Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before. External USB drive, yes.
stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic, all of
its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that makes
sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by formatting
in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

Thanks,
Kare

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 6/3/26 06:22 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:

Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.ÿ External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal
of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

Thanks,
Kare

The USB stick will probably come preformatted, based on the experience
I've had.ÿ Usually some MS format, such as NTFS or FAT32.

This lets it be a "generic" format that can be read by Windows, Mac OS
or Linux systems.

You can, of course, reformat and rebuild the file system to meet any
specific needs you may have, but generally leaving the stick as is
should work.

Bob

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Wed, 3 Jun 2026 21:22:12 -0400 (EDT)
Karen Lewellen <klewellen@shellworld.net> wrote:

Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before. External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the
goal of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if
that makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

I'll repeat the link I posted before with USB stick advice:

https://www.kingston.com/unitedkingdom/en/blog/personal-storage/understanding-file-systems

Most of this applies to USB sticks and also SD and microSD cards. I use
very few USB sticks nowadays, but mostly microSD cards in a USB
adaptor. It's getting more difficult to find USB sticks from the most
reputable suppliers e.g. Kingston, Sandisk, Toshiba. Probably best
avoid the very big sticks e.g. 2TB, at 'really cheap' prices.

--
Joe

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-06-04, Bob McGowan <ramjr0915@gmail.com> wrote:

On 6/3/26 06:22 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:

Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.ÿ External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal
of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

Thanks,
Kare

The USB stick will probably come preformatted, based on the experience
I've had.ÿ Usually some MS format, such as NTFS or FAT32.

This lets it be a "generic" format that can be read by Windows, Mac OS
or Linux systems.

You can, of course, reformat and rebuild the file system to meet any specific needs you may have, but generally leaving the stick as is
should work.

Bob

Is there an appreciable difference between an external USB drive and a
thumb drive?

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On Thu 04 Jun 2026 at 14:46:12 (-0000), CGS wrote:

On 2026-06-04, Bob McGowan <ramjr0915@gmail.com> wrote:

On 6/3/26 06:22 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:

A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.ÿ External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal
of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

The USB stick will probably come preformatted, based on the experience I've had.ÿ Usually some MS format, such as NTFS or FAT32.

This lets it be a "generic" format that can be read by Windows, Mac OS
or Linux systems.

You can, of course, reformat and rebuild the file system to meet any specific needs you may have, but generally leaving the stick as is
should work.

Is there an appreciable difference between an external USB drive and a
thumb drive?

You might notice the difference if you mislay the cable (or, when
appropriate, have no access to a power outlet).

Cheers,
David.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

At Thu, 4 Jun 2026 14:46:12 -0000 (UTC) CGS <etphonehomefrance@gmail.com> wrote:

On 2026-06-04, Bob McGowan <ramjr0915@gmail.com> wrote:

On 6/3/26 06:22 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:

Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.?ÿ External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal
of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

Thanks,
Kare

The USB stick will probably come preformatted, based on the experience I've had.?ÿ Usually some MS format, such as NTFS or FAT32.

This lets it be a "generic" format that can be read by Windows, Mac OS
or Linux systems.

You can, of course, reformat and rebuild the file system to meet any specific needs you may have, but generally leaving the stick as is
should work.

Bob

Is there an appreciable difference between an external USB drive and a
thumb drive?

Capacity, Duralbility, Portabity (transportablity).

A "thumb" will be physically and capacity smaller. A lot more portable (easier to carry around). Probably phsically more durable, but maybe not so much in terms of read-write cycles (I/O wear).

A thumb drive is easier to carry arround, but not so good as a drive for long term mounting, with lots of read/write cycles.

From an OS and software point of view, all USB drives are treated the same. This actually includes things like USB "floppy" drives and things like USB "Zip" drives as well as USB <=> SATA and USB <=> M.2 enclusures both rotating rust and pure silicon "drives" (flash memory).

--
Robert Heller -- Cell: 413-658-7953 GV: 978-633-5364
Deepwoods Software -- Custom Software Services
http://www.deepsoft.com/ -- Linux Administration Services
heller@deepsoft.com -- Webhosting Services


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 2026-06-04, David Wright <deblis@lionunicorn.co.uk> wrote:

On Thu 04 Jun 2026 at 14:46:12 (-0000), CGS wrote:

On 2026-06-04, Bob McGowan <ramjr0915@gmail.com> wrote:

On 6/3/26 06:22 PM, Karen Lewellen wrote:

A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.ÿ External USB drive,
yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic,
all of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal >> >> of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory, if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

The USB stick will probably come preformatted, based on the experience
I've had.ÿ Usually some MS format, such as NTFS or FAT32.

This lets it be a "generic" format that can be read by Windows, Mac OS
or Linux systems.

You can, of course, reformat and rebuild the file system to meet any
specific needs you may have, but generally leaving the stick as is
should work.

Is there an appreciable difference between an external USB drive and a
thumb drive?

You might notice the difference if you mislay the cable (or, when appropriate, have no access to a power outlet).

I meant to point out that her experience with an external USB drive is applicable to a USB stick. There is no appreciable difference for her
use case.

Cheers,
David.

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 6/4/26 2:50 AM, Joe wrote:

Probably best
avoid the very big sticks e.g. 2TB, at 'really cheap' prices.

+1

I've noticed some cheap 2TB USB sticks prominently list 2TB as the
model, but then they don't specify the actual size anywhere. Deceptive marketing.

It seems with USB sticks (and most flash memory devices), once you reach
some vaguely defined threshold of cheapness, you simply don't get
anywhere near the advertised capacity.



--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

On 6/3/26 18:22, Karen Lewellen wrote:

Hi folks,
A slight dance step to the left question from the previous thread.
...makes humble confession.
I have never needed to buy a USB stick before.ÿ External USB drive, yes. stick no.
However, after a challenging install of rockbox to my IPod classic, all
of its contents now exist in a zip archive.
I want to safely move this zip file onto something else, with the goal
of having the USB stick easily seen, think files directory,ÿ if that
makes sense.
So, is it best to live the stick unformated?
Seemed the prior thread had a member meeting with challenges by
formatting in advance.
For greatest flexibility in a Linux, or Unix environment?

Thanks,
Kare

If you want to use a drive (USB flash, USB/SATA SSD, USB/SATA HDD, SD
card) with various operating systems (Windows, Linux, BSD, macOS, etc.),
then get a drive that is formatted with either FAT32 or exFAT. The
FAT32 file system should have broader compatibility/ support than exFAT.
Either or both may require additional drivers for read/write access on
some platforms.


Note that FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4,294,967,295 bytes (4 GiB -
1). If you plan to put big files on the drive (such as your zip
archive), exFAT may be required.


Currently sold smaller USB flash drives (<= 32 GiB?) tend to have FAT32.
Currently sold larger drives (>= 64 GiB?) tend to have exFAT.


While you can wipe and reformat a USB flash drive using Debian
GNU/Linux, I prefer using current Windows because FAT32 and exFAT are Microsoft technologies and Windows should produce a canonical result.


That said, have you considered a USB HDD or USB SSD? I would expect
better performance, notably writes (sequential and random). This would
save time and make the drive more useful for bulk transfers, backups, archives, images, etc.. If you choose a drive that is 2 TB or smaller,
you could use MBR partitioning, which should have broader compatibility/ support than GPT; notably with older computer/ motherboard firmware (BIOS).


David

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.15
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)