Fat32 127 Gb limit (+formatting utitlty)

[icarusi]

I was searching for a FAT32 formatting utility as XP doesn't do it, just NTFS. I found this:-

_http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm

Subsequently I was wondering what the FAT32 limit is and it's 127Gb. If you have probems and your HD is greater than 127Gb (or partition size) maybe trying lower than 127Gb may work.

I'm currently trying a 500Gb drive in a docking station which works when I format from scratch in the P+ and shows the correct size, but doesn't always become 'ready' after unplugging. I want to reformat to 125Gb FAT32 and 125Gb and 250Gb NTFS partitions. I'll post my results here.

 

[icarusi]

I was searching for a FAT32 formatting utility as XP doesn't do it, just NTFS. I found this:-

_http://www.compuapps.com/download/Swissknife/swissknife.htm

Subsequently I was wondering what the FAT32 limit is and it's 127Gb. If you have probems and your HD is greater than 127Gb (or partition size) maybe trying lower than 127Gb may work.

I'm currently trying a 500Gb drive in a docking station which works when I format from scratch in the P+ and shows the correct size, but doesn't always become 'ready' after unplugging. I want to reformat to 125Gb FAT32 and 125Gb and 250Gb NTFS partitions. I'll post my results here.

The answer is no. Swissnife works ok and can format FAT32 from XP any size of partition or drive but any NTFS partition causes the P+ to show the 'not ready not FAT32' fault. Sometimes deleting the NTFS partitions will allow the FAT32 partition to work with the P+, othertimes not. A FAT32 partition smaller than the full size disk can be used and the remainder formatted later to NTFS, but not much use as it can't then be used with the P+ unless that partition is deleted (or maybe reformatted to FAT32?)

The FAT32 partition limit is not 127Gb but some filesystem drivers impose a limit. AFAIK the P+ will work at least to 500Gb but if problems are experienced it may be worth trying a lower limit.

 

[icarusi]

The answer is no. Swissnife works ok and can format FAT32 from XP any size of partition or drive but any NTFS partition causes the P+ to show the 'not ready not FAT32' fault. Sometimes deleting the NTFS partitions will allow the FAT32 partition to work with the P+, othertimes not. A FAT32 partition smaller than the full size disk can be used and the remainder formatted later to NTFS, but not much use as it can't then be used with the P+ unless that partition is deleted (or maybe reformatted to FAT32?)

The FAT32 partition limit is not 127Gb but some filesystem drivers impose a limit. AFAIK the P+ will work at least to 500Gb but if problems are experienced it may be worth trying a lower limit.

This is probably a 'Swissnife' problem, I just tried a legacy drive which was already formatted as 10/10/60Gb in FAT32/FAT32/NTFS formats and the P+ recorded and replayed correctly into the first 10Gb partition (from BBC HD with the AC3 surround audio selected) without a problem.