# Running programs

**URL:** <https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/running-programs/7410>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [August 26, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/running-programs/7410 "2021-08-26T17:54:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![349iq2345](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/bb73d2/32.png) [@349iq2345](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/u/349iq2345)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2021, 6:37pm UTC](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/running-programs/7410/2 "2021-08-26T18:37:05Z")

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Hey Kevin,

> [@Kjohn](#):
>
> I plugged USB into back of controller and went to load programs but nothing shows up. Am I missing a step?

I don’t know if you checked this already, but today USB sticks may be formatted with [exFAT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#exFAT)

> [@File Format For Loading Files onto a USB stick (Buildbotics)](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/file-format-for-loading-files-onto-a-usb-stick-buildbotics/1725/1):
>
> If your going to use a usb stick to load your gcode files, make sure your usb stick is either partitioned in the **NTSF** or **FAT32** format. Using any other file type may not show files on the controller.

PS: It should say **[NTFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS)**  
PS2: Btw, [NTFS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS) and [FAT32](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32) are neither [partitioning systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning) nor [file types](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_format) but [file systems](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_system).

> [@File Format For Loading Files onto a USB stick (Buildbotics)](https://forum.onefinitycnc.com/t/file-format-for-loading-files-onto-a-usb-stick-buildbotics/1725/1):
>
> USB sticks must be 2.0. USB 3.0 sticks may not be detected.

This I doubt. USB 3.0 is [backwards compatible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#Architecture_and_features) by design.  
There were rare [issues](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#Speed_and_compatibility) concerning early hardware.

There may however be incompatibility regarding [connectors](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_3.0#Connectors), but when that shows up it’s obvious.

- USB 3.0 cable can not be used with USB 2.0 terminals because of the additions - [USB 3.0 Type B](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_hardware#Connectors) plug are not backward compatible.
- USB 3.0 cables can be used on USB 2.0 hosts, but then require USB 3.0 end devices.
- USB 2.0 cables can be used on USB 3.0 hosts.
- **USB 3.0 end devices _c a n_ be connected to USB 2.0 hosts**. _There may be problems if they consume more than 500 mA of current (USB 3.0 allows up to 900 mA, USB 2.0 only up to 500 mA)_.
- USB 2.0 end devices can be connected to USB 3.0 hosts.

The controller contains a Raspberry Pi 3.

 ![Screenshot_2021-08-30_18-05-44](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/uploads/onefinitycnc/original/3X/b/1/b1b63e253cc44041324c56d97f06cd3de80ab016.png)

Raspberry Pi 3 supports USB 2.0, but as mentioned above, a USB 3.0 device is always backward compatible. A USB 3.0 Memory Stick _runs_ on a USB 2.0 host without a problem. The problem sometimes is another problem: It is that **devices larger 32 GB are mostly formatted using [exFAT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#exFAT)** and not [FAT32](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32). If your OS version does not support exFAT, reformatting your memory stick is the solution then.

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