[gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Mick]

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What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in 
fdisk:
===========================================
Disk /dev/sda: 1010 MB, 1010826752 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 122 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x91f72d24

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *           1         123      987104    6  FAT16
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(121, 254, 63) logical=(122, 227, 40)
===========================================
Not sure I understand the "physical/logical endings" comment that fdisk throws 
at me.


This is what sfdisk shows:
===========================================
# sfdisk /dev/sda
Checking that no-one is using this disk right now ...
OK

Disk /dev/sda: 1011 cylinders, 32 heads, 61 sectors/track
Old situation:
Warning: The partition table looks like it was made
  for C/H/S=*/255/63 (instead of 1011/32/61).
For this listing I'll assume that geometry.
Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0

   Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   *      0+    122-    123-    987104    6  FAT16
                end: (c,h,s) expected (122,227,40) found (121,254,63)
/dev/sda2          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda3          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
/dev/sda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
Input in the following format; absent fields get a default value.
===========================================

Grateful for any attempt to educate me on this!  :-)
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[dhk]

Mick wrote:
> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in 
> fdisk:
> ===========================================
> Disk /dev/sda: 1010 MB, 1010826752 bytes
> 255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 122 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
> Disk identifier: 0x91f72d24
> 
>    Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sda1   *           1         123      987104    6  FAT16
> Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
>      phys=(121, 254, 63) logical=(122, 227, 40)
> ===========================================
> Not sure I understand the "physical/logical endings" comment that fdisk throws 
> at me.
> 
> 
> This is what sfdisk shows:
> ===========================================
> # sfdisk /dev/sda
> Checking that no-one is using this disk right now ...
> OK
> 
> Disk /dev/sda: 1011 cylinders, 32 heads, 61 sectors/track
> Old situation:
> Warning: The partition table looks like it was made
>   for C/H/S=*/255/63 (instead of 1011/32/61).
> For this listing I'll assume that geometry.
> Units = cylinders of 8225280 bytes, blocks of 1024 bytes, counting from 0
> 
>    Device Boot Start     End   #cyls    #blocks   Id  System
> /dev/sda1   *      0+    122-    123-    987104    6  FAT16
>                 end: (c,h,s) expected (122,227,40) found (121,254,63)
> /dev/sda2          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
> /dev/sda3          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
> /dev/sda4          0       -       0          0    0  Empty
> Input in the following format; absent fields get a default value.
> ===========================================
> 
> Grateful for any attempt to educate me on this!  :-)

I use fdisk and treat it like any other drive/disk.

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Daniel Quinn]

On October 7, 2009 10:30:23 pm Mick wrote:
> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick? 

The thing about USB sticks is that if you want to use them to transfer files 
cross-platform (Windows & Mac as well as Linux) you have to use a common 
filesystem.  Typically, I use FAT32 for this since I don't think Windows 
supports anything else that Linux and Mac can both deal with (NTFS support in 
Linux is still unavailable on most machines)

So, if you're going to go with FAT32, you can use fdisk to partition your 
stick as usual, and mark it as type "b" (Win95 FAT32) (there's a few options 
related to FAT32 in there, but I *think* that that's the right one).  Write to 
the stick and exit fdisk.

Then when you're back at the prompt, run:

  # mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1

...if sda is in fact your key.  You can even add "-L LabelName" to attach a 
label to the stick:

  # mkfs.vfat -L "USB Stick" /dev/sda1

I'm pretty sure spaces are ok there... If not, nuke the space ;-)

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Mick]

