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From: Richard Kettlewell <invalid@invalid.invalid>
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc
Subject: Re: F2FS On USB Sticks?
Date: Sat, 29 Mar 2025 09:13:06 +0000
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Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:
> Richard Kettlewell wrote:
>> Given FAT tends to concentrate writes in the early part of the device, a
>> USB stick without any wear levelling at all would be likely to have
>> extremely poor endurance and write performance. (Of course one can find
>> sticks that fit that description, but generally one tries to avoid
>> them...)
>
> On the other hand, if you put one of those purpose-built Linux
> filesystems on one of these, it might work (and last) quite well.

If you’re thinking of things like F2FS then I doubt it: it is explicitly
designed for block devices with a working FTL.

There are filesystems that are designed for raw flash (e.g. UBIFS) but
they depend on the MTD interface, i.e. they need to be able to issue
erases themselves. They won’t work on an ordinary USB stick, no matter
how cheap and nasty it is.

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