Why is VID and PID of a USB device necessary if its mounted via /mount/root?

Question

I am trying to use the F3 program (Fight flash fraud) to test an external USB disk drive. The name of this external USB disk drive is "TEST A". The syntax of the commands that I would like to use are as follows:

f3write /mount/(username folder)/(USB ID) Example: f3write /mount/root/7A3C-VD3D

f3read /mount/(username folder)/(USB ID) Example: f3read /mount/root/7A3C-VD3D

Documentation: https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#how-to-use-f3write-and-f3read

Now from the command above, one would see the VID and PID of the USB Flash drive would be 7A3C-VD3D and I would infer that I would need to determine the VID and PID of my external hard disk drive to be able to scan it with the f3 program.

However I tried lsusb to get the VID and PID of my device

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0bc2:5031 Seagate RSS LLC FreeAgent Go Flex USB 3.0

Which is 0bc2:5031

So following the syntax of the command above I tried:

f3read /mount/root/0bc2-5031

It does not work. The program tells me It can't find the directory.

f3read /media/root/0bc2-5031

Again it does not work. The program tells me It can't find the directory.

However executing the command

f3read /media/root/"TEST A"

It works. The f3 program reads the device.

1. Why is it necessary to determine the VID and PID of a USB device if its mounted via /mount/root/?
2. Why is it unnecessary to determine the VID and PID of a USB device if its mounted via /media/root?

If there's a backstory to it as well, I would like to know to gain a deeper understanding.

AFAIK, /mnt is for temporary mounting and /media is IF the linux distro auto mounts the device for you, then the device will most likely appear here. Its annoying to have to constantly check 2 directories whenever mounting a USB.

Answer 1

Why is VID and PID of a USB device necessary if its mounted via /mount/root?

From my understanding of F3, it shouldn't be necessary.

Documentation: https://fight-flash-fraud.readthedocs.io/en/latest/usage.html#how-to-use-f3write-and-f3read

I don't see anything in there which says that the mount point must have some particular format that includes VID and PID. I'd assume any path would do.

The path where it's mounted just happened to include VID and PID on the system where the examples were made, probably because of the automounter they use.

It does not work. The program tells me It can't find the directory.

That's because your stick isn't mounted under that path.

AFAIK, /mnt is for temporary mounting and /media is IF the linux distro auto mounts the device for you, then the device will most likely appear here.

It's also not uncommon to have a few subdirectories inside /mnt, and then mount stuff to those.

Anyhow, check your system is it already mounted the flash drive, e.g. to /media, and then just use that path. If it's not mounted, mount it manually somewhere - any path will do.