On 6/2/2011 10:17 AM, fred smith wrote:
> On Thu, Jun 02, 2011 at 08:27:00AM -0700, Todd Cary wrote:
>> I have a usb drive, /media/disk and I want to reformat it. There
>> are several questions that come up:
>>
>> How can I determine the current format?
>>
>> Do I use the mkfs command?
>>
>> Many thanks...
>>
>> Todd
> To throw a caveat into the works here:
>
> I was reading a while back some articles about the difficulties of
> using flash drives, which for purposes of this discussion includes, so
> I'm given to understand, not just SSDs but also usb flash devices.
> It was pointed out there that many (if not all, may be all, for
> all I know) of these devices are shipped with a specially tweaked
> FAT file system (FAT, VFAT, Fat32, whatever the specifics were I
> don't remember). These specially tweaked filesystems have been modified
> to take into account characteristics of the flash device, such that
> partitions may begin in odd places, or the FAT may have only one copy,
> or may be of a restricted size or in an odd location. All to optimize
> performance. Once you've reformatted it, you can never again revert
> to the original condition (unless you've saved a bit-wise image of
> it with, e.g., dd.)
>
Fortunately, I am using a HD; not a Thumb Drive.
Thanks though...
Todd
--
Ariste Software
Petaluma, CA 94952
http://www.aristesoftware.com
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