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On Thursday 08 October 2009, Daniel Quinn wrote:
> On October 7, 2009 10:30:23 pm Mick wrote:
> > What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?
>
> The thing about USB sticks is that if you want to use them to transfer
> files cross-platform (Windows & Mac as well as Linux) you have to use a
> common filesystem.  Typically, I use FAT32 for this since I don't think
> Windows supports anything else that Linux and Mac can both deal with (NTFS
> support in Linux is still unavailable on most machines)
>
> So, if you're going to go with FAT32, you can use fdisk to partition your
> stick as usual, and mark it as type "b" (Win95 FAT32) (there's a few
> options related to FAT32 in there, but I *think* that that's the right
> one).  Write to the stick and exit fdisk.
>
> Then when you're back at the prompt, run:
>
>   # mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
>
> ...if sda is in fact your key.  You can even add "-L LabelName" to attach a
> label to the stick:
>
>   # mkfs.vfat -L "USB Stick" /dev/sda1
>
> I'm pretty sure spaces are ok there... If not, nuke the space ;-)

Thanks for this.

I was thinking that mkdos -F 16 would restore the original, rather than a 
different version.  The stick will be used in MSWindows mainly.
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 07:31:50 +0100, Mick wrote:

> The stick will be used in MSWindows mainly.

In that case, I'd play safe and format it in Windows.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

Sisko:"I won't be condescending to you this episode, Dr. Bashir."

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[daid kahl]

> > The stick will be used in MSWindows mainly.
>
> In that case, I'd play safe and format it in Windows.
>
>

Ah booo!  You're formatting it anyway, so there's no data to lose, and
I can't imagine you'd break it by trying to format it.

Try it in Linux first and let us know how it goes.  I never formatted
a USB stick before, and it might be neat.

You can always point-and-click to format it in Windows I'm sure.

Regards,
daid

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 19:34:39 +0900, daid kahl wrote:

> > > The stick will be used in MSWindows mainly.  
> >
> > In that case, I'd play safe and format it in Windows.

> Ah booo!  You're formatting it anyway, so there's no data to lose, and
> I can't imagine you'd break it by trying to format it.

Who mentioned data loss? Formatting in Windows reduces the risk of
Windows complaining about the format. It may not be standards-compliant,
but at least is is consistently broken.

I've had cfdisk complain about too many FAT filesystems that apparently
work well, so I generally format in the device that will mainly use the
filesystem.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

An infinite number of monkeys pounding away on keyboards will
eventually produce a report showing that Windows is more secure,
and has a lower TCO, than linux.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[KH]

daid kahl schrieb:
>>> The stick will be used in MSWindows mainly.
>> In that case, I'd play safe and format it in Windows.
>>
>>
> 
> Ah booo!  You're formatting it anyway, so there's no data to lose, and
> I can't imagine you'd break it by trying to format it.
> 
> Try it in Linux first and let us know how it goes.  I never formatted
> a USB stick before, and it might be neat.
> 
> You can always point-and-click to format it in Windows I'm sure.
> 
> Regards,
> daid
> 

Hi,

as a matter of fact, you *can't*. I once formated a USB stick as swap 
(is it 82 or 83?) and used it in Linux as swap. (very little ram on the 
old vaio I used.)
There was a second partition as raiser(?) and also 82 or 83.
Anyway later I wanted to use it again and windows was unable to format 
it. I think it didn't even show up. I had to plug it in Linux and change 
to b(?).
Also I once had a problem with a fat partition of around 200gb on an 
removable usb hdd. Windows does not like that big FAT. I think the 
maximum is somewhere around 70? They want to force you to use ntfs then.

kh

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[KH]

Neil Bothwick schrieb:

> It may not be standards-compliant, but at least is is consistently broken.

In some way this is funny and makes me smile.

kh

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[KH]

Daniel Quinn schrieb:
> Then when you're back at the prompt, run:
> 
>   # mkfs.vfat /dev/sda1
> 
> ...if sda is in fact your key.  You can even add "-L LabelName" to attach a 
> label to the stick:
> 
>   # mkfs.vfat -L "USB Stick" /dev/sda1
> 
Hi,

from man mkfs.vfat:

-n volume-name: Sets the volume name (label) of the file system.  The 
volume name can be up to 11 characters long.  The default is no label.

kh

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Stroller]

On 8 Oct 2009, at 12:22, KH wrote:
> ...
> as a matter of fact, you *can't*. I once formated a USB stick as  
> swap (is it 82 or 83?) and used it in Linux as swap. (very little  
> ram on the old vaio I used.)
> There was a second partition as raiser(?) and also 82 or 83.
> Anyway later I wanted to use it again and windows was unable to  
> format it. I think it didn't even show up.

