[sf-lug] physical management of flash media (USB, ...) (was: Ubuntu, GPartEd, Bad Luck with Blue Collar Linux-Help! etc.)

[Michael Paoli]

> From: "Rick Moen" <rick at linuxmafia.com>
> Subject: Re: [sf-lug] Ubuntu, GPartEd, Bad Luck with Blue Collar  
> Linux-Help! etc.
> Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2019 23:42:17 -0800

> And here's what I'd appreciate knowing, Bobbie:  How do you do physical
> management of USB flash drives, in the context of your big library of ISOs?
> (I'm assuming you aren't burning CDs/DVDs, as if it were 1998.)
>
> Probably like me you have a dozen or more flash drives sitting around,
> of various capacities.  Each is a tiny little thing -- ergo, no room
> for external labels.  Blessedly, each can be just overwritten if it
> doesn't have what you currently need, a large number of times, in fact.
> But how do you avoid having a dozen little widgets each with
> uknown-to-you contents?
>
> Pondering that problem, just now, I had an idea:  Small ziplock bags.
> You can either write directly on the bag with a Sharpie, or just insert
> a slip of paper saying what this drive currently contains.
>
> A different routine would be to _not_ have distros installed on flash
> drives in advance, but just plan on writing to one from your collection
> of ISO files at time of needing to use one.  Could work, too.
>
> How do _you_ handle that, Bobbie?

So ... something I mentioned, oh, probably a year or more ago ...
string tags.  USB flash have - directly or indirectly on their
packaging - a little hole - often to be used for a (mini-?) wrist
strap thingy, or so similar can be looped around key ring, etc.
Well, those attachment holes can be used for other things ...
notably string tags.  I mentioned that some fair while back at
BerkeleyLUG meeting.  I'd not obtained/used such, but I thought it
a useful/feasible idea, and, much easier to change - especially in
pencil - the labeling on such, and more readable than writing,
e.g. with Sharpie or similar - on the USB flash itself.

Well, to his credit, Doyouhavemirror (or whatever he's calling
himself presently, nee Giovani, need John) Regan, acquired a bunch
of (new, blank, suitably sized) string tags ... brought 'em to
BerkeleyLUG, and gave me about half of his newly acquired stash of
'em.  He did also point out one practical disadvantage of 'em (that
I'd not thought of).  Stored together, they tend to get
twisted/tangled around each other.  I've not particularly
tested that and/or tried to see if there are effective
counter-measures to prevent undesired entanglements.

Also, USB devices (are supposed to) have unique serial numbers ...
but that, unfortunately, requires electronically reading the
device ... and at that point one can read the data, etc. anyway.

As for SD ... micro-SD, and the like (and other varieties of
memory-card type flash) ... no hole to attach string tag,
and many/most too small to be feasibly written on much,
let alone change the writing on.  So, the idea I had on that,
and best implemented by manufacturers ... but could similarly be done
by end-users.  For each, four small separate dabs of color.
Ideally that would be at manufacture time, in the plastic.
Rather like resister color codes ... 10 distinct colors,
four such "dabs" of color on each ... that gives
10^4 different combinations - effectively 10,000
different combinations / identifying marks.
So, the specific "labeling" - e.g. what version of what
ISO - wouldn't be on the media itself, but one could easily
tell the media apart - and simply record elsewhere (data/text
file, paper, what have you) which color combination (interpret
it as a number - like resistor color codes) and record the
"number" - and along with that, note what particular
data/ISO - is on that bit of media.
And yes, would be better in the plastic itself, as part of
the plastic (hey, remember all those different colored floppy
disks? ... but ... four color marks on each for the flash
media).  Well, if the manufactures won't put that into the
plastic ... some type of paint or similar, that would *well*
stay on there and not easily get wiped/smeared/chipped/etc.
off and thus lose the distinguishing markings.  Anyway,
just my thoughts on that.