Is there a boot parameter or some other method available to not have the hard drive partitions be automatically mounted when booting up the Live CD?

I like the way Knoppix does it. The partition mounts are setup but not automatically mounted.

What is the issue , if I may ask?

The last time I checked, knoppix automounts partitions read only ....automatically

aus9,

You maybe mistaking that fact Knoppix will put an icon on the desktop for each hard drive partition that it finds during the boot-up process. The partition will only be mounted if the desktop icon for it is clicked. You are right in stating the partition will be mounted as read only. It takes an additional right mouse click to bring up the context menu where the option is available to put the partition in read/write mode.

I have been using Knoppix since version 3.4 and from what I remember all the versions operated as described above.

The way Knoppix does it makes a good compromise between those that want a Live CD to not touch the hard drive and those that want to use the Live CD for hard drive access and maintenance.

you are right...just checked thru virtualbox..../etc/fstab entry is noauto.

now lets get back to Mdv spring.

2) not that I have one....a spring that is

try a knoppix "like' cheat code = kernel boot parameter

append to your kernel line

nofstab

3) i have just checked this using knoppix...I had to use "knoppix nofstab" and the result was......no change...fstab entries still appeared but they are still noauto.

I tested the nofstab parameter with Mandriva 2008 Spring, and it still mounted local hard drives read / write ...

I will do some additional research and post back if I figure it out,

I have tried using the "noprobe" boot parameter which has worked for me on other Live CDs, (i.e. hda=noprobe and ide0=noprobe), but neither of them worked.

Mandriva's default login is "guest" which has limited access privileges. So with the partitions mounted as read/write, "guest" can generally only read the files on the Linux partitions, not write to them. I have not tested on it a Windows PC, but I am assuming it would be able to write to "vfat" partitions.

Issuing the following command from a Konsole window unmounted all my hard drive partitions:

Still it would be nice to be able to control the automounting of partitions during the bootup process. I would feel more comfortable demonstrating Mandriva One on other peoples PC knowing I could tell them with confidence that the Live CD will not alter their hard drive.

Tell them with confidence that the Mandriva One cd will not alter their hard-drive. Like all Live cd's it installs to the RAM only unless you the user tell it otherwise (i.e. use the installer feature).

The cd you are using is not the final release of Mandriva 2008.1 (spring), but will be one of the release candidates - the file you downloaded will have had the suffix rc1 or 2 I'm guessing. If you feel this is an issue that should be addressed contact the Mandriva team with a bug report or request that it should be changed in the final release.

miclem,

You are right I am using Mandriva One 2008.1 rc2 (cooker).

From reading the Mandriva wiki on the cooker process, by the time a version is in release candidate status all change requests are frozen and will have to wait until the next version is being developed.

I would not consider what Mandriva One does as a Live CD to be a bug, rather it appears to be a design decision by the Mandriva developers.

From what I remember in using other Live CDs (Ubuntu, Fedora, PCLinuxOS, Mepis), they did not mount the hard drives by default. In fact, some of them do not create entries in /etc/fstab for the hard drive partitions, Ubuntu is one of them that does it that way.

I can setup Ubuntu as a Live CD on another persons PC knowing the person would be unable to affect their hard drive unless they did try to install it. With Mandriva's approach of automatically mounting all the hard drive partitions in read/write mode , I can not have that same level of confidence. With Mandriva One used just as a Live CD, with no intent of installing it, there is a risk of inadvertent changes to the hard drive.

You are correct, the behavior of Mandriva One is not a bug, although I can see their logic. With the Mandriva One CD, I can install the OS, then if I run into trouble, the Live CD doubles as a rescue disk. The decision to mount the local hard drives in read / write mode is consistent with the concept of a rescue CD, although this may be better implemented as a rescue configuration (a new boot option). The default behavior could then be altered to mount local hard drives read only or not at all and let the installer handle any drive mounting that may be required if and only if an installation is initiated.

FWIW, the final release of Mandriva 2008.1 Spring is scheduled for Wednesday April 9, 2008 (with an internal release date of Friday April 4, 2008). Since the scheduled date is an estimate, we should be able to expect to see the Spring edition in the next two or three weeks. From what I see in rc2 (Mandriva One), things are looking fairly stable, so maybe they will come close to the scheduled dates.