Ext. USB SSD: can't change partition type from "ntfs" to "ext4"

kaza · 09-23-2020, 05:22 AM

Hello!

I'm trying to connect an external SSD (USB) to one of our LINUX servers
to be visible (and accessible).

It came with a "ntfs" partition. At first I thought it's no problem
to "mount" it as "ntfs" type is among the known types. But I've got
an error:

mount: unknown filesystem type 'ntfs'

So I decided to remove the "ntfs" partision and to create a LINUX partition
instead.

Here's how the disk is visible:

Code:

lsusb
Bus 002 Device 005: ID 1058:1078 Western Digital Technologies, Inc. Elements Portable (WDBUZG)
lsscsi
[10:0:0:0]   disk    WD       Elements 1078    1065  /dev/sdc

I've run "fdisk /dev/sdc", deleted the partition, created new GPT
partition table, added a partition, here's how "fdisk" sees it:

Code:

fdisk /dev/sdc


WARNING: fdisk GPT support is currently new, and therefore in an experimental phase. Use at your own discretion.
Welcome to fdisk (util-linux 2.23.2).

Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them.
Be careful before using the write command.


Command (m for help): p

Disk /dev/sdc: 2000.4 GB, 2000365289472 bytes, 3906963456 sectors
Units = sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk label type: gpt
Disk identifier: 77739321-A60D-45CA-A70F-15EB0DA20E22


#         Start          End    Size  Type            Name
 1         2048   3906963422    1.8T  Linux filesyste

But the "lsblk" still sees the partition type as "ntfs"
and "mount" gives the same error:

Code:

lsblk -f /dev/sdc1
NAME FSTYPE LABEL    UUID                                 MOUNTPOINT
sdc1 ntfs   Elements F474B7AA74B76DCC

I attempted to disconnect the SSD and re-connect it (thought that maybe some
cached information remains somewhere) but nothing changed: "fdisk" sees the
partition as LINUX and "lsblk/mount" see it as "ntfs".

What am I doing wrong?

TIA,
kaza.

michaelk · 09-23-2020, 05:37 AM

What distribution/version is running on your system?

The older ones did not automatically install ntfs-3g driver required for ntfs read/write support.

Did you actually create a ext4 filesystem using mkfs?

fatmac · 09-23-2020, 08:53 AM

Did you use the -t option when creating your Linux partition(?), & did you then create a Linux filesystem on the disk(?).

(Also, if it was mounted when you tried to alter it, the alterations won't have been written to the disk.)

kaza · 09-23-2020, 08:55 AM

Thanks michaelk!

That's what I forgot: "mkfs" (long time since last time I did it).

All good now.

Regards,
kaza.

jefro · 09-23-2020, 02:51 PM

Wonder why it didn't work out of the box?

computersavvy · 09-25-2020, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jefro

Wonder why it didn't work out of the box?

That answer is probably in post #2.

jefro · 09-25-2020, 02:41 PM

Almost every distro had NTFS read support for decades was my thinking. Would have to be odd to me not to have ntfs-3g in almost all newish distros.
Maybe command is wrong? Can't hurt to test for ntfs-3g but to read, mount had it for a long time.