USB Sticks on Arch Linux

#linux #usb #storage #troubleshooting

Step 1: Identifying Your USB Device

Terminal Detection Methods

# Method 1: lsblk - Check partitions / List block devices
lsblk -f

# Method 2: dmesg - View kernel messages
sudo dmesg | tail -20

# Method 3: fdisk - Detailed partition info
sudo fdisk -l

Key indicators:

  • /dev/sdX (X = letter assignment)
  • Filesystem type (vfat)

Step 2: Mounting & Accessing Files

Manual Mounting

# Create mount point
mkdir ~/usb-drive

# Mount device (example for NTFS)
sudo mount -t ntfs /dev/sdX1 ~/usb-drive

# Access files
cd ~/usb-drive && ls

Unmounting Safely

Important: Always unmount before removal:

sudo umount ~/usb-drive

# Force unmount if busy
sudo umount -l ~/usb-drive  # Lazy unmount

Troublesheeting

If you are getting a mounting error, follow these steps:

Step 1: Identify Correct Partition

Are you’re trying to mount the entire device (/dev/sdb) instead of a partition? Check partitions:

# Identify card
$ lsblk -f
NAME        FSTYPE 
sdb
└─sdb1      vfat      # <-- This is our partition

Look for your device (usually sdb or mmcblk0) and note the partition number (e.g., sdb1).

Step 2: Mount Correct Partition

# Mount partition
sudo mount -t vfat /dev/sdb1 ~/usb-drive

# Verify
ls ~/sdcard
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