To create a USB msdosfs (a FAT32 filesystem) on FreeBSD¶

To create a USB msdosfs (a FAT32 filesystem) on FreeBSD, you must first identify the USB device name (e.g., /dev/da0), then destroy any existing partitions on the drive, create a new MBR (Master Boot Record) partition scheme, add a partition of type fat32, and finally format that partition using newfs_msdos.
Here's a step-by-step guide:

Identify the USB device:

• Insert the USB drive into your FreeBSD machine.
• Use the command gpart list to list all attached disks and identify your USB device (e.g., /dev/da0, /dev/da1, etc.). You should see a disk with a size matching your USB drive.

Warning : Be extremely careful to select the correct device, as the next steps will erase all data on it.

gpart list

Destroy existing partitions:
Use the gpart destroy -F command with the -F option to force the operation and remove any existing partitioning scheme.

gpart destroy -F /dev/da0

Create a new MBR partition table:
Use the gpart create command with the -s mbr option to create an MBR (Master Boot Record) partition table, which is compatible with MS-DOS.

gpart create -s mbr /dev/da0

Add a fat32 partition:
Use the gpart add command to add a new partition of type fat32 to the MBR partition table.

gpart add -t fat32 /dev/da0

Format the partition:
Use the newfs_msdos command to format the newly created partition (e.g., /dev/da0s1) with an MS-DOS FAT32 filesystem. You can optionally add a label (up to 11 characters) using the -L flag.

newfs_msdos -L PROJECTS -F 32 /dev/da0s1