Like the Zip file/folder commands, I sometimes forget the USB drive format syntax, so I put it here as a reminder.
Often USB drives get clogged up with old files which hide themselves in trash folders not visible, causing phantom 'drive full' notices etc, and you just have to start afresh again and clear out everything at low level without any partitions.
To format a usb drive without partitioning it, first plug it in.
$ sudo su
# fdisk -l to list disks
You can also use
$ sudo cat /proc/partitions
But you will just get the device, ie 'sdc' not the path
[root@Centos anton]# fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sda: 320.1 GB, 320071851520 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 38913 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x000e6735
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 64 512000 83 Linux
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary.
/dev/sda2 64 38914 312056832 8e Linux LVM
Disk /dev/sdb: 750.2 GB, 750152146432 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 91200 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x404a6639
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 91200 732562976 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
Disk /dev/mapper/vg_centos-lv_root: 53.7 GB, 53687091200 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 6527 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/mapper/vg_centos-lv_swap: 6392 MB, 6392119296 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 777 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/mapper/vg_centos-lv_home: 259.5 GB, 259463839744 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 31544 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/sdc: 4043 MB, 4043309056 bytes
125 heads, 62 sectors/track, 1018 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 7750 * 512 = 3968000 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I want to format the 4GB drive at the end, /dev/sdc
It needs to be unmounted if it's mounted
# umount /dev/sdc then format it
# mkfs.vfat -I /dev/sdc
The 'I' flag is to access the whole drive
If it already has a partition like below skip the 'I' flag
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 91200 732562976 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
So you can format it with
# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1
It is usable cross platform in Linux and Windows
You can format to ext2 or ext3 if you want
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdc (no 'I' flag, just a 'y' prompt)
Simple commands to quickly sort out a usb drive
Labels: Centos 6, Fdisk, Format USB Drive, RHEL