Format the External SSD:

• Format an external hard drive on a separate computer.

• Open your disk management program again and delete all volumes & partitions on your external drive so it is completely blank.

• Now eject your SSD. Do not format it to any file system type. Do not create a new volume. This will be done on the Raspberry Pi later.

• This will be the storage media for your Bitcoin blockchain; as of this writing, Bitcoin blockchain = ~240GB.

• Do not connect your external drive to the Rasperry Pi yet.