File System Types, IDs and Formats

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∟File System Types, IDs and Formats

Provides a list of commonly used File System formats and their identification codes on Linux systems

If you receive a storage device from a friend, you may have trouble to mount its partitions on your Linux computer. This is because the storage device could be created with a file system format, which is not recognized by the Linux computer.

To help you dealing with this situation, here is a list of commonly used File System formats and handling suggestions.

1. Linux - "Linux (ID: 83)" is used to identify some old Linux native file systems, like xiafs, ext2, ext3, ext3, reiserfs, etc. It may still be used to hold the /root files on todays Linux systems, like CentOS.

2. Linux LVM - "Linux LVM (ID: 8e)" is used to identify the Linux LVM (Logical Volume Manager) partition. It is used on CentOS systems as the main file system.

3. Linux Swap - "Linux Swap (ID: 82)" is used to identify the Linux swap partition.

4. FAT16 - "FAT16 (ID: 6)" is used to identify the 16-bit FAT (File Allocation Table) partition, which is used by old DOS (Disk Operating System) computers. Most Linux systems supports FAT16 by default.

5. NTFS - "NTFS (ID: 7)" is used to identify the NTFS (New Technology File System) partition, which is used by old Windows NT computers. You may need to install "ntfs-3g" device driver to support it.

6. HPFS - "HPFS (ID: 7)" is used to identify the HPFS (New Technology File System) partition, which is an IFS (Installable File System) used by old OS/2 computers. You need to install special device drivers to support it.

7. exFAT - "exFAT (ID: 7)" is used to identify the exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) partition, which is used by old Windows Vista computers. You may need to install "fuse-exfat" device driver to support it.

8. W95 Ext'd LBA - "W95 Ext'd LBA (ID: f)" is used to identify the Windows 95 Extended LBA (Logical Block Addressing) partition. Note that "W95 Ext'd LBA" is not a file system partition. It is actually a container to hold sub-partitions. On Windows systems, a hard disk can only be divided up to 4 partitions. "W95 Ext'd LBA" technology allows you create more sub-partitions from those 4 primary partitions.

9. OpenBSD - "OpenBSD (ID: a6)" is used to identify the OpenBSD (Open Berkeley Software Distribution) partition, which is used by OpenBSD computers. You need to install special device drivers to support it.

10. Mac OS-X - "Mac OS-X (ID: a8)" is used to identify the Mac OS-X partition, which is used by Mac OS-X computers. You need to install special device drivers to support it.