Did you look in Disk Management?

Formatted disks show in My Computer, but disks with an "alien"  
filesystem show only in Disk Management on XP, which is a far less  
obvious place  to find.

Stroller.

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Frank Steinmetzger]

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Am Donnerstag, 8. Oktober 2009 schrieb Mick:
> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in

I remember from SD cards that formatting them with Linux often was to no 
avail - Windows wouldn't recognise them, neither with the fs on the device 
itself, nor with a partition for the fs.
So in the end I formatted them in Windows, and all was fine. :-/
-- 
Gruß | Greetings | Qapla'
Never argue with an idiot.
He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience.

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Paul Hartman]

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Frank Steinmetzger <Warp_7@gmx.de> wrote:
> Am Donnerstag, 8. Oktober 2009 schrieb Mick:
>> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in
>
> I remember from SD cards that formatting them with Linux often was to no
> avail - Windows wouldn't recognise them, neither with the fs on the device
> itself, nor with a partition for the fs.
> So in the end I formatted them in Windows, and all was fine. :-/

With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
(in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Volker Armin Hemmann]

On Donnerstag 08 Oktober 2009, Paul Hartman wrote:
> On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Frank Steinmetzger <Warp_7@gmx.de> wrote:
> > Am Donnerstag, 8. Oktober 2009 schrieb Mick:
> >> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in
> >
> > I remember from SD cards that formatting them with Linux often was to no
> > avail - Windows wouldn't recognise them, neither with the fs on the
> > device itself, nor with a partition for the fs.
> > So in the end I formatted them in Windows, and all was fine. :-/
> 
> With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
> proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
> (in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)
> 

I have seen a lot of sd cards - anmd they all had a 'real' table with one 
partition - sdX1.

Except for cards that were removed from devices without shutdown/unmounting 
first. In that case linux was not able to find a valid partition table.

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Mick]

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On Thursday 08 October 2009, Volker Armin Hemmann wrote:
> On Donnerstag 08 Oktober 2009, Paul Hartman wrote:
> > On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Frank Steinmetzger <Warp_7@gmx.de> wrote:
> > > Am Donnerstag, 8. Oktober 2009 schrieb Mick:
> > >> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this
> > >> in
> > >
> > > I remember from SD cards that formatting them with Linux often was to
> > > no avail - Windows wouldn't recognise them, neither with the fs on the
> > > device itself, nor with a partition for the fs.
> > > So in the end I formatted them in Windows, and all was fine. :-/
> >
> > With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
> > proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
> > (in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)
>
> I have seen a lot of sd cards - anmd they all had a 'real' table with one
> partition - sdX1.
>
> Except for cards that were removed from devices without shutdown/unmounting
> first. In that case linux was not able to find a valid partition table.

I formatted it using MSWindows.  Then checked with sfdisk and fdisk and the 
same errors (of "partition 1 extends past end of disk" and physical/logical 
endings mismatch) came up.

Running parted shows no problems what-so-ever:
====================================
Model: Ut163 USB2FlashStorage (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1011MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      32.3kB  1011MB  1011MB  primary  fat16        boot
====================================

Perhaps parted is more compatible with the MSDOS ways of interpreting disk 
geometry?
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Paul Hartman]

On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 4:23 PM, Volker Armin Hemmann
<volkerarmin@googlemail.com> wrote:
> On Donnerstag 08 Oktober 2009, Paul Hartman wrote:
>> On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Frank Steinmetzger <Warp_7@gmx.de> wrote:
>> > Am Donnerstag, 8. Oktober 2009 schrieb Mick:
>> >> What's the best way to reformat a USB stick?  It currently shows this in
>> >
>> > I remember from SD cards that formatting them with Linux often was to no
>> > avail - Windows wouldn't recognise them, neither with the fs on the
>> > device itself, nor with a partition for the fs.
>> > So in the end I formatted them in Windows, and all was fine. :-/
>>
>> With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
>> proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
>> (in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)
>>
>
> I have seen a lot of sd cards - anmd they all had a 'real' table with one
> partition - sdX1.
>
> Except for cards that were removed from devices without shutdown/unmounting
> first. In that case linux was not able to find a valid partition table.

