[CentOS] Formatting an external USB drive

[Tom Bishop]

..or the OP might want to try to get gparted loaded up, would make things
much easier on him.  I think the last time I looked I found it on one of the
repo's but not sure which one.  It provides a very nice and easy gui to do
all of this from, although of course it is all available from the cli,
depending on his skill level.

On Wed, Oct 5, 2011 at 9:37 PM, David C. Miller <millerdc at fusion.gat.com>wrote:

>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Todd Cary" <todd at aristesoftware.com>
> > To: centos at centos.org
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 6:43:10 PM
> > Subject: Re: [CentOS] Formatting an external USB drive
> >
> > Dave -
> >
> > I recieved this response and I am not sure what the next step
> > should be:
> >
> > [root at centos5 todd]# /sbin/fdisk /dev/sda1
> >
> > The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 30514.
> > There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024,
> > and could in certain setups cause problems with:
> > 1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO)
> > 2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs
> >     (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK)
> >
> > Command (m for help):
> > [root at centos5 todd]#
> >
> >
> > Todd
> >
> >
>
>
>
> You are trying to run fdisk on the first partition of /dev/sda. Unless you
> are using an old PATA drive for booting your USB drive should not be
> /dev/sda. Before you go any further do the following commands and report
> back with the output.
>
> fdisk -l
>
> df -h
>
> David.
> >
> > On 10/5/2011 4:08 PM, David C. Miller wrote:
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > >> From: "Todd Cary"<todd at aristesoftware.com>
> > >> To: "CentOS mailing list"<centos at centos.org>
> > >> Sent: Wednesday, October 5, 2011 3:34:54 PM
> > >> Subject: [CentOS] Formatting an external USB drive
> > >>
> > >> I have an external USB drive that was formatted with NTFS and I
> > >> want to use it to backup some files from my Centos 5.5 system.
> > >>
> > >> When I check my documentation, I am not certain of the best way
> > >> to do the formatting.
> > >>
> > >> Suggestions welcomed....
> > >>
> > >> Todd
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >> Ariste Software
> > >> Petaluma, CA 94952
> > >>
> > >> http://www.aristesoftware.com
> > >>
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> CentOS mailing list
> > >> CentOS at centos.org
> > >> http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
> > >>
> > >
> > > Use fdisk as root. Before plugging the drive in type "fdisk -l" to
> > > get a listing of drives already attached. Plug the drive in and
> > > after a minute type "fdisk -l" to see the new drive listed. It
> > > will be something like /dev/sdX where X is the next letter in the
> > > order. to set the drive up type "fdisk /dev/sdX". To clear the
> > > partition table type o and hit return and then type w and hit
> > > return. Now type "fdisk /dev/sdX" again. Type n and hit return.
> > > Type p and hit return. Type 1 and hit return. Hit return twice
> > > more to use the whole disk. Type w and hit return to finish. To
> > > format it type "mkfs.ext3 -L usb-disk /dev/sdX1" and hit return to
> > > format the partition as ext3. Create a directory to mount the disk
> > > to "mkdir /backup-disk" and then mount it "mount LABEL=usb-disk
> > > /backup-disk". To have it auto mount at boot edit the /etc/fstab
> > > file and add.
> > >
> > > LABEL=usb-disk /backup-disk ext3 defaults 0 0
> > >
> > > David.
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > CentOS mailing list
> > > CentOS at centos.org
> > > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
> > >
> > >
> >
> > --
> > Ariste Software
> > Petaluma, CA 94952
> >
> > http://www.aristesoftware.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > CentOS mailing list
> > CentOS at centos.org
> > http://lists.centos.org/mailman/listinfo/centos
> >
> _______________________________________________
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