diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.cc b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.cc
index ab2edca541..0f90e2652f 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.cc
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.cc
@@ -27,8 +27,6 @@ ExternalStorageControl::ExternalStorageControl() :
       unmountStorage();
     } else if (text() == tr("FORMAT")) {
       if (ConfirmationDialog::confirm(tr("Are you sure you want to format this drive? This will erase all data."), tr("Format"), this)) {
-        setText(tr("formatting"));
-        setEnabled(false);
         formatStorage();
       }
     }
@@ -37,55 +35,54 @@ ExternalStorageControl::ExternalStorageControl() :
 }
 
 void ExternalStorageControl::refresh() {
-  bool isMounted = isStorageMounted();
-  bool hasFilesystem = isFilesystemPresent();
-  QString storageInfo = "";
+  QProcess *mntCheck = new QProcess(this);
+  connect(mntCheck, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished), this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
+    bool isMounted = !mntCheck->readAllStandardOutput().trimmed().isEmpty();
+    mntCheck->deleteLater();
 
-  if (isMounted) {
-    QProcess process;
-    process.start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "df -h /mnt/external_realdata | awk 'NR==2 {print $3 \"/\" $2}'");
-    process.waitForFinished();
-    storageInfo = process.readAllStandardOutput().trimmed();
-  }
+    QProcess *fsCheck = new QProcess(this);
+    connect(fsCheck, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished), this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
+      bool hasFs = fsCheck->exitCode() == 0;
+      fsCheck->deleteLater();
 
-  if (!hasFilesystem) {
-    setValue(tr("insert drive"));
-    setText(tr("CHECK"));
-  } else if (!isDriveInitialized()) {
-    setValue(tr("needs format"));
-    setText(tr("FORMAT"));
-  } else if (isMounted) {
-    setValue(storageInfo);
-    setText(tr("UNMOUNT"));
-  } else {
-    setValue(tr(""));
-    setText(tr("MOUNT"));
-  }
+      if (!hasFs) {
+        setValue(tr("insert drive"));
+        setText(tr("CHECK"));
+        setEnabled(true);
+        return;
+      }
 
-  setEnabled(true);
-}
+      QProcess *labelCheck = new QProcess(this);
+      connect(labelCheck, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished), this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
+        bool isInit = labelCheck->exitCode() == 0;
+        labelCheck->deleteLater();
 
-bool ExternalStorageControl::isStorageMounted() {
-  QProcess process;
-  process.start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "findmnt -n /mnt/external_realdata");
-  process.waitForFinished();
+        if (!isInit) {
+          setValue(tr("needs format"));
+          setText(tr("FORMAT"));
+        } else if (isMounted) {
+          QProcess *usage = new QProcess(this);
+          connect(usage, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished), this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
+            QString info = usage->readAllStandardOutput().trimmed();
+            setValue(info);
+            setText(tr("UNMOUNT"));
+            usage->deleteLater();
+            setEnabled(true);
+          });
+          usage->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "df -h /mnt/external_realdata | awk 'NR==2 {print $3 \"/\" $2}'");
+          return;
+        } else {
+          setValue("");
+          setText(tr("MOUNT"));
+        }
 
-  QString output = process.readAllStandardOutput().trimmed();
-  return !output.isEmpty();
-}
-
-bool ExternalStorageControl::isFilesystemPresent() {
-  QProcess process;
-  process.start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "lsblk -f /dev/sdg1 | grep -q ext4");
-  process.waitForFinished();
-  return process.exitCode() == 0;
-}
-
-bool ExternalStorageControl::isDriveInitialized() {
-  QProcess process;
-  process.start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo blkid /dev/sdg1 | grep -q 'LABEL=\"openpilot\"'");
-  process.waitForFinished();
-  return process.exitCode() == 0;
+        setEnabled(true);
+      });
+      labelCheck->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo blkid /dev/sdg1 | grep -q 'LABEL=\"openpilot\"'");
+    });
+    fsCheck->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "lsblk -f /dev/sdg1 | grep -q ext4");
+  });
+  mntCheck->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "findmnt -n /mnt/external_realdata");
 }
 
 void ExternalStorageControl::mountStorage() {
@@ -94,20 +91,22 @@ void ExternalStorageControl::mountStorage() {
   QCoreApplication::processEvents();
 
