On Fri, Aug 26, 2011 at 14:05, Kevin J. Cummings
<cummings(a)kjchome.homeip.net> wrote:
A pen drive does not need a low level format
A pen drive is a "mass storage device" per USB specs. It doesn't
matter if the data is then stored magnetically on a spinning disk, on
flash memory, or hammered in wood by a robotic arm.
"low level formatting" does not exist anymore on PCs since the advent
of the IDE interface, unless you use a manufacturer-provided service
utility.
I'm perfectly aware of the difference between partitioning and
formatting. Formatting, as you well explain, is erasing the contents
of a partition by laying out a new filesystem...
The fact that a FAQ like the following needs to exist shows the
user-hostile nature of Linux in some instances... Yes, a user who
plugs a removable storage device might want to format it...
FAQ: How to format a Flash drive in Linux
http://www.ehow.com/how_5092605_format-flash-drive-linux.html
...and having to call GPartEd instead of showing a "format" option on
the object' s pop-up menu is just stupid. I don't want to edit
partitions, I want to do a quick format on the device to make 100%
sure any hidden auto-executable win32 code is erased.
I'm not 100% sure now, but I believe even 1992's IBM OS/2 2.0 featured
a "format" option on any drive object's pop-up menu
FC