Slack 10.1 can't mount usb thumb drive

[Greg Neumann]

Frank Kumro wrote:

>I just installed slackware 10.1 (removing FC3) and currently its
>running the 2.4 kernel (ugh). When I try to mount my usb thumb drive i
>get the below error. I remember very clear that this did work on FC3
>and FC used the 2.6 kernel. Is there a different way to mount in 2.4
>kernel? I also tried sda and sda1-xx. All returned the following
>error. Yes the disk is formatted for use on both windoze and linux and
>there are files on it. Any help would be great!
>
>bash-3.00$ sudo mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/usb/
>mount: /dev/sda1 is not a valid block device
>
>  
>
I have no clue how to use a USB drive, but /dev/sda is usually the first 
SCSI drive. Even if the USB drive used SCSI emulation, I would expect it 
to be /dev/sga1. Sorry, I don't have a Slackware box handy, so I can't 
check the setup right now. The good news is that with Slackware, you can 
just pull the latest kernel sources and custom compile a new kernel 
right along side the stock kernel.  I've done it alot. Just add a new 
config section in Lilo and you're done. Slackware is probably the best 
distro to be able to do this on. I'd start there. Get a 2.6.x that 
addresses the USB issues, compile it w/ the proper options, add a 
section in Lilo and give it a shot.
If the 2.4.x can do USB, I'd do a make menuconfig and check to see that 
options were set up correctly. CyberSource would know better than me any 
USB issues w/ 2.4.x kernels. linuxquestions.org has a dedicated 
Slackware forum. That's the recommended place for Slackware help.
Hope this helps,
Greg Neumann