Format USB stick to EXT3

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iceburn
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Joined: 12/07/2019

I have a Humax HD Fox T2, digital TV box and it has a USB socket for an external drive or memory stick. The 32Gb memory stick I have apparently needs to be formatted EXT3 to be able to record.

How do I format the stick to EXT3 ? prefs/hardware/disks ?

Magic Banana

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I am a translator!

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Joined: 07/24/2010

For a graphical interface, GNOME Disks ("gnome-disk-utility" in Trisquel's repository) should do it: once installed, launch it, select the stick (which obviously must be plugged) in the left pane, click on the button with two gears below the depicted partition in the right pane and choose "Format Partition...".

loldier
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Joined: 02/17/2016

lsblk # get device names, eg. /dev/sdc

sudo umount /dev/sdX # if automounted, unmount

sudo mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdX # where 'X' is a letter 'b' or 'c'

panties
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Joined: 02/02/2021

In my case, it was b.
/dev/sdb
edit:typo

nadebula.1984
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Joined: 05/01/2018

Create ext file system directly on the block device rather than on a partition? (Should be /dev/sdX1)

If there is no partition table, create one (MBR or MSDOS). Then create a (primary) partition and format the partition.

JC8
JC8
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Joined: 12/29/2020

Doesn't your TV box support a more suited filesystem for USB flash thumb drives? ext3 is not a good choice for this kind of storage, ext2 or f2fs should be the way to go.

iceburn
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Joined: 12/07/2019

The Humax box recognises the USB when its FAT32 but disallows recording. And the option to format is greyed out. I'm starting to think this is a read only setup. (TV receiver only)

Tried to format the stick on Trisquel but it won't allow F2FS (greyed out) and EXT2 is not given as an option.

JC8
JC8
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Joined: 12/29/2020

Then see if the TV box allows mounting remote directories through FTP or NFS protocols, these are usually implemented on media appliances, if they aren't then i guess you're stuck with it, try jailbreaking it or see if CFW is available to get proper features, or get a Raspberry.

nadebula.1984
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Joined: 05/01/2018

In order to create f2fs (e.g., using GParted), you must first install f2fs-tools. However, f2fs may or may not work, depending on the operating system of your device-top box.

iceburn
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Joined: 12/07/2019

The Humax I have (HD-FOX T2) must be the receiver-only version, even though the on-screen menu shows a record button. These boxes can be fitted with internal HD (HDR-FOX T2) or USB HD/memory stick. To make a recording I'll have to plug in my VCR with SCART cable.

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Open Source Software Notice

GPL Software
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busybox

LGPL Software
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libexif

nadebula.1984
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Joined: 05/01/2018

You may need to check the user manual or ask the customer service. If there isn't such restriction, you can try other file systems, even NTFS. (I have one LineageOS phone that doesn't support ext4 or exfat file system for TF card, so I'm forced to use NTFS and it works perfectly.)

iceburn
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Joined: 12/07/2019

NTFS was tried and didn't work. Only FAT32 shows the on screen menu but only shows a media folder. Music/video/photos cannot be opened. It must be the TV receiver-only version, which works ok.