Format USB Storage

Answered
Lucas E

Recently I had an issue when an external SSD was plugged in to the Node, BluOS would create two USB Library sources, one of which was empty. As it turned out this was because macOS creates a separate hidden EFI partition when a drive is formatted using a GUID Partition Table. That’s just the default behavior of macOS. But BluOS tries to index these two separate partitions, which it wasn’t really designed to do.

When the SSD was erased and reformatted using a Master Boot Record, macOS created one single partition, which is what BluOS expects.

I promise I’ll get to the point, but as an aside I’ve been using Nikon digital cameras for 20 years. In every single model I’ve owned, one of the menu options has been to format/erase the memory card. Since day one I’ve used this option. It always works, it’s virtually instant, and it guarantees the memory card is in the exact format the camera expects.

It seems like it would be pretty straightforward for your developers to add a “Format USB Storage” option to the BluOS menu. If BluOS is like most other operating systems, then the code to erase/partition/mount drives is probably already built in. This would then allow it to have complete control over formatting the drive, and would remove any potential incompatibilities with file formats and partitions.

If you ever do implement something like this, my vote is for exFAT as the default file format.

Regards

Lucas

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Comments

3 comments

Date Votes
  • Official comment
    Tony W.
    Product Support Manager

    Hi Lucas

    Long time ago, we made the strategic decision to NOT destroy data (intentionally and more importantly unintentionally). Our strategy of purposefully requiring a consumer to connect the drive elsewhere to format it may not please everyone, but definitely prevents uncomfortable calls to our Support Crew about 'How do I recover the data I just erased.'

    Thanks for understanding,

  • Lucas E

    Well I respectfully disagree with that decision Tony. I think the logic behind it should not be about the destruction of data, rather it should be about making your product behave more like a consumer audio device and less like a Linux box. I bought the Node from a HiFi shop, not a Best Buy, and the last thing I really wanted was to have to get into the weeds with partition tables.

    If someone accidentally erases a drive after purposely selecting the option to do it, and then clicking Yes to a message like “This will erase all data on this drive. Do you wish to continue?” then I’d say that’s 100% on them. I’m pretty sure Nikon hasn’t been flooded with similar support calls over the last 20 years. In fact I think they realized very early on that it would cause them far less grief if they took the formatting of storage out of the hands of consumers altogether.

    Just my 2 cents, that’s all…

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  • Alex

    Totally agree @Lucas E. A clear warning is all that's needed. As you point out, this is pretty standard functionality on many different types of devices. Seems like a strange excuse. Product features and utility should come before concerns about 'uncomfortable support calls' by whatever tiny percentage of users might end up with lost data despite clear warnings.

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