Ok great! The normal one or the open one? (There are two 550)
C: does not appear to be in that location though...
I recommend using the Proprietary driver, but you can choose your own either way.
It may seem odd a GnuLinux user recommending proprietary but I make this based on performance, not principle.
If the drive is not showing, launch the Disks app from the app menu.
See if it shows up in Disks. If it does, click on the working partition of that disk to check the details. Ensure it is formatted in a filesystem format that is readable (NTFS or EXT4). Check if it is mounted or unmounted
You can click the gear icon after selecting the working partition to see mount options and set it to automount.
OK, have selected the 550 Nvidia driver. However just to be absolutely clear, the software centre is recommending that I use a different driver:
TU106GLM [Quadro RTX 3000 Mobile / Max-Q]
Is this not preferable to either the 535 or even the 550?
Having restarted the computer after installing the new Nvidia driver I again receive the software download notification:
Have launched the Disks app. The drive does show up there which is great. Im afraid I don't know how to progress to checking its filesystem. I can format the drive but the only options available to do so are:
GPT
MBR / DOS
What driver is it recommending?
I do not believe that the Software Store error is due to the Nvidia driver. There is soemthing else in the Gnome build that is causing this - so far, we have not had any luck identifying it and several users have complained of this particular error on Zorin OS 17, whether they installed fresh or upgraded using the Zorin Upgrader.
The partition shows a "Free Space" in your screenshot and that means that it has not been formatted. This would explain why it is not showing in your file manager.
You can format the partition as an internal disk (ext4) or for use with Windows files (NTFS) using the Disks application or by using Gparted.
oh is this not a driver? TU106GLM [Quadro RTX 3000 Mobile / Max-Q]
I guess not. Shows you how tech dumb I am!
Ok, will ignore the software update error for now!
OK, I can format the disk on Disks app easily. I have some options though!
Erase:
Don't Overwrite existing data. or
Overwrite existing data with zeros.
Partitioning:
GPT or
MBR / DOS
There is no option to choose between ext4 or NTFS (and I wouldn't even know which one to choose if there was)
Can you show a screenshot of what you are seeing?
That is the model of the graphics card.
it wont let me screenshot the menu options for some reason. but they are as I laid out in my penultimate message
Well, the GPT option would be the one you want.
Ok! I've gone ahead with that! I take it the ext4 / NTFS option is no longer relevant?
It is relevant... I am confused as to why Disks is showing such limited options.
Are you on Zorin OS 17?
Yes Zorin Core 17.1
The formatting has just completed on the drive, however it still shows "Free Space", is still an "unallocated drive" and does not appear in "Other Locations" in the File System.
Let's move away from Gnome-Disks app.
sudo apt install gparted
Launch Gparted.
Move to the 1Tb nvme drive
Click in the window on the Free space to select it.
Move to the unallocated partition and right click on it - select New
You can choose "Logical partition" rather than primary if you want to.A logical partition is for data storage whereas a primary partition is a bootable media.
Under Filesystem, you can choose NTFS if you intend to store data that needs to be Windows Compatible data - Zorin OS comes with ntfs-3g package which enables Zorin OS to be able to access NTFS filesystem.
You can choose ext4 if you intend for it to be a GnuLinux compatible data storage.
Ok, well, if I wanted to perhaps boot from the drive in the future, but also use it as storage on Zorin then best approach is to leave it as "Primary Partition"?
And if Zorin can read NTFS filesystems then if I do end up keeping Windows data on there then it can accommodate that. Again just to futureproof. Because I won't remember why any action may not work on that drive because of these settings in the future.
You would choose primary partition to make it bootable if you are planning on installing an Operating System to that drive.
I am not planning on using it as a bootable drive for now, but perhaps in the future I might want to, but that wouldn't affect its ability to hold files that I can access with Zorin? I thought may as well as it appears that there is no drawback to having it as Primary to keep options open.
And no drawback to using NTFS with Zorin? (as it still has the option of holding windows files on it where ext4 does not)
Either way my primary OS from now on will likely be Zorin but its always good to have the option to change if necessary later on.
It is not a big deal either way, since in the future, if you install an Operating System, you would wipe the drive and reformat anyway.
There's always a catch. Generally, you should not experience troubles but this does not mean troubles cannot happen.
Personally, all my drives are ext4. I have zero trouble with any of my data storage. I have never had conflicts with data.
Really, it is those users that use Windows OS and use Samba and other Windows specific cross-platform data and files and software that relies on Microsoft.
But if you are doing away with Windows OS and do not deal with work related Windows specific files and transfers of data; it's not something you need to worry about.