



Scott