formatting maxtor ext prep'ing for linux
 

hi all,

very very new to linux, but excited.
bought a maxtor 6Y160P0 USB external harddrive - well it's a LaCie but the interior is maxtor.
want to format this one under xp on fat 32, but i can only format it on ntfs.
can anyone tell me how to format and prep it for linux on fat32?
thnx

I am not sure if I understood correctly: do you plan to install Linux on that drive?

Then leave the drive blank and let Linux-setup (Yast) do the job for you. But you shouldn't use FAT32 (I know, you want XP to be able to recognize it) since FAT32 is not compatible with Linux permissions. I am not sure if this is possible at all. Better you create an extra FAT32 partition for data exchange.

But if you have Linux already installed elsewhere, you can use Yast to do the partitioning/formating of the drive. Use Yast -> System -> Partitioner

or from console, use cfdisk to create the partition and mkdosfs to format it fat32 (see manpages for more details, or post again).

hey,

its not for installing linux, already got drive for that. i want to dump my files on the lacie, movies, pics, txts, so that i can acces them both on a xp- and usue-machine

thnx though, should format it under linux, then dump the files under xp.

jrn

Linux has no problems reading NTFS. So you could do the moving from Linux, too.

EDIT: Only if both drives are on the same machine ;)

right, let's get to work then!
thnx