How to add text file to Raspberry Pi folders' directory without opening the operating system

Question

I need to add a text file to any raspbian folder but without opening the OS.

I tried as follows:

I inserted the SD card in my computer.
I sent the text file to the SD card. I found the file in the "boot" folder, this is affecting the RP setting and caused problems..

I want a way to add my text file to RP OS from the SD card, and should not go to the "boot" folder.

Update from the comments:
I could not find /home when I opened the raspbian SD card in windows or MAC.

Put it somewhere under /home - that shouldn't cause problems unless the file has a special name such as .bashrc. If it's called readme.txt or similar, you should be fine. — Mark Smith, Apr 18 '19 at 11:40
Storing a file in the boot (FAT) folder should be fine unless you are overwriting a system file. You need to edit your question and tell us the name of the text file and give details about "caused problems..". — joan, Apr 18 '19 at 11:41
@MarkSmith I could not find /home when I opened the raspbian SD card in windows or MAC — Jawad Sabir, Apr 18 '19 at 11:44
Possible duplicate of Read a file from the Raspberry Pi's SD card with Windows — Aurora0001, Apr 18 '19 at 16:16

score 4 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 18 '19 at 16:07

To elaborate the answer from @Milliways a bit. Raspbian is installed on two partitions. Partition 1 is the boot partition and contains essential files like the kernel to load and firmware and drivers. To be easy readable on boot up it is formated as fat filesystem. This filesystem is readable by nearly all operating systems including MS Windows and MAC.

Partition 2 is the root partition and is the main partition containing the Raspbian operating system. It is formated with the ext4 filesystem, a more powerful one than fat. But MS Windows and MAC cannot read this filesystem without helpers. The easiest is to boot your computer with a Linux operating system (Debian, Ubuntu etc.) to access the root partition. There you will also find the /home/ folder.

Milliways · Answer 2 · 2019-04-18T11:58:44.123

2

It is SIMPLE - just mount the SD Card on a Linux computer - this can be a virtual machine, a bootable image or another Pi.

edited Apr 18 '19 at 11:58

answered Apr 18 '19 at 11:53

Milliways

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I cannot quite see your effort to answer the question. The op put the SD Card in the PC. Now he has problems in finding the partition he wants which is not addressed in the answer. – user3123159 May 04 '21 at 06:58

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 18 '19 at 21:51

The actual OS is on a separate partition than boot. You need special software to access this partition if you are using Windows or Mac.
If you are using a Mac, you can use software called OS X Fuse (instructions on http://osxdaily.com/2014/03/20/mount-ext-linux-file-system-mac/).
If you are using Windows, you can download software called Ext2Read from the link below:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2read/
I hope this works for you!

How to add text file to Raspberry Pi folders' directory without opening the operating system

3 Answers3