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Issues with USB (permissions? unable to copy/move files to newly formatted USB)

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    Issues with USB (permissions? unable to copy/move files to newly formatted USB)

    Hi everyone, I've been using kubuntu for a while now and I'm enjoying it immensely. It is a rock solid OS with such polish that I hardly miss windows OS. As a linux newbie I do run into some trouble off and on again.

    Recently purchased a brand new USB stick and used KDE partition manager to format it to ext4 (since I planned on using it with linux OS exclusively). There are many formats and after some research I settled on ext4 but let me know if this is not the right format or best format for a USB stick meant to be used to contain data/backup files.

    Everything went well and when it was done I safely removed it from my desktop and inserted it into my laptop (also kubuntu) but noticed that it would not allow me to copy or move any files onto it.

    I was confused so I tried plugging it back into the desktop and noticed the same thing! the machine that had just formatted it wouldn't allow me to copy anything over to it.

    Next I thought something had gone wrong with the formatting so this time I tried formatting it again but this time on the laptop. Same thing, it wouldn't allow me to copy any files to it.

    After some googling, discovered that this had something to do with permissions or ownership so following what I found online, I plugged in the USB into the laptop and after unmounting it, I typed the following command into konsole: sudo chown name:name /dev/sdb1

    although there was no konsole output after that command it seemed to have worked because after mounting the USB drive it seemed to accept files now. So I tested it by copying /home/ (as a test run of a simple back up method) but noticed that it would continuously ask me for permissions to copy a certain file. It could copy and then pause, with a pop-up window asking me to enter the password for it to copy a file, I would enter the password and it would continue copying, pause again, asking for the password, again and again, until I just gave up frustrated and stopped the backup/copying of /home/

    So obviously I'm missing something here. Coming from a windows environment, I never imagined that formatting a USB and copying some files onto it would be this challenging for a linux newbie. Clearly there is some built-in security measures that I'm not aware of or taking into account. Would really appreciate any assistance you could offer.

    If anything above isn't clear please let me know. Thank you in advance.
    Last edited by dect60; Jun 11, 2025, 02:30 PM.

    #2
    i usually just use fat32 for usb sticks.... ext4 is mainly for the operating system and your home partitions on the internal drives.

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      #3
      Thanks. Yes, I was considering fat32 but since the intention was to use the USB as a backup for /home/ given the file limit, thought ext4 would be better. Are you suggesting that the format of the USB stick (fat32 vs ext4) would cause the issues I was having?

      Originally posted by skyfishgoo View Post
      i usually just use fat32 for usb sticks.... ext4 is mainly for the operating system and your home partitions on the internal drives.

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        #4
        When you setup a USB stick with KDE Partition Manager, if "you" want to be able to use it right away, check Everyone for Permissions. If you don't, then the device is owned by root.

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        Windows no longer obstruct my view.
        Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
        "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes

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          #5
          Permissions permissions permissions


          ext4 is not really suited to removable and portable storage so much, as it takes extra work to be able to use it across different machines.

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            #6
            ooof, see I knew there was something really basic and obvious that I had missed, can't believe I didn't see that, I'll have to go back into kde partition manager and see when that screen comes up or how I missed it, I think I right clicked on one of the icons for the USB and then went from there but don't remember seeing or noticing that radio dial/option.

            Thank you

            Originally posted by Snowhog View Post
            When you setup a USB stick with KDE Partition Manager, if "you" want to be able to use it right away, check Everyone for Permissions. If you don't, then the device is owned by root.

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              #7
              can I ask which format is suggested for removable or portable storage, whether USB or external drives intended as backup? that's my planned use so it would be helpful in that regard, thank you

              Originally posted by claydoh View Post
              ext4 is not really suited to removable and portable storage so much, as it takes extra work to be able to use it across different machines.

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                #8
                Originally posted by dect60 View Post
                can I ask which format is suggested for removable or portable storage, whether USB or external drives intended as backup? that's my planned use so it would be helpful in that regard, thank you
                Format it with the same FS (File System) you are using on the source you will be backing up.
                Windows no longer obstruct my view.
                Using Kubuntu Linux since March 23, 2007.
                "It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data." - Sherlock Holmes

                Comment


                  #9
                  Originally posted by dect60 View Post
                  can I ask which format is suggested for removable or portable storage, whether USB or external drives intended as backup? that's my planned use so it would be helpful in that regard, thank you


                  As Snowhog says, using the same file system you do on your PC is fine --but you will want to learn a little (not much!) about ownerships and permissions. More so if you share the drive with other Linux systems or user accounts.

                  Exfat is fine for large USB storage, but for Linux you usually need to save permissions/ownerships so for backup purposes it it not necessarily the best choice -- but if those backups are compressed into an archive before being saved, and decompressed on the Linux machine to make things easier and smoother, this is Ok as a workaround.
                  If used mostly for docs and media files, then Exfat/fat32 are perfectly fine, and allow access from Windows/mac.

                  If you will only use the drive for the one system, then once you have set permissions, you should not need to mess with it again.

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