Formatting External USB Drives
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From: David W. Hodgins on 7 Apr 2010 16:26 On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 14:37:48 -0400, Kevin the Drummer <nobody(a)cosgroves.us> wrote: > Am I supposed to be able to use mkfs.ext[34] to format new > external drives over USB? I've never had that work, regardless Yes, it should work. You haven't said which distribution or version you are using. With a newer distribution using udev, I'd expect it to automatically load the necessary modules. Try loading the usb_storage module, then connect the external drive. Check /var/log/syslog to find out what device name it has. Then use gparted, or cfdisk to partition it After that, run the mkfs.ext3 or 4 command to format the filesystem. If any of the above fail, post exactly what you did, and what error messages show up. Regards, Dave Hodgins -- Change nomail.afraid.org to ody.ca to reply by email. (nomail.afraid.org has been set up specifically for use in usenet. Feel free to use it yourself.)
From: Keith Keller on 7 Apr 2010 17:37 On 2010-04-07, Robert Heller <heller(a)deepsoft.com> wrote: > > In order to reformat the drives, you need to repartion them first. Is that true? I don't know if USB drives are any different, but I know you can lay down a filesystem on an entire unpartitioned drive. (It might not be usable in Windows, but if the OP is using ext3 I take it that's not an issue.) --keith -- kkeller-usenet(a)wombat.san-francisco.ca.us (try just my userid to email me) AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt see X- headers for PGP signature information
From: Grant Edwards on 7 Apr 2010 17:51 On 2010-04-07, Keith Keller <kkeller-usenet(a)wombat.san-francisco.ca.us> wrote: > On 2010-04-07, Robert Heller <heller(a)deepsoft.com> wrote: >> >> In order to reformat the drives, you need to repartion them first. > > Is that true? No, not really. > I don't know if USB drives are any different, but I know you can lay > down a filesystem on an entire unpartitioned drive. (It might not be > usable in Windows, but if the OP is using ext3 I take it that's not > an issue.) You can also just use the existing partition table. AFAICT, nobody uses the "type" field in the partition table (except maybe Windows/DOS does?). I rarely bother to repartition a drive when I change a USB thumb drive from vfat to to ext. -- Grant Edwards grant.b.edwards Yow! Is a tattoo real, like at a curb or a battleship? gmail.com Or are we suffering in Safeway?
From: The Natural Philosopher on 7 Apr 2010 17:51 Keith Keller wrote: > On 2010-04-07, Robert Heller <heller(a)deepsoft.com> wrote: >> In order to reformat the drives, you need to repartion them first. > > Is that true? I don't know if USB drives are any different, but I know > you can lay down a filesystem on an entire unpartitioned drive. (It > might not be usable in Windows, but if the OP is using ext3 I take it > that's not an issue.) > > --keith > > > ISTR it was true of my memory stick. couldn't replace Windows style data on it without reparting it. IIRC.
From: AZ Nomad on 7 Apr 2010 18:04
On Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:51:37 +0100, The Natural Philosopher <tnp(a)invalid.invalid> wrote: >Keith Keller wrote: >> On 2010-04-07, Robert Heller <heller(a)deepsoft.com> wrote: >>> In order to reformat the drives, you need to repartion them first. >> >> Is that true? I don't know if USB drives are any different, but I know >> you can lay down a filesystem on an entire unpartitioned drive. (It >> might not be usable in Windows, but if the OP is using ext3 I take it >> that's not an issue.) >> >> --keith >> >> >> >ISTR it was true of my memory stick. couldn't replace Windows style data >on it without reparting it. IIRC. Many memory sticks used in the windows world don't have partition tables. Use to give an embedded linux application I was testing fits until the device detection routines got updated. |