In what file system do I format a USB for the Raspberry Pi?

For several years, many users around the world have made the decision to acquire, prepare and use a Raspberry Pi. This is an interesting device that can act as a mini PC and that we can use for many different tasks.

It is worth mentioning that we have the possibility of acquiring the board individually and later adding the desired components. In the same way we can acquire sets with the mini PC already assembled, which is easier for its subsequent start-up. Be that as it may, one of the most important decisions we must make in this regard is choosing the operating system that we are going to use here.

In what file system do I format a USB for the Raspberry Pi

To a large extent, this decision will vary depending on the type of use we want to make of the Raspberry Pi. We must bear in mind that we can use these devices as a download server, or to download Torrent files via P2P networks . In the same way, one of the most common uses that are carried out with a device with these characteristics is to turn it into a multimedia center that we connect directly to the television. In the same way, it can act as a second computer based on an alternative operating system to Windows .

The truth is that the modes of use of a Raspberry Pi are enormous, but as we told you, the operating system that we install directly influences here. In most cases, it will be based on a Linux distribution, although it is not the only alternative that we can use here. At the same time, we must take into consideration that as a general rule we use USB memories to, for example, pass all kinds of data to the computer.

USB file system for a Raspberry Pi

Storage elements become very important when we talk about a Raspberry Pi. In fact, on many occasions we install the operating system itself from one of these removable memories. But on certain occasions when connecting a USB to our Raspberry Pi , we see that the system does not recognize it from the start. This can become a serious problem that we must solve as soon as possible. In this situation, we can ask ourselves about the file system that we can use on the mini PC.

In this way we can format that USB memory with that specific file system so as not to have reading problems again. Obviously, the preparation of this storage device with the correct file system is generally carried out from another computer, for example, based on Windows. Here we have the possibility to select between several file systems, so we must choose well.

sistema archivos

What we must know to make a good choice of format is that we must opt for one that natively supports the installed operating system. Most of the current Linux distributions at the moment support the usual file formats like FAT32 , exFAT, NTFS , or EXT3/4.

Therefore, we only have to format the USB with one of these so that we do not have a compatibility problem on the Raspberry Pi. Of course, if we usually work with a computer based on macOS, we should avoid Apple‘s proprietary HFS and APFS file systems, since the Linux of the mini PC will not be able to read them.