Do portable usb drives work with linux?
 

I would like to get one of those little drives you can plug in a usb slot and transfer files easily between computers, can you make them work with linux?

Yes, quite easily actually. Check the hardware reviews here for the better ones, but they are mounted just like a floppy would be.

For example

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/thumbdrive -t vfat

I believe you may need a certain kernel module for them, but it should be included by default. Hell, even my laptop's SD/MMC drive is supported by the new kernel.

Yes they definitely work - I just picked one up today and am using it now! They use the USB mass storage driver which is included in all reasonably recent distribution kernels and work as outlined above the same way as USB drives and/or cameras.

A quick tip that I found here on linuxquestions that helps identify one that will work with linux: check and make sure that it *doesn't* require any drivers to be installed with WinXP/2K/Me. These all have USB mass storage support, so if you don't need to install drivers for those, the odds are very high that it will 'just work' TM with Linux.

hth
ws

Thanks for the replies. I think I am gonna pick up one, I just hope I can get it to work because I have a real hard time getting my usb printer working and still cannot tomorrow. Maybe I will ask about that in a new thread. Thanks.