Default File Extention

[RTZ]

Is there a default file extension to use when formatting a flash drive for installing Porteus 2.1?

[francois]

There should not be.

For what did you want to use it, more precisely?

[donald]

@RTZ

Did you mean which file-system to use?
for a specific answer, tailored to your needs, more info is needed
as francois said.
for general purposes ext2 is a good choice... 8)

[francois]

@donald: I am sure that in this case your acute perspicacity is on target.

I would go for ext2.

[RTZ]

Thanks to all for your comments. Sounds like everyone's opting for ext 2. I'm currently using ext 4 with journaling disabled
on a flash drive while running a Debian GNU/Linux distro. I was told this setup may reduce wear and speed up performance
on my flash drive.

[francois]

These were only simple opinions. If you want a better advice, look at ahau`s benchmark testing, and discussions with members of the forum:
http://forum.porteus.org/viewtopic.php? ... 8&start=30
From what I understand xfs would be best, but your usb has to be correctly aligned with specific block size.

[donald]

@RTZ
Each memory cell allows only a limited number of write operations.
After that Limit the cell is only readable.
The only way to extend the Life of an usb-flash drive
is to reduce write accesses.
In porteus you can do so by using the "EXIT cheatcode"

[RTZ]

Thank you Don for the tip on using the 'EXIT cheatcode" for extending flash drive life.

[brokenman]

From my experience the amount of reads/writes to a USB flash drive is inconsequential. I have a 128Mb CF card from 9 years ago that I have thrashed to death and it still functions. I think that by the time you use up the limit of read/writes the media will be obsolete. In the case of the currently more expensive flash type memory it may be pertinent, but for your average USB flash device I would take security and reliability over lifespan any day.

[donald]

@brokenman

That is correct...I agree...no doubt

About your 9 Years old CF-Card:
The card does not break because the controller prevents the use of defective sectors
but the useable Size will become smaller and smaller depending on how much "dead"-cells you have.
But this doesn't matter anymore, at the present size of usb-sticks.

[brokenman]

Thanks Donald. I can neither confirm nor deny the reducing space of the said CF card as it falls into the above 'obsolete' category now. I don't have any card reader that supports it anymore and I don't trust the accuracy of the cheap converter circuits you find floating around on Chinese wholesale websites. I keep the card for nostalgia and to hopefully use at some distant point in the future to see if it still works, and to show the generation that were born into the terrabyte world what we had to deal with back in the day. Unlike my old 45's, I hope the hardware to run the media still exists at this future time.