Device formatting

References:

• http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/fdisk_partitioning.html
• dumpe2fs
• e2label /dev/sde1 em2backup
• http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/

Procedure:

For these examples, assume the kernel assigns /dev/sdb to the device. To find out, do:
fdisk -l

If your distro automatically mounts temporary media, do:
cat /etc/mtab

to see what is mounted. Then unmount it with:
sudo umount /dev/sdb1
sudo umount /dev/sdb2

etc, for each partition that got mounted

Thumb drives

sudo apt-get -y install dosfstools

mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sde1

To remove a partition:
fdisk /dev/sdb
Command (m for help): d
Selected partition 1
Command (m for help): n
Command action
e extended
p primary partition (1-4)
p
Partition number (1-4): 1
First cylinder (1-1015, default 1):
Using default value 1
Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-1015, default 1015):
Using default value 1015
Command (m for help): t
Selected partition 1
Hex code (type L to list codes): c
Changed system type of partition 1 to c (W95 FAT32 (LBA))
Command (m for help): w
The partition table has been altered!

Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table.

WARNING: If you have created or modified any DOS 6.x
partitions, please see the fdisk manual page for additional
information.
Syncing disks.


FAT-32

• mkfs.msdos -F 32 /dev/sdb1

EXT3

• Remove the existing partition(s) - see above
• Create a new ext3 partition - see above
• Create the file system mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1
• Create a label e2label /dev/sdb1 MyLabel
• Confirm the label dumpe2fs /dev/sdb1 | grep "volume name"

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	First created Dec 14, 2008 ~ Last revised November 26, 2009