Why can't my user copy files?

[brasso]

I am on RedHat7, where I must adduser from the command line, with arguments. I used defaults for most arguments, then used the passwd command to assign a password. But I'm unable to copy files from the user's directory to anywhere else. It says it can't 'create' the new file. This may or may not be related to way I created my user.

As root, I tried to change permissions on the target directory by
chmod 777 /mnt/msdos/drvf/RH7rpmDefs

I am unable to set the Write permission for the Group or Other. I don't know if that's the cause of my problem, I just wanted to try it and see if it helped.

The files the user creates with ScreenShot have User Read, Write and Execute privilege.
When I try to cp them somewhere it tells me I can't 'create' the target file. Surely the user must be able to create files in other than his own directory?
Earl

[Tyr-7BE]

Have you tried copying the files to somewhere that isn't on your windows mount share? I think the reason your chmod isn't working is because the windows fs is vfat and I don't believe it supports permissions. Try creating a new directory (eg /usr/local/test) and chmod'ing it to 777 and see if you can copy there. If you can, then the issue is in the way the win partition is mounted. If you can't....<shrug>.

[DMR]

Right, vfat does not natively support permissions. Sorry I don't have the fix, but there have been some threads dealing with write problems on Win volumes; try searching the forum archives.

[Linuxcool]

If you're having trouble copying files to the windows partition, the windows partition might be mounted as read only. If so, you'll have to edit your fstab file to allow for read-write.

[brasso]

I neglected to mention (ain't that always the case?) that I CAN copy stuff into the vfat partition just fine as root. I STILL haven't gotten back into my RH7 partition to try some of your suggestions yet. I'm shutdown/reboot from Windows right now though.
Earl

[Tyr-7BE]

Try editing your /etc/fstab file. Find the line that mounts the windows vfat partition (assuming it mounts at boot time). Here's mine:

/dev/hda2 /mnt/windows vfat uid=1000 1 0

See where it says uid=1000? That's my user id, telling it that me as a user can write to it, and so can root. I'm not sure what the syntax for multiple write permissions is, but I'm sure a forum search will reveal a good deal on the subject :)

[brasso]

Progress! I made a directory /usr/local/test, as suggested. I do a
chmod 777 /usr/local/test

user IS able to copy files to the directory.

I do
chmod 755 /usr/local/test
(this is the permissions in the vfat partition, and even root can't change them)

user can no longer copy files to the test directory. Missing bits in the mask are Group Write and Other Write.

I edit the fstab file:
vfat uid=500 1 0

Voila! user IS able to copy files to the vfat partition. About that '1'... one book I have identifies it as "used by the dump command to determine whether filesystem should be dumped"... no bearing on my problem, right?

Is it typical to have to use the 'chmod 777' to allow user creation privileges, or is my 'group' screwed up in some fashion? user (earl1) would up in a 'user' group thru clumsy defaulting when making him.