HD Install :: chg perm on hd

I've finally successfully formatted my drives, but i can't write to them. I was wondering how I would go about this from the command screen. Thanks in advance, I know its probably something ultra simple....I'm soooooo new to linux.

If they are linux partitions you can add "rw" to their options in /etc/fstab:
/dev/hda4 /mnt/dsl ext2 rw,users 0 0

If they are non-linux partitions i can't help you.

Well, I am close now, but I can't edit /etc/fstab without being root. Is there a quick way to do this through the root terminal?

"sudo vi /etc/fstab" "sudo nano /etc/fstab" or "sudo beaver /etc/fstab" in any non-root term

original here.