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Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick

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On Thu, Oct 20, 2016 at 04:57:47PM -0400, Stefan Monnier wrote:
> > It's a 4GB stick and I am thinking of using all the space in a single 
> > partition.
> 
> Assuming the USB stick is at /dev/sdb I'd do:
> 
>     % fdisk /dev/sdb
>     o
>     n RET RET RET RET
>     w
>     q
>     % mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1
> 
> This has always worked well for me, for Windows and Mac OS X.
> [ IIUC using vfat for larger devices can occasionally lead to
>   incompatibilities, but for 4GB there's no such problem.  ]
> 
> 

I followed the above instructions exactly except that my USB stick is 
/dev/sdg, and the q command is not necessary as the w command quit 
automatically after writing the partition table.

It all worked well but unfortunately my Mac-using friend called off our 
rendezvous this evening as he is not feeling well. So I have not yet 
been able to check it can be read by the Mac. I'll try it on a Windows 
laptop later although Windows is a lower priority for me as what Windows 
machines I have left are on my network and can get data without 
resorting to USB sticks in most cases. So the Windows part is more "it 
should work with everything" while the Mac part is "I've got a specific 
need to share data with a Mac user".

My only slight worry is following the above instructions the partition 
created on the stick was marked as "Linux". Really? Is that OK?

The discussion this generated has left me with a question though. Some 
people put forward the view that they use exfat and share data between 
Linux, Windows and Mac with no problems. Others said exfat has terrible 
compatibility problems. Which is it?

I went with vfat, but I'd like to resolve the question of exfat if 
possible, out of curiosity.

Thanks very much to everyone who contributed to this thread and educated 
me in the process. If the issue turns out not to be resolved you'll hear 
from me again :-)

Mark

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Thread

Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Mark Fletcher <mark27q1@gmail.com> - 2016-10-20 18:20 +0200
  Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Børge Holen <holen.borge@gmail.com> - 2016-10-20 18:40 +0200
  Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2016-10-20 19:00 +0200
    Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2016-10-20 19:30 +0200
      Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2016-10-20 20:10 +0200
        Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2016-10-20 20:50 +0200
          Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2016-10-20 21:10 +0200
            Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2016-10-20 21:30 +0200
              Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2016-10-20 21:50 +0200
                Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Joe <joe@jretrading.com> - 2016-10-20 23:10 +0200
                Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Pascal Hambourg <pascal@plouf.fr.eu.org> - 2016-10-21 00:30 +0200
        Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick David Christensen <dpchrist@holgerdanske.com> - 2016-10-20 23:20 +0200
          Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Mr Smiley <mr_smiley_home@yahoo.com> - 2016-10-21 00:40 +0200
            Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2016-10-21 10:40 +0200
              Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Nicolas George <george@nsup.org> - 2016-10-21 11:00 +0200
                Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick tomas@tuxteam.de - 2016-10-21 11:10 +0200
    Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Nicolas George <george@nsup.org> - 2016-10-20 20:10 +0200
  Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Brian <ad44@cityscape.co.uk> - 2016-10-20 19:20 +0200
  Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2016-10-20 23:00 +0200
    Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Børge Holen <holen.borge@gmail.com> - 2016-10-21 00:50 +0200
    Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Mark Fletcher <mark27q1@gmail.com> - 2016-10-21 15:30 +0200
      Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick <tomas@tuxteam.de> - 2016-10-21 15:50 +0200
        Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick rlharris@oplink.net - 2016-10-21 17:30 +0200
      Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Stefan Monnier <monnier@iro.umontreal.ca> - 2016-10-21 21:10 +0200
  Re: Most compatible way to prepare USB stick Curt <curty@free.fr> - 2016-10-22 10:50 +0200

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