Display connected block devices:
lsblk
NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS loop0 7:0 0 65.2M 1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1519 loop1 7:1 0 65.1M 1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1515 loop2 7:2 0 42.2M 1 loop /snap/snapd/14066 loop3 7:3 0 162.9M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/145 loop4 7:4 0 61.5M 1 loop /snap/authy/7 loop5 7:5 0 4K 1 loop /snap/bare/5 loop6 7:6 0 55.5M 1 loop /snap/core18/2284 loop7 7:7 0 55.5M 1 loop /snap/core18/2253 loop8 7:8 0 164.8M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-28-1804/161 loop9 7:9 0 61.3M 1 loop /snap/authy/6 loop10 7:10 0 43.3M 1 loop /snap/snapd/14295 sda 8:0 0 238.5G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 8M 0 part ├─sda2 8:2 0 222.9G 0 part /home │ /var │ /usr/local │ /root │ /srv │ /opt │ /boot/grub2/x86_64-efi │ /boot/grub2/i386-pc │ /.snapshots │ / └─sda3 8:3 0 15.6G 0 part [SWAP] sdb 8:16 0 465.8G 0 disk └─sdb1 8:17 0 465.8G 0 part sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom
In my case the connected USB HDD is /dev/sdb. Verify that sdb is the correct device
parted /dev/sdb print
Model: BUFFALO External HDD (scsi) Disk /dev/sdb: 500GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 131kB 500GB 500GB primary ext4 type=83
create a fresh msdos partition table
parted /dev/sdb mklabel msdos
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue? Yes/No?
press Y
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
create the new partition
parted -a optimal /dev/sdb mkpart primary fat32 0% 100%
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
check if the partition is aligned correctly
parted /dev/sdb align-check optimal 1
1 aligned
check the partition
parted /dev/sdb print
Model: BUFFALO External HDD (scsi) Disk /dev/sdb: 500GB Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B Partition Table: msdos Disk Flags: Number Start End Size Type File system Flags 1 1049kB 500GB 500GB primary lba, type=0c
now format the partition
mkfs.vfat -v /dev/sdb1
mkfs.fat 4.2 (2021-01-31) Auto-selecting FAT32 for large filesystem /dev/sdb1 has 255 heads and 63 sectors per track, hidden sectors 0x0800; logical sector size is 512, using 0xf8 media descriptor, with 976771026 sectors; drive number 0x80; filesystem has 2 32-bit FATs and 64 sectors per cluster. FAT size is 119232 sectors, and provides 15258320 clusters. There are 64 reserved sectors. Volume ID is aa1a69ca, no volume label.
~~DISCUSSION~~