Could be I am getting confused in my old age. :) I have RS-MMC card
that I use with an SD adapter, and that has no partition, so maybe
that's what I'm thinking about.

In general I try to format my cards on the device I plan to use them
with the most. So if it's mostly used in Windows, format it in
Windows, if it's used in my phone, or my camera, format in that
device.

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Stroller]

On 8 Oct 2009, at 22:10, Paul Hartman wrote:
> ...
> With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
> proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
> (in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)

Uh, unless SD cards are seriously goofy - a possibility I concede -  
then they're just a bunch of blocks. Partitions are just something you  
- either you the user, or the manufacturer if they come pre-formatted  
- put on there.

I'm pretty sure that my experience with at least one external hard- 
drive (USB mass-storage device) was that formatting /dev/sda worked  
just fine under Linux (and, I think OS X) but was not recognised by  
Windows XP. IIRC mkfs.vfat gave a warning. When formatted by Windows  
XP and remounted in Linux the drive was of the /dev/sda1 type of  
partition layout.

This seems to be the opposite of how you describe, unless I am  
misreading.

Stroller.

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Mick]

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On Friday 09 October 2009, Stroller wrote:
> On 8 Oct 2009, at 22:10, Paul Hartman wrote:
> > ...
> > With SD cards, often times there are no partitions. So if you create
> > proper partitions sometimes it won't read in other devices/computers.
> > (in linux terms that means you would format /dev/sda not /dev/sda1)
>
> Uh, unless SD cards are seriously goofy - a possibility I concede -
> then they're just a bunch of blocks. Partitions are just something you
> - either you the user, or the manufacturer if they come pre-formatted
> - put on there.
>
> I'm pretty sure that my experience with at least one external hard-
> drive (USB mass-storage device) was that formatting /dev/sda worked
> just fine under Linux (and, I think OS X) but was not recognised by
> Windows XP. IIRC mkfs.vfat gave a warning. When formatted by Windows
> XP and remounted in Linux the drive was of the /dev/sda1 type of
> partition layout.
>
> This seems to be the opposite of how you describe, unless I am
> misreading.

Some USB sticks are formatted as floppy disks (?) and show up as /dev/sda 
(instead of /dev/sda1).  I have had no problems mounting these in Linux or 
MSWindows, but wouldn't know how to format them in Linux.  Their partitions 
look all over the shop.  dmesg shows:
======================================
usb-storage: device scan complete
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] 1997312 512-byte hardware sectors: (1.02 GB/975 MiB)
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Write Protect is off
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Mode Sense: 03 00 00 00
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Assuming drive cache: write through
 sda:
sd 1:0:0:0: [sda] Attached SCSI removable disk
======================================

and fdisk:
======================================
# fdisk -l /dev/sda

Disk /dev/sda: 1022 MB, 1022623744 bytes
32 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 1952 * 512 = 999424 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x69737369

This doesn't look like a partition table
Probably you selected the wrong device.

