Hardware Files larger than 4GB in Switch SD Card?

[_______]

I've copied out all the files from my old 32GB MicroSDHC to my computer, it's around 27GB in total.

When I tried to copy them back, I noticed that some files were actually larger than 4GB thus won't be able to restore due to the FAT32 format Switch uses. (Within /Nintendo/Contents/registered)

Was that some kind of protection just like those "big files" back in the old CD days or it's something else?

Note: Yes I'm aware that those files were encrypted and lock to a specific SD card and console. But that's not what I'm asking here.

EDIT -

Never mind. Seems Finder was showing a different size than the "real" one so it won't let me. With cp command I can copy those files as they were exactly 4.0GB according to ls -lh.

 

[Sonansune]

interesting...

 

[CTCaer]

It's not FAT32.

It's called exFAT

 

[_______]

It's not FAT32.

It's called exFAT

Nope, its FAT32.

 

[CTCaer]

Nope, its FAT32.

Never mind then.

(Switch supports exFAT though)

 

[linkinworm]

It's exFAT no idea why you thought it was fat 32, or even why your card is formatted for fat32 but its wrong it should be exFAT

 

[Pleng]

If it's a 32Gb card then it's more than likely formatted as Fat32...

 

[Selver]

It's not FAT32. It's called exFAT

Nope, its FAT32.

It's exFAT no idea why you thought it was fat 32, or even why your card is formatted for fat32 but its wrong it should be exFAT

If it's a 32Gb card then it's more than likely formatted as Fat32...

Pleng is correct. The SD card specification itself requires exFAT for SD cards larger than 32Gb in size. For 1-32GB, the SD card specification requires FAT32.
This is why OP showed FAT32 (using a 32Gb card), and linkinworm showed exFAT (using a 128Gb card).
If you want exFAT, use a SD card at 64Gb or larger.

 

[_______]

I think this thread should be closed as no one seems to read my updated info. It was FAT32 all along, I never said it was exFAT nor do I want it to be. (I copied them from a FAT32 card at the first place.)

The macOS Finder (the Windows File Explorer equivalent) seems to have a problem as it used 1000MB as a "GB" but use that "GB" value to compare with the FAT32 4GB file size limit. I used the Terminal (cp command), they can be copied fine as they are exactly 4GB each.

 

[Captain_N]

so it was apple fail all along? interesting

 

[Selver]

... (the files) are exactly 4GB each.

Are you sure that they are exactly 4 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes?

Or, are they just ever so slightly smaller than that, such as being off by just a few bytes?

I ask because I don't believe you can create a file that's a full 4Gb on FAT32.

 

[_______]

Are you sure that they are exactly 4 * 1024 * 1024 * 1024 bytes?

Or, are they just ever so slightly smaller than that, such as being off by just a few bytes?

I ask because I don't believe you can create a file that's a full 4Gb on FAT32.

I'll correct my statement then, exact 4GB as to "ls -lh" has told me.

 

[Selver]

I'll correct my statement then, exact 4GB as to "ls -lh" has told me.

From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table#FAT32:
"The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus 1 byte or 4,294,967,295 (2^32 − 1) bytes."

If the Switch is generating invalidly-large files on FAT32, that's scary...