USB Flash Memory HOWTO

Niko Sauer

Unit of Advanced Study
University of Pretoria, South Africa


           
       

Revision History
Revision 0.062004-03-10Revised by: ns
Added section on Linux-2.6.
Revision 0.052003-12-26Revised by: ejh
Technical review.
Revision 0.042003-12-11Revised by: ns
Revision 0.032003-12-02Revised by: ejh
Technical review.
Revision 0.022003-10-30Revised by: ns
Changed 2003-11-20

This document describes procedures for installing USB Flash Memory devices and the way of formatting them for various file systems such as vfat (the way they usually come) and ext2 (the way they fit in better with Linux). It is also described how to partition the device in two sections with different file types.


Table of Contents
1. Purpose
2. Physical devices
3. Buying a memory stick
4. Reading
5. Hardware and kernel
5.1. Setup
5.2. Kernel options
5.3. Notes
6. Some basic concepts
6.1. The /proc filesystem
6.2. SCSI devices
6.3. The USB device filesystem
6.4. The ext2 filesystem
6.5. The vfat filesystem
6.6. Explanation of command options
7. Basic verifications
7.1. A quick check
7.2. Probing the /proc filesystem
7.3. Mounting the USB filesystem
7.4. Tests -- vfat
8. Setting up an Ext2 filesystem
8.1. Partitioning
8.2. Making an ext2 device
8.3. Tests -- ext2
9. Setting up a dual partition
9.1. Partitioning
9.2. Making a dual ext2/vfat system
9.3. Tests -- ext2 and vfat
9.4. Configuring Linux for the dual partition
10. Making the memory stick accessible to users
11. Maintenance
11.1. Filesystem inspection
11.2. And then?
12. The Linux-2.6 kernel
12.1. What is new?
12.2. Kernel options
12.3. Notes
12.4. Hotplugging and Naming
13. Formalities
13.1. Copyright Information
13.2. Disclaimer
13.3. Credits
13.4. Feedback