Create file system

A new file system can be created on a device like an usb stick or a sd card in the following way:

  1. List the available devices with the partitions and the existing file systems:

    lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,VENDOR,MODEL,FSTYPE
    
  2. Unmount the device or partition that should be overwritten if necessary. Get a list of all mountet file systems with cat /proc/mounts or findmnt. You can unmount the device as root with unmount /dev/<name-of-the-device> where <name-of-the-device> has to be replaced.

  3. Optionaly partition the device ==This will make all existing data on the device unusable do not partition the wrong device==

  4. Choose a file system There are many different types of file systems available (see this list)

  5. Create the file system on the device or a partition of the device. Replace <name-of-the-device> with the name of the device or the partition from the NAME column of the output of the lsblk prompt. ==Do not choose the wrong device or the data on your computer might be overwritten==. Run the following commands as root:

    • To create a ext4 filesysten (standard for linux) run:

      mkfs.ext4 /dev/<name-of-the-device>
      
    • To create a exfat filesystem (can be used on linux and windows) run:

      mkfs.exfat /dev/<name-of-the-device>
      
  6. If needed mount the file system again as root with mount /dev/<name-of-the-device> <path-of-the-mount-location> -o uid=<name-of-the-linux-user> . Replace <name-of-the-device> with the actual name of the device, <name-of-the-linux-user> with the name of your current linux user and <path-of-the-mount-location> with the location in the file system where the device should be mountet like for example /media/<name-of-the-linux-user>/<choose-your-own-device-name>. By navigating to this path the files can then be written into the device.

See also

Install Linux Install Mobian on PinePhone