Using Linux. Hardware? File systems of FAT, NTFS, exFAT, ext4, etc?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
SyncroScales

SyncroScales

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2011
193
0
18,690
Hi.

I plan to try Linux soon. I have it focused on trying Mint or Ubuntu. I have watched a little bit about Antergos.

If I have older hardware is it easier to get Linux working? Does it really matter? Some on this forum say older hardware and some say newer hardware. I might have to keep my current hardware setup since I cannot go all out and buy brand new everything. Adding more RAM will help though.

Since I have a few external hard-drives and Flash sticks or SD cards, how much do I need to be concerned that they are formatted in NTFS? What should I format them into or new external media? NTFS is made by Microsoft. Are other formats more efficient or reliable?

Thank you.
 
Solution
atljsf
how old?

linux usually has problems with too new hardware like too new wifi cards with no drivers, too new gpus with no support for linux and similar stuff

too old hardware on most distros is begining to be not supported well, so you gpu from the year 2000 perhaps will not work well on mint, same for a sound card from 1998 and similar stuff

about linux, mint has more fans than ubuntu, so try mint first, you might never leave it

about ntfs, linux by default can read ntfs partitions without problems

write usually requires a package called ntfs 3g, usually most distributions will come with it preinstalled, so all is covered there too, i use alot linux, ntfs is no problem at all under linux, same for fat 32

on linux you use alot ntfs...
Sort by date Sort by votes
atljsf

atljsf

Honorable
BANNED
Jun 17, 2015
4,910
46
12,990
how old?

linux usually has problems with too new hardware like too new wifi cards with no drivers, too new gpus with no support for linux and similar stuff

too old hardware on most distros is begining to be not supported well, so you gpu from the year 2000 perhaps will not work well on mint, same for a sound card from 1998 and similar stuff

about linux, mint has more fans than ubuntu, so try mint first, you might never leave it

about ntfs, linux by default can read ntfs partitions without problems

write usually requires a package called ntfs 3g, usually most distributions will come with it preinstalled, so all is covered there too, i use alot linux, ntfs is no problem at all under linux, same for fat 32

on linux you use alot ntfs, ext3, ext4 and other filesystems, there are like 20 or more popular but ext4 is the most popular at the moment, there is a driver for windows to read ext4 iirc too
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
Solution
M

mbarnes86

Splendid
Sep 16, 2010
3,839
7
26,965
Hi

What is spec of your pc system

Modern linux will run well on modern systems
With low ram systems you will have to look carefully at graphics & desktop choice

The linux system will use probably use one of the ext file systems though will have drivers to read fat and ntfs disks.

You can get free drivers to enable windows to read ext file system
Some free ones can also write to ext file systems
For sd cards and usb disks etc best to use fat 32 for easy interchange of data

Regards

Mike Barnes
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
SyncroScales

SyncroScales

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2011
193
0
18,690
Desktop: ASUS M3N78-VM, AMD Phenom II 965 3.4Ghz, 3.5GB RAM (4GB), XP Home Edition 32bit SP 3/Vista Home Premium 32bit SP2, nVidia GeForce GT 430. - Laptop: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2Ghz, 3GB RAM. Vista Home Premium 64-bit SP 2, ATI 3100.

It seems some hardware on the manufacturers site has Linux drivers, but not always. And there are also homemade drivers. But I am concerned about bad open-sourced drivers or maybe they could contain junk code and malware?

Edit: removed and started a new thread for these questions.
Also, do Linux users always have to use the command line? It seems Mint and maybe others don't require it? I also saw that some apps or programs do not need the command line. Is the command line just used to download and update programs through the repositories?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
atljsf

atljsf

Honorable
BANNED
Jun 17, 2015
4,910
46
12,990
if they contain junk or malware, well, i have used linux almost 24/ since 2006

or i ma so deep into the junk and malware that i can't see it, or i have never seen such

this same reply is being writeen under linux form firefox latest version

that list of hardware while old, will work well
remember that under linux is extremely rate that you ever install a driver, kernel has almost everything or there is a module on repositories that you can add later

one thing that each distro handles diferently is graphics drivers, some will detect your gt430 and set nvidia drivers right away

others will ask you to select it form a list

some will let you download and install the driver, those are less common now

as always try a livecd, don't install anything, just run a livecd, or a liveusb, if you don't have dvd drive anymore
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
MU_Engineer

MU_Engineer

Splendid
Feb 18, 2006
3,868
4
23,165


Older hardware runs much better under Linux than a modern Windows because you typically lose driver support for older hardware under Windows after an OS revision or two. The list of drivers in Linux simply get added onto over time and recompiled for the current kernel, so the support does nothing but improve over time, rather than seeing support come and go.

You can read and write NTFS under Linux but I'd avoid that unless you also have to read it under Windows as well. Here's what I do:

- I do not reformat any removable media such as USB sticks or memory cards. Thus they are either FAT16/FAT32 for smaller volumes and exFAT for larger ones. Reformatting them into something else nearly always renders them inoperable for anything other than your computer.

- I format SSDs and smaller HDDs as ext4 as that's the current filesystem of choice for general usage in Linux. I typically have the OS (/ except for /home and any bulk storage) on a separate disk from /home and bulk storage as I usually use an SSD for the OS and a mechanical HDD for bulk storage.

- I use XFS on hard drives as it works well for bulk storage, e.g. /home and the video directory on my HTPC, and the data store for my file/backup server. All of my HDDs any more are multi-terabyte units in a RAID.

BTW, your hardware is not old or low-powered. You have multi-core 64-bit CPUs with gigabytes of RAM in both of your systems and can run the latest and greatest without issue. "Old" in the Linux world would be stuff made in the '90s, with single-core 32-bit CPUs measured in MHz and RAM amounts measured in MB.
 
Upvote 1 Downvote
SyncroScales

SyncroScales

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2011
193
0
18,690
Thank you for the replies.

I am still new to Linux and have to install it and start using it. I have tried to continue to do my research.

If Linux works for me I would be able to tell a few more people about it and then they might be able to walk away from Windows 10, the data/content/personal/creative theft, data mining, using your computer for storage, using your computer for 3rd party Cloud activities, using your computer like a torrent, using your computer like filer sharing networks, using your internet connection and data for free, forced updates, etc (and Windows 7 and 8/8.1 being turned into Windows 10).

I might have a Linux and Windows XP Vista or Win7 multi-boot.

So it seems that all these different file structures have a purpose and would work better in certain situations? Are there any articles or threads explaining this a little further? Or can anyone post some more information? Besides certain file systems not being able to handle larger files or being owned by (e.g.) Microsoft, is one the best and most multi-purposed?
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
SyncroScales

SyncroScales

Distinguished
Jan 1, 2011
193
0
18,690


Why does reformatting removable media into something else (not FAT16/FAT32 or exFAT) nearly always render them inoperable for anything other than your computer? Is it the message that is something like "This media or these files came from another system, Windows has blocked them because it considers them unsafe. etc"

Thank you.
 
Upvote 0 Downvote
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom