Python & Cross platform way to list disk drives on Linux, Windows and Mac

Question

I am trying to list the disk drives that a system may have.

On Windows, it may be something like "C:/", "D:/", "E:/".

On Linux, it may be something like "/boot", "/media/SDCard", etc.

And I don't know what it's like on a Mac. Maybe something under /Volumes.

Does anyone know of a cross platform way (that is, one which works on Linux, Windows and Mac) in Python?

Thanks!

Oh: a quick note, I am running Python 2.6.

Answer 1

There isn't really a unified naming scheme for Linux devices that guarantees you a formatable block device. There are conventions, but they can vary widely and I can call my thumb-drive /Thomas/O if I want and there is no cross-platform way in Python to know:

1. That /Thomas/O corresponds to /dev/sdf1
2. That /dev/sdf1 can have a FAT32 filesystem made on it
3. That /dev/sdf is not preferred to /dev/sdf1

I'm pretty sure that neither is there a cross-platform Python module which will allow you to determine that H:/ is formattable on a Windows system but that Z:/ is not.

Each system will require its own specific checks and validations which you could best learn from studying open-source disk manipulation software.