There should be a "do not format" option when mounting external drive

[nkinnan]

Probably best to run fsck, and delete everything but the monero blockchain, but it's really annoying to have to re-copy the blockchain every time I setup. Would also be useful for sd card flash upgrades.

[shermand100]

Sure I'll get that added.
Currently if when you put the blockchain on a drive and label the drive "XMRBLOCKCHAIN" it should then try to detect the format type (udf/ext4/ntfs) and attempt mount accordingly with an added entry to fstab.

This assumes a directory called "lmdb" containing the blockchain at the top level of the USB drive for use.
Currently if you label the drive "XMRBLOCKCHAIN" and run the setup-usb helper it should do that.
All add an option to label a custom drive "XMRBLOCKCHAIN" without formatting.

[nkinnan]

I was so used to formatting it when I was having problems with my SSD before, that I forgot that option was there. It worked without any issues. If you think there is still value in adding this then no worries, otherwise feel free to close. Thanks!

[shermand100]

I think it requires better documenting at least.

The current method expects a user to insert the drive and use the USB configure tool. Then shutdown PiNodeXMR, copy the blockchain, re-insert and power on.

There isn't a reason why a user can be prompted to allow PiNodeXMR to "claim" the drive by adding the "XMRBLOCKCHAIN" label to an already configured/loaded drive, then feed it into the script to add the fstab entry.
I'll add it as it may be an improvement for some, or may require further tweaking but still better than before.