   QProcess *process = new QProcess(this);
-  connect(process, QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
+  connect(process, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished),
           this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
             process->deleteLater();
             refresh();
           });
 
   process->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" <<
-    "sudo mount -o remount,rw / && " 
+    "sudo mount -o remount,rw / && "
     "sudo mkdir -p /mnt/external_realdata && "
+    "grep -q '/dev/sdg1 /mnt/external_realdata' /etc/fstab || "
+    "echo '/dev/sdg1 /mnt/external_realdata ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab && "
+    "sudo systemctl daemon-reexec && "
     "sudo chown -R $(whoami):$(whoami) /mnt/external_realdata && "
     "sudo chmod -R 775 /mnt/external_realdata && "
     "sudo mount -o remount,ro / && "
-    "sudo mount /mnt/external_realdata"
-  );
+    "sudo mount /mnt/external_realdata");
 }
 
 void ExternalStorageControl::unmountStorage() {
@@ -116,7 +115,7 @@ void ExternalStorageControl::unmountStorage() {
   QCoreApplication::processEvents();
 
   QProcess *process = new QProcess(this);
-  connect(process, QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
+  connect(process, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished),
           this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
             process->deleteLater();
             refresh();
@@ -125,42 +124,40 @@ void ExternalStorageControl::unmountStorage() {
 }
 
 void ExternalStorageControl::formatStorage() {
-  unmountStorage();
+  setText(tr("unmounting"));
+  setEnabled(false);
+  QCoreApplication::processEvents();
 
+  QProcess *umount = new QProcess(this);
+  connect(umount, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished),
+          this, [=](int, QProcess::ExitStatus) {
+            umount->deleteLater();
+            runFormat();
+          });
+  umount->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo umount /mnt/external_realdata");
+}
+
+void ExternalStorageControl::runFormat() {
   setText(tr("formatting"));
   setEnabled(false);
   QCoreApplication::processEvents();
 
   QProcess *process = new QProcess(this);
-  connect(process, QOverload<int, QProcess::ExitStatus>::of(&QProcess::finished),
-          this, [=](int exitCode, QProcess::ExitStatus exitStatus) {
-            if (exitCode == 0 && exitStatus == QProcess::NormalExit) {
-              mountStorage();
+  connect(process, static_cast<void(QProcess::*)(int, QProcess::ExitStatus)>(&QProcess::finished),
+          this, [=](int exitCode, QProcess::ExitStatus status) {
+            process->deleteLater();
+            if (exitCode == 0 && status == QProcess::NormalExit) {
               QProcess::execute("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo e2label /dev/sdg1 openpilot");
+              mountStorage();
             } else {
               qWarning() << "Formatting failed with exit code" << exitCode;
+              setText(tr("FORMAT"));
+              setEnabled(true);
             }
-            process->deleteLater();
-            refresh();
           });
-
   process->start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo mkfs.ext4 -F /dev/sdg1");
 }
 
-void ExternalStorageControl::checkAndUpdateFstab() {
-  QString fstabEntry = "/dev/sdg1 /mnt/external_realdata ext4 defaults,nofail 0 2";
-  QProcess checkProcess;
-  checkProcess.start("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "grep -Fxq '" + fstabEntry + "' /etc/fstab");
-  checkProcess.waitForFinished();
-
-  if (checkProcess.exitCode() != 0) {
-    QProcess::execute("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo mount -o remount,rw /");
-    QProcess::execute("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "echo '" + fstabEntry + "' | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab");
-    QProcess::execute("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo systemctl daemon-reload");
-    QProcess::execute("sh", QStringList() << "-c" << "sudo mount -o remount,ro /");
-  }
-}
-
 void ExternalStorageControl::showEvent(QShowEvent *event) {
   ButtonControl::showEvent(event);
   QTimer::singleShot(100, this, &ExternalStorageControl::refresh);
diff --git a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.h b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.h
index 1eadf2165d..7c27156533 100644
--- a/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.h
+++ b/selfdrive/ui/qt/widgets/external_storage.h
@@ -30,5 +30,5 @@ private:
   void mountStorage();
   void unmountStorage();
   void formatStorage();
-  void checkAndUpdateFstab();
+  void runFormat();
 };