Hi folks,

I have a pendrive with 2 partitions, sda1 and sda2 respectively.

I ran
# mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sda1
# mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sda2

They went through without complaint.

On running
# fdisk -l /dev/sdaThey were still on Linux FS.

Tried FAT16 with the same result.

I must run "fdisk /dev/sda" to get FAT16 FS on them. Please advise what is the trick behind and how to format them as FAT32.

TIA

B.R.
satimis

There's two steps to formatting: First you create the right type of partition, then you format the partition.

You can't format a Linux partition with FAT. You need to delete both partitions & create new FAT partition(s) with fdisk, cfdisk, or other partitioner. THEN run mkdosfs on them.

Hi oneandoneis2,

Tks for your advice.

Partitions were created first but without FS. Because I tried running mkdosfs to create FAT32 on the partitons.

How can I create FAT32 on the partitions of the pendrive? "fdisk" only has hidden FAT32.

B.R.
satimis

hello satimis,
in fdisk (fdisk /dev/sda), the command l gives you a list of available filesystems.
try type "b"

Here are the steps. I just did this with a removable USB drive.
NOTE: This will wipe out any existing data on the removable drive!

1. fdisk /dev/sda
2. press 'p' to print the partitions (make sure you're looking at the right drive!)
3. press 'd' to delete a partition
4. if prompted, press '1' to select first partition.
5. press 'd' again and the other partition will be immediately deleted.
6. press 'n' to add a new partition
7. press 'p' to select "primary"
8. enter partition number '1'
9. select the bounds for the partition (it would be easiest to just hit 'enter' on each option.)
10. after creating the partition, press 't' to change the partition's type.
11. enter type number 0c
optionally, type 'p' to view the partition table and ensure that the type is FAT32
12. write the changes to the disk; type 'w'
13. fdisk will quit after saving changes.
14. run mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda1
This creates the file system.
15. create a directory where you want to mount the drive
16. mount the drive: mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /[your directory name here]
Be sure to umount the drive before removing it to avoid losing data!

Krasl

Hi krasl,

Tks for your detail advice.

Command (m for help): pAfter running;
mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda1
mkfs -t vfat /dev/sda2

# fdisk -l /dev/sdaIt looks the same as above, still "W95 FAT32"

I have been running to the same situation before. I can't get FAT32 FS. It frustrated me.

B.R.
satimis

Hi overlord73,

Tks for your advice.

On the list, "b" is "Win95 FAT32" not for Linux. I can't find FAT32 there.

B.R.
satimis

Sorry, but I'm not clear on what you're trying to do.
Yes, it says W95 FAT32, but either Linux or Windows can mount/read/write this partition.
To mount in Linux, all you have to do is mount -t vfat /dev/sda1 /[mountpoint]
Or connect to a Windows (98SE or later) system and it should mount also.

Yes, after running mkfs it SHOULD still look the same. It is simply formatting the partition (creating the filesystem on an "empty" partition). So within fdisk, you should see exactly the same thing before and after you run mkfs.

What exactly are you wanting to do here? There is no such thing as a native Linux FAT32 partition, to my knowledge, because FAT32 is a M$ technology. (You gurus out there correct me if I'm wrong about this!) But Linux reads/writes the FAT32 filesystem just fine.

Krasl

Hi krasl,

Tks for your advice.

I have DSL 2.2b installed on a pendrive which was formated on FAT16 ZIP geometry. It can be booted on USB-ZIP option (BIOS) and failed on USB-HDD. I also tried format the pendrive FAT16 without zip geometry. It still failed to boot on USB-HDD.

USB-HDD supports FAT32 therefore I tried to make another test with the pendrive formatted as FAT32.

That is the story.

B.R.
satimis