Formatting USB drive

[colin_b]

I don't know whether this can be done, but if it could it would be useful.

I am simply seeking to format a USB drive, but I have been left stumped.

Would it be possible to format a USB drive via Thunar's right click menu? When you right click on the drive you would be given the option of "format drive," if this is selected you are asked "are you sure?", and if you select yes you are given formatting options. If you change your mind you would be given the option to cancel.

As an alternative, could format USB be included in MX tools?

[tascoast]

I believe GParted is the conventional means of formatting a USB, although this might be a small leap for non-Linux users to adapt to.

As for a utility, perhaps there is a script or other means that bypasses GParted? It may not integrate with Thunar though, I suspect, but be a stand alone widget or similar. While GParted is powerful and hence a little slow to achieve such a result, it does have many other advantages, GUI being one.

[chrispop99]

Gparted is perfectly capable of doing this. Make absolutely certain you have the correct drive selected, and set the File System to FAT32.

If you find that unsuitable, the Linux Mint utility to do this has been imported by the developers. To install it using the Package Installer, select the Full App Catalog tab, then the MX Test Repo. Search for mintstick (not altogether intuitive!) check the box to select it, and click Install. You will find it in the Accessories section of the Whisker menu.

The Mint application to write an ISO or image file to USB will also be installed, but for MX and antiX live USB installs you should use the Live USB Maker tool.

Chris

[colin_b]

Thanks for the info. I had a look at mintstick and decided that even though it looked the simpler option I wasn't impressed with the 17MB file size. I found Gparted, and after a few minutes of head scratching I got my USB drive formatted - thanks!

The Gparted method is really obscure, I would never have figured it out without being pointed in the right direction. It would be really useful if formatting a USB stick could be done via a simple MX tool which requires only a few mouse clicks to get things sorted.

[KBD]

Thanks for the info. I had a look at mintstick and decided that even though it looked the simpler option I wasn't impressed with the 17MB file size. I found Gparted, and after a few minutes of head scratching I got my USB drive formatted - thanks!

The Gparted method is really obscure, I would never have figured it out without being pointed in the right direction. It would be really useful if formatting a USB stick could be done via a simple MX tool which requires only a few mouse clicks to get things sorted.

Gparted is an awesome tool. You need to be careful with it and not touch any drive you don't want formatted, but once you get used to it then it will be second nature using Gparted :)

[rasat]

colin_b:

The Gparted method is really obscure, I would never have figured it out without being pointed in the right direction. It would be really useful if formatting a USB stick could be done via a simple MX tool which requires only a few mouse clicks to get things sorted.

Linux has those "obscure" and "complicate" features which are commonly known but remain as they are. Example it took years for the Linux developers to accept an utility script which automatically detects the hardware and creates the xorg file. It was done manually. KNOPPIX did a major change in this regard by adding simple bash scripts to do the job... this is how live CD was created.

A file manager to format a USB stick with mouse click, may still take time. We don't want Gparted to become obsolete. :)

[chrispop99]

The Gparted method is really obscure, I would never have figured it out without being pointed in the right direction. It would be really useful if formatting a USB stick could be done via a simple MX tool which requires only a few mouse clicks to get things sorted.

Or you could just search the user manual for USB...



Chris

[tascoast]

The Manual does note Gparted can be used to format a USB in preparation for using Live USB Maker, although it may not be obvious to newer users that Gparted is in fact the Linux equivalent of right-click....format (USB device) in another world.

Since formatting of USB devices is a relatively common task, something like:

Format USB devices by using Gparted in MX Linux.Take care to select the appropriate device from the drop-down menu (top right)

might be added to the Manual in an appropriate location to anticipate a common search term and make it a little clearer that Gparted is there for this purpose (and others like partitioning). The current reference is somewhat indirect, I believe, for new users to appreciate.

[rokytnji.1]

Yep. Cuz I would not want to format my 32 gig permanent sd card in my chromebook with just a right click format this < without details >

Code: Select all

harry@biker:~
$ sudo blkid
/dev/sda1: LABEL="rootantiX" UUID="ea719934-26e3-4f25-af62-4f54438f456d" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="5a6d0bed-01"
/dev/mmcblk0p1: UUID="E10C-A032" TYPE="vfat" PARTUUID="0005e83f-01"
/dev/mmcblk0: PTUUID="0005e83f" PTTYPE="dos"

Like windows does.

[Alt]

I think GNOME Disks currently is the best because it's simple to use & doesn't recuire password.

Code: Select all

sudo apt install -y gnome-disk-utility

IMO, there's no need to make yet another tool just for this task (like Mint does) unless it's something integrated (Thunar plugin or option in some other MX tool).