2009/1/15 David King <[email protected]>: > Actually the max partition size for FAT32 is around 2 TB, which is a lot > more than your 160 GB. > > However, if you were using Windows, its partition formatter does not > allow you to format FAT32 partitions that big, probably because MS want > everyone to use NTFS (especially in the days when Linux could not access > NTFS).
Ah, this explains it. I didn't think technically there should be the 32GB limit, but Windows wouldn't let me make the partition larger. > But you are limited to a max file size of 4 GB in FAT32. > > I have used NTFS partitions in Ubuntu (I was pleasantly surprised that > they were automatically mount RW, when some Linux distros still could > only mount them read-only), and not had a problem with them, but now I > just format every new partition as ext3, as I no longer use Windows > much, other than in a virtual machine. I find that Windows XP Pro in > Virtual Box boots in about 14 seconds to the desktop, whereas on an > older PC which still has WinXP Pro on it, it still takes a few minutes. > In a virtual machine, it does not matter how the partitions are formatted. You probably don't want ext3 on a Flash drive. The sectors holding the journal will get hammered and fail quickly. > I would agree with the others and format the new drive as ext3. You also > get file permissions, etc., with ext3 which do not exist on NTFS or > FAT32 partitions. I've had problems in the past with ext2/3 and permissions when moving the device between different Linux machines (actually all Ubuntu but not necessarily with the same username/uid setup). Of course, NTFS does have permissions :-) They're just far more complicated and, IMO, less useful than *nix type permissions. > Of course, if this USB drive is quite old, then maybe the problem with > mounting it in Ubuntu is down to hardware failure, or possibly just an > imminent failure that Ubuntu is sensing and not wanting to make you > over-confident about the drive's abilities, is not allowing you to mount it. It's brand new. I think the problems were caused by the proprietary formatting utility. I ended up nuking the partition and starting from scratch. I was mainly curious, and started this thread, because I wondered how to do the disk check/fix without a Windows machine about. Thanks for all your help everybody. Cofion, Neil. -- [email protected] https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-uk https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UKTeam/
