this post was submitted on 19 Nov 2025
27 points (100.0% liked)
Linux
59845 readers
700 users here now
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
Rules
- Posts must be relevant to operating systems running the Linux kernel. GNU/Linux or otherwise.
- No misinformation
- No NSFW content
- No hate speech, bigotry, etc
Related Communities
Community icon by Alpár-Etele Méder, licensed under CC BY 3.0
founded 6 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
NTFS reads/writes fine on Linux. But if anything goes wrong then you might need a utility to fix it (Mostly caused by sudden unplugging). If you have the option, I would suggest you format and the media drive in EXT4. Mind you, EXT4 can only be read by Linux systems.
You can also use exFAT if you want cross platform support. It's had a Linux kernel driver for quite a while now.
As already suggested, for portable media exFAT is the way to go. Might also need an additional package not immediately installed by default, but nothing a quick apt-get install or dnf install won't sort out in a second.
Portable is a strong word. It's not so much a portable drive as it is a desktop external HDD that utilizes USB for data transfer. Technically portable, but not really made to toss in your pocket. It wouldn't be an external drive if I hadn't run out of headers before I wanted it. And I already had stuff on my other drives so I couldn't just swap one out. I mean, I could, but I dedicate them to things - system drive, games, raw video captures to edit, exported videos that have been edited / miscellaneous, and then this external drive for phone backups and archived media.
I shudder to think of "if anything goes wrong." I really need some sort of redundancy for this drive. It all started with "I'm going to get a big drive so I can backup my phone," and it's grown to "I have 5 phones worth of memories and 3 terabytes of YouTube channels downloaded onto this single drive." lol
I don’t know what your financial status is, but a nice Synology NAS unit is a terrific investment. I’m really happy with the one I got a while back.
My financial status is I'm trying to figure out if starting a church to grift people will make me feel bad, lol. I'll probably use one of the old PCs I have laying around and turn it into some sort of homebrew nas. Hopefully before it's too late but probably not until I have a close call.
I was having problems with NTFS HDDs when I was dual booting. Needing to get into windows for solving them. Then I ditched Windows, reformatted my drives to EXT4 and never looked back.
But now I am using EXT4 with LUKS for encryption.
Which distro are you on?
I believe I was on PopOS then. Now I am on EndeavorOS.
Ok, cool. Thanks for the info