Formatting USB hard drive. NTFS or Fat

[Weatherlawyer]

I have just bought a 500 GB USB 3 hard drive Verbatim model number 53029.

(Would you believe: Do not use the Verbatim portable Hard Drive when the ambient temperature is below 10°C or above 35°C.
If the Verbatim portable Hard Drive is moved from a cool environment to a warmer environment, please allow the drive to acclimatize to the ambient temperature before operating the device. Failing to do so may lead to condensation within the drive enclosure, which in turn may cause the drive to malfunction.) No wonder I got it cheap.

The scanner/printer at the local library couldn't see it. It may need formatting or perhaps their security prevented access. I would like to using it there occasionally to scan stuff. It's primary role will be at home distributing archived folders between my computers. I am using Mageia 4.1 and the local libraries use Windows 7.

The intro page the "read only" files say that I have the choice of opening software for a MAC or a PC. The drive is designed for all Windows up to and including Windows 7. Presumably, I may be safer with Microsoft.

[doktor5000]

For the condensation, well they are correct, this applies to all electrical devices, bust mostly nobody cares about it ...

Please do the following after unplugging your drive - Open a terminal, and as root run:

Code: Select all

journalctl -af

then wait a few seconds, and plugin the drive, and wait again fifteen seconds or so, until no new output appears.
Then post everything here.

[jiml8]

If I were in charge of the computers at your library, I would disable all the USB ports. So maybe whoever is in charge has as much sense as I do

[Weatherlawyer]

I just got this back from Verbatim:

Thank you for contacting our technical support. You will find your reference number in the subject of this e-mail.
1- The fact that you can see the contents of the disk means it is installed properly and you can browse its contents. You do not need to format it.
2- You will find below the method to partition the disk in Linux if you wish to do this.
http://tldp.org/HOWTO/Partition/fdisk_partitioning.html
3- You will find below a link to lists of commands you can use in Linux. Please follow the CP command to transfer files.
http://ss64.com/bash/

Kind regards, Laurence Garric Verbatim Technical Service Center
Phone: +800 3883 2222
E: support.uk@verbatimsupport.eu
W: http://www.verbatim-europe.com

Verbatim is a Mitsubishi Kagaku Media company

Getting the stand-down button would be nice. There is a standby power saving button available but not switched on by default.
I can't remember saying why it might want formatting. The Files larger than 4 GB can not be stored on it as FAT but NTFS is read only in MAC. That is it as far I know just for Windows and Apple. Apple though are a Unix derivative...
Nothing is ever straight forward.