   Device Boot      Start         End      Blocks   Id  System
/dev/sda1   ?      957875     1044294    84344761   69  Unknown
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(68, 13, 10) logical=(957874, 21, 37)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(288, 115, 43) logical=(1044293, 15, 36)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2   ?      871681     1829612   934940732+  73  Unknown
Partition 2 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(371, 114, 37) logical=(871680, 1, 61)
Partition 2 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(366, 32, 33) logical=(1829611, 4, 30)
Partition 2 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda3   ?           2           2           0   74  Unknown
Partition 3 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(371, 114, 37) logical=(1, 10, 12)
Partition 3 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(372, 97, 50) logical=(1, 10, 11)
Partition 3 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda4               1     1759792  1717556736    0  Empty
Partition 4 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
     phys=(0, 0, 0) logical=(0, 0, 1)
Partition 4 has different physical/logical endings:
     phys=(0, 0, 0) logical=(1759791, 23, 37)
Partition 4 does not end on cylinder boundary.

Partition table entries are not in disk order
======================================

While parted again has no problem seeing it and identifying the partition 
tablet as "loop" instead of MSDOS:
======================================
# parted /dev/sda
Warning: GNU Parted has detected libreiserfs interface version mismatch.  
Found 1-1, required 0. ReiserFS support will be disabled.
GNU Parted 1.8.8
Using /dev/sda
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted) p                                                                
Model: Crucial Gizmo! overdrive (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 1023MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: loop

Number  Start  End     Size    File system  Flags
 1      0.00B  1023MB  1023MB  fat16
======================================
-- 
Regards,
Mick

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Neil Bothwick]

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On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 07:56:49 +0100, Mick wrote:

> Some USB sticks are formatted as floppy disks (?) and show up
> as /dev/sda (instead of /dev/sda1).  I have had no problems mounting
> these in Linux or MSWindows, but wouldn't know how to format them in
> Linux.

mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdX

> Their partitions look all over the shop. 

> # fdisk -l /dev/sda
> 
> Disk /dev/sda: 1022 MB, 1022623744 bytes
> 32 heads, 61 sectors/track, 1023 cylinders
> Units = cylinders of 1952 * 512 = 999424 bytes
> Disk identifier: 0x69737369
> 
> This doesn't look like a partition table

That's because there are no partitions and no partition table, the
filesystem filled the unpartitioned disk. The Sony E-Reader uses this
method for its internal flash storage and KDE has no problems
automounting it.


-- 
Neil Bothwick

OS/2: Obsolete Soon, Too

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Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[KH]

Stroller schrieb:
> 
> On 8 Oct 2009, at 12:22, KH wrote:
>> ...
>> as a matter of fact, you *can't*. I once formated a USB stick as swap 
>> (is it 82 or 83?) and used it in Linux as swap. (very little ram on 
>> the old vaio I used.)
>> There was a second partition as raiser(?) and also 82 or 83.
>> Anyway later I wanted to use it again and windows was unable to format 
>> it. I think it didn't even show up.
> 
> Did you look in Disk Management?
> 
> Formatted disks show in My Computer, but disks with an "alien" 
> filesystem show only in Disk Management on XP, which is a far less 
> obvious place  to find.
> 
> Stroller.
> 

Hi,

Maybe I didn't. I don't do Windows anymore so when I have to use it 
somewhere I am often even more lost than with gentoo :-)

kh

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[Mick]

2009/10/9 Neil Bothwick <neil@digimed.co.uk>:
> On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 07:56:49 +0100, Mick wrote:
>
>> Some USB sticks are formatted as floppy disks (?) and show up
>> as /dev/sda (instead of /dev/sda1).  I have had no problems mounting
>> these in Linux or MSWindows, but wouldn't know how to format them in
>> Linux.
>
> mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdX

Aha!  The 'superfloppy' format!  I didn't know this.

Thanks.  :-)
-- 
Regards,
Mick

Re: [gentoo-user] Formating a USB stick

[daid kahl]

> Who mentioned data loss? Formatting in Windows reduces the risk of
> Windows complaining about the format. It may not be standards-compliant,
> but at least is is consistently broken.

Sorry I'm a bit late on this, but just a note, in fstab, you should
use the option iocharset=utf8, otherwise it's tough to write to the
disk in Linux.  Just reformatted my usbstick today in XP and was
setting up automounting in Linux and encountered this error.
Otherwise things seem fine.

Regards,
daid