Format USB drive

[Setzer]

I have attached a portable USB drive to my Vero 4K+ and would like to format it as ext4, then have it appear in my network so I can transfer files to it.
Could someone please help me with this?
Thanks

[fzinken]

@Setzer

I have attached a portable USB drive to my Vero 4K+ and would like to format it as ext4, then have it appear in my network so I can transfer files to it.

You would first access the command line.

Details regarding how to access the command line interface can be found here on our Wiki: Accessing the command line - General - OSMC

Then check out this post

Format ext HDD

First find out the device name of your harddisk. Quick version is run fdisk -l that gives you a list of your harddisks and their partitions. Most likely it is /dev/sda1 you then can format it (you will loose all data) with mkfs.ext4 -L NICE-LABEL /dev/sda1

[Setzer]

Thanks fzinken. I’ll give that a go now.

[Setzer]

I have run fdisk -l, and the ext hd has 2 partitions:

/dev/sda1 40 409639 409600 200M EFI System
/dev/sda2 411648 7813967871 7813556224 3.7T Microsoft basic data

(This portable WD My Passport was formatted as ExFat on a Mac)

This drive will only ever be connected to the Vero 4K+ so it seems like Ext4 is the right choice for reformatting. So can I erase both partitions somehow, creating 1 Ext4 partition for all the media to be on?

Also, is a USB-powered external drive ok? Am I better off using a powered desktop-style external drive?

Thanks again.

[fzinken]

@Setzer

So can I erase both partitions somehow, creating 1 Ext4 partition for all the media to be on?

Yes suggest to delete both existing Partitions and create one single one and format as EXT4.
fstab /dev/sda to get the interface to delete and create partitions.

@Setzer

Also, is a USB-powered external drive ok?

Normally it is suggested to use a USB Drive with it’s own powersupply or a using a powered USB Hub as the USB2 standard is not designed to provide always enough power for a mechanical drive.

[Setzer]

Thanks. I have a spare powered desktop, I’ll use that.

@fzinken

fstab /dev/sda to get the interface to delete and create partitions.

Just ran the above, got this:

osmc@Hub: $ fstab /dev/sda
-bash: fstab: command not found

Have I entered it incorrectly?

[fzinken]

@Setzer

-bash: fstab: command not found

Sorry not installed by default.
You can use sudo sfdisk /dev/sda as alternative or alternatively install it via sudo apt-get install fstab

[Setzer]

sfdisk runs ok. When I run:

@fzinken

sudo apt-get install fstab

I get:
osmc@Hub: $ sudo apt-get install fstab
Reading package lists… Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information… Done
E: Unable to locate package fstab

I’m happy to give sfdisk a shot, unless fstab would be better for my level of newb-ness

[fzinken]

@Setzer

sudo apt-get install fstab

Why oh why nobody corrected me.
It’s not fstab it’s fdisk as written in the other thread
sudo fdisk /dev/sda

[Setzer]

@fzinken

sudo fdisk /dev/sda

That opens fdisk fine.

Thanks again for all your help! I’ll connect the desktop drive & see how I go.

@fzinken

Why oh why nobody corrected me.

In my case, if I knew enough to correct you I probably wouldn’t have needed to ask you any of this in the first place