tgl@g.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Tom Lane) (02/14/91)
When I try to use mediainit(1) on a floppy disk, it says mediainit: can't lock volume - Not owner unless I am root. I tried changing the ownership of the device file to be myself, and it still wouldn't work. What's the problem? Can I fix things so that unprivileged users can init a floppy? Where in the manual is this discussed?? -- tom lane Internet: tgl@cs.cmu.edu BITNET: tgl%cs.cmu.edu@cmuccvma
joevl@mojsys.com (Joe Vlietstra) (02/16/91)
In article <11950@pt.cs.cmu.edu> tgl@g.gp.cs.cmu.edu (Tom Lane) writes: >When I try to use mediainit(1) on a floppy disk, it says > mediainit: can't lock volume - Not owner >unless I am root. >I tried changing the ownership of the device file to be myself, >and it still wouldn't work. > >What's the problem? Can I fix things so that unprivileged users >can init a floppy? Where in the manual is this discussed?? mediainit is described in "System Administration Tasks", page 6-14. The first step in the procedure is: 1. Log in as the root user. This is the only place in the documentation where it is mentioned that only root may use mediainit. mediainit doesn't distinguish between hard disks and floppy disks -- it only ensures that the disk is not a mounted volume. Requiring root to execute mediainit is a safety "feature." Our work-around is a small shell script in /usr/local/bin: #!/bin/sh # Initialize a floppy disk /usr/bin/mediainit /dev/rfloppy This script is owned by root and has setuid. This works for us since we're a small company. A larger organization may want to use a lock file and other safety enhancements. Joe Vlietstra -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ Joe Vlietstra | Checked Daily: ...!uunet!mojsys!joevl Mojave Systems Corp | Checked Weekly: mojave@hmcvax.claremont.edu 1254 Harvard Avenue | Iffy Routing: joevl@mojsys.com
val@hp-lsd.COS.HP.COM (Val Walker) (02/16/91)
Your problem may not be with the owner, but with the read/write mode of
your dev/<file>. To use mediainit, the /dev/<device-file> must be set
for all levels to read/write.
Val Walker
(val@hplsdor)larryc@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM (Larry Corsa) (02/17/91)
>> When I try to use mediainit(1) on a floppy disk, it says >> mediainit: can't lock volume - Not owner >> unless I am root. >> I tried changing the ownership of the device file to be myself, >> and it still wouldn't work. >> >> What's the problem? Can I fix things so that unprivileged users >> can init a floppy? Where in the manual is this discussed?? According to the documentation installed with my 7.05 release: Mediainit Has Incorrect Mode ---------------------------- As of release 7.0, mediainit(1M) is no longer a setuid root command. This may pose some problems for generic users hoping to initialize floppy disks. The workaround for this problem is to execute the following commands as root. chown root /usr/bin/mediainit chmod 4555 /usr/bin/mediainit The mediainit(1M) command is designed to be a setuid root program. Changing its mode in this way does not represent a security risk. ... from /etc/newconfig/ReleaseNotes Regards, Larry Corsa Technical Support Engineer | HPDesk address: HP0900/UX Measurement Systems Operation | HPUX address: larryc@hpisla.lvld.hp.com 815 14th Street SW | (303) or TELNET 679-2206 Mail Stop CU312 | FAX (303) or TELNET 679-5957 Loveland, CO 80537, USA |