![]() ![]() Also, I believe the reason Microsoft doesn’t include a built-in option to format large cards FAT32 is due to the file size limitation: The maximum size any one file can be when using FAT32 is 4GB, where the max file size on newer filesystems is 16 ExaBytes. I believe the reason for all this comes down to cost: Supporting FAT and FAT32 filesystems is free, however if a company wants to include support for NTFS or exFAT (both filesystems that support cards of all sizes) they’ll need to pay a licensing fee. ![]() ![]() I’ve also seen this work on cellphone’s, camera’s and other devices that advertised FAT32 as a limit. ![]() At the time of writing this, I can confirm the SD2SNES (original and Pro), EverDrive64, Mega SD and SSDS3 are all compatible with 64GB cards and higher (I use a 256GB with the Mega SD). Once again, this has worked in every scenario I’ve tested. That’s it! Just hit Start and your SD card will now be formatted FAT32! If you accidentally leave one open, it’ll give you a “drive in use” error – No big deal, just close all boxes and try again. Please note that this program will require you to close all Windows Explorer boxes before formatting. As before, be very careful with this step, as if you choose the wrong letter, you can accidentally erase any other drive that’s plugged in!Ĭheck off the box labeled “Quick Format”. Select the drive your SD card is in from the drop-down menu. It almost always works on the second try.įormat again with FAT32 Format and not the built-in Windows tool:ĭownload the GUI version of fat32format: No problem at all, just clear whatever garbage might appear in the “Volume Label” box and try again. I’ve found that it’s common the format will fail on the first try. Make sure to hit the “option” button and set “FORMAT SIZE ADJUSTMENT” to “ON”. Be very careful with this step, as if you choose the wrong letter, you can accidentally erase any other drive that’s plugged in! Insert your SD or MicroSD card into your computer and load the SDFormatter software. I’ll post a technical description at the end, but all you really need to do is format the card a specific way and depending on your operating system, it may require some (free) programs: Windows:įormat your SD card once with “SDFormatter” to clear any extra partitions that may have been added with something like a Raspberry Pi image: I found that in every single case I’ve tested, the limitation is the card’s formatting and NOT size. Now you are ready to write a new Raspberry Pi image to it.It’s often you’ll find SD (or MicroSD) based devices that list compatibility as “up to 32GB”. Certainly an improvement on the 56MB that appeared before. In my example the 4GB card has a capacity of 3.74GB which sounds right. When the process finishes it will provide a summary of the cards capacity. The process should start and it should only take a few seconds. You do not want to format another device by accident! Step 2 – Enable Size AdjustmentĪs we are specifically interested in restoring the true capacity of the card click “Option” and turn “Format Size Adjustment” to “ON”. Note how my card only appears to have a capacity of 56MB despite being a 4GB card.ĭouble check the drive letter. Insert your SD card and run the SDFormatter application : Visit the Official SD Formatter website and download the installer for your operating system. It is quick, easy and free! You can download it from the Official SD Formatter website and it is available for both Windows and Mac. This is a tool created by the SD Association. In order to ensure my SD cards are completely blank and has no partitions that may be hidden from Windows I always erase it with “SD Formatter” on my PC first. Raspberry Pi SD cards will often only appear to have a capacity of 56MB in windows but that is because it can’t see the much larger Linux partition. This can be due to partitions previously configured and some “format” utilities can’t remove them. If you attempt to re-use an SD card you might find the usable capacity is less than you were expecting. ![]()
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