Editing USB mass storage device class (section)

== Operating system support ==
Most mainstream [[operating system]]s include support for USB mass storage devices; support on older systems is usually available through patches.

=== Microsoft Windows ===
Microsoft Windows has supported MSC since Windows 2000. There is no support for USB supplied by Microsoft in Windows before [[Windows 95]] and [[Windows NT 4.0]]. [[Windows 95]] OSR2.1, an update to the operating system, featured limited support for USB. During that time, no generic USB mass-storage driver was produced by Microsoft (including for [[Windows 98]]), and a device-specific driver was needed for each type of USB storage device. Third-party, freeware drivers became available for Windows 98 and Windows 98SE, and third-party drivers are also available for Windows NT 4.0. [[Windows 2000]] has support (via a generic driver) for standard USB mass-storage devices; [[Windows Me]] and all later Windows versions also include support.

[[Windows Mobile]] supports accessing most USB mass-storage devices formatted with [[File Allocation Table|FAT]] on devices with USB Host. However, portable devices typically cannot provide enough power for hard-drive [[disk enclosure]]s (a {{convert|2.5|in|adj=on}} hard drive typically requires the maximum 2.5&nbsp;[[Watt|W]] in the USB specification) without a self-powered [[USB hub]]. A Windows Mobile device cannot display its file system as a mass-storage device unless the device implementer adds that functionality. However, third-party applications add MSC emulation to most WM devices (commercial Softick CardExport and free WM5torage). Only memory cards (not internal-storage memory) can generally be exported, due to file-system issues; see [[#Device access|device access]], below.

The [[AutoRun]] feature of Windows worked on all removable media, allowing USB storage devices to become a portal for [[computer virus]]es. Beginning with [[Windows&nbsp;7]], Microsoft limited AutoRun to CD and DVD drives, updating previous Windows versions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blogs.technet.com/msrc/archive/2009/04/28/changes-in-windows-to-meet-changes-in-threat-landscape.aspx |title=Changes in Windows to Meet Changes in Threat Landscape |publisher=TechNet Blogs |date=2009-04-28 |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref>

=== MS-DOS ===
Neither [[MS-DOS]] nor most compatible operating systems included support for USB.  Third-party generic drivers, such as Duse, USBASPI, and DOSUSB, are available to support USB mass-storage devices. [[FreeDOS]] supports USB mass storage as an [[Advanced SCSI Programming Interface]] (ASPI) interface.

=== Classic Mac OS and macOS ===
[[Apple Inc.|Apple]]'s [[Mac OS 9]] and [[macOS]] support USB mass storage; Mac OS 8.6 supported USB mass storage through an optional driver.<ref>{{Cite web|title=USB Mass Storage 1.3.5 - Macintosh Repository|url=https://www.macintoshrepository.org/161-usb-mass-storage-1-3-5|access-date=2024-11-27|website=www.macintoshrepository.org}}</ref>

=== Linux ===
The [[Linux kernel]] has supported USB mass-storage devices since version 2.3.47<ref>{{cite web|title=usb-storage.c - drivers/usb/usb-storage.c - Linux source code 2.3.47pre8 - Bootlin Elixir Cross Referencer|url=https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/2.3.47pre8/source/drivers/usb/usb-storage.c|access-date=2024-11-27|website=elixir.bootlin.com}}</ref> (2001, [[backport|backported]] to kernel 2.2.18<ref>{{cite web|title=usb-storage.c - drivers/usb/usb-storage.c - Linux source code 2.2.18pre2 - Bootlin Elixir Cross Referencer|url=https://elixir.bootlin.com/linux/2.2.18pre2/source/drivers/usb/usb-storage.c|access-date=2024-11-27|website=elixir.bootlin.com}}</ref>). This support includes quirks and silicon/firmware bug workarounds as well as additional functionality for devices and controllers (vendor-enabled functions such as [[Parallel ATA|ATA]] command pass-through for ATA-USB bridges, used for [[Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology|S.M.A.R.T.]] or temperature monitoring, controlling the spin-up and spin-down of hard disk drives, and other options). Mobile devices running [[Android (operating system)|Android]] 6 or higher<ref>{{cite web|title=Traditional storage {{!}} Android Open Source Project|at=sec. USB media support|url=https://source.android.com/docs/core/storage/traditional#support_usb_media|access-date=2024-11-27|website=source.android.com}}</ref> also supports USB mass storage through [[USB#Dual-role_USB_connections|dual-role USB]] on USB-C ports, and [[USB-OTG]] on older ports.

=== {{anchor|Other Unix-likes}}Other Unix-related systems ===
[[Solaris (operating system)|Solaris]] has supported devices since its version 2.8 (1998), [[NetBSD]] since its version 1.5 (2000), [[FreeBSD]] since its version 4.0 (2000) and [[OpenBSD]] since its version 2.7 (2000). Digital UNIX (later known as [[Tru64 UNIX]]) has supported USB and USB mass-storage devices since its version 4.0E (1998). [[AIX]] has supported USB mass-storage devices since its 5.3 T9 and 6.1 T3 versions; however, it is not well-supported and lacks features such as partitioning and general blocking.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://eserver.livejournal.com/27707.html |title=eserver: HOWTO: JFS2 on USB device on AIX 5.3.11.1 |website=Eserver.livejournal.com |date=2010-01-21 |access-date=2012-11-07 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120331082549/http://eserver.livejournal.com/27707.html |archive-date=2012-03-31 }}</ref>

=== Game consoles and embedded devices ===
The [[Xbox 360]] and [[PlayStation 3]] support most mass-storage devices for the data transfer of media such as pictures and music. As of April 2010, the Xbox 360 (a) used a mass-storage device for saved games<ref>{{cite web|url=http://majornelson.com/archive/2010/03/26/USB-Memory-Support-for-the-Xbox-360-coming-April-6th.aspx |title=Xbox Live's Major Nelson » USB Memory Support for the Xbox 360 coming April 6th |website=Majornelson.com |date=2010-03-26 |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> and the PS3 allowed transfers between devices on a mass-storage device. Independent developers have released drivers for the [[TI-84 Plus]] and [[TI-84 Plus Silver Edition]] to access USB mass-storage devices.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://wikiti.brandonw.net/index.php?title=83Plus:Software:usb8x/Asm_Interface/MSD |title=83Plus:Software:usb8x/Asm Interface/MSD |publisher= WikiTI |date=2009-02-18 |access-date=2012-11-07}}</ref> In these calculators, the [[usb8x]] driver supports the [[msd8x]] user-interface application.