Problem with NFS export of FAT32 partition

I'm trying to set up one-way file sharing of a FAT32 partition between
my two PC's using NFS. I can mount the FAT32 partition on my NFS client
PC but I can't view the mounted files. I've tried the troubleshooting
steps listed in the NFS HOWTO.

According to the NFS FAQ, there is only limited support for export of
FAT32. However, the level of support described in the FAQ is adequate
for my needs. I only want to make a copy of my FAT32 partition.

Here is my setup:

NFS Server:

1. Running Fedora 9
2. Static IP: 192.168.1.150
3. /etc/exports:
/mnt 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw)
/mnt/windows 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw)
/mnt/large_downloads 192.168.1.0/255.255.255.0(rw)
4. /mnt has two files systems mounted on it: /windows (FAT32) and
/large_downloads (ext3)
5. /etc/fstab entries for the two subdirectories of /mnt:
UUID=768B-E069 /mnt/windows vfat uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=0000 0 0
UUID=4f26a47f-28c3-4e5e-b6d0-6817891af123 /mnt/large_downloads ext3
defaults 1 2
(I changed the uid, gid from 500 to 1000 to match my client)
6. My user account has UID=500,GID=500


NFS Client:

1. Running Ubuntu 8.04
2. Dynamic IP (set by DHCP)
3. I manually issue: sudo mount -t nfs 192.168.1.150:/mnt/windows /mnt/nfs
4. My user account has UID=1000,GID=1000


I can mount and access /mnt/large_downloads (which is ext3) OK on the
NFS client. I can mount /mnt/windows (which is FAT32) on the NFS client.
Both "df" and "/proc/mounts" show that /mnt/windows is mounted. I try to
access /mnt/windows on the client via GNOME -> Places -> Computer ->
Filesystem -> /Mnt -> NFS. I get a busy mouse pointer, and nothing is
displayed. The file manager on my NFS server hangs. When I try to reboot
my NFS server, the shutdown hangs.

My NFS server is capable of running NFS Version 2,3, and 4. According to
/proc/mounts, apparently my client is running NFS Version 3.

I've also tried exporting and mounting the FAT32 partition as readonly
instead of rw. (I changed the specification in /etc/exports to ro and I
specified -r in the mount command).

I don't want to try using samba. I no longer run Windows. If I can't
access my FAT32 partition via NFS, I will migrate the partition to ext3
and access the ext3 partition via NFS. I'd rather not do the migration.
The FAT32 partition contains tens of thousands of files (11 GB of data).

Any suggestions on how I can get the NFS access of my FAT32 partition to
function?

> I don't want to try using samba. I no longer run Windows. If I can't
> access my FAT32 partition via NFS, I will migrate the partition to ext3
> and access the ext3 partition via NFS. I'd rather not do the migration.
> The FAT32 partition contains tens of thousands of files (11 GB of data).
>
> Any suggestions on how I can get the NFS access of my FAT32 partition to
> function?

You've answered your own question, reformatting the partition as EXT3 is
the right solution. The only place you should use FAT32 is on FLASH cards
that you share with devices like cameras and phones, it has no place on
the hard drive of a Linux system. Even if you were still using Windows
for something there is no reason to have a FAT partition, if you are
sharing data between Linux and Windows you should be using a Windows VM,
not native Windows, and sharing data via SAMBA.

Allen wrote:
> I'm trying to set up one-way file sharing of a FAT32 partition between
> my two PC's using NFS. I can mount the FAT32 partition on my NFS client
> PC but I can't view the mounted files. I've tried the troubleshooting
> steps listed in the NFS HOWTO.
>
> According to the NFS FAQ, there is only limited support for export of
> FAT32. However, the level of support described in the FAQ is adequate
> for my needs. I only want to make a copy of my FAT32 partition.
>

If you want to make a copy of a bunch of files, try rsync.

If you want to share a directory, try samba. Just because you are
sharing between two *nix machines, does not mean you have to use NFS -
many people prefer samba even in a windowless setup (IMHO, it's easier
to get control of permissions and ownership with samba than NFS).