Hacking Formatting in FAT or FAT32

[Rayder]

Well, I'm still waiting on my R4DS....it didn't show up today. :'( I hope it shows up tomorrow......

I did received my microSD card today though....2gig Transcend. (I guess newegg is a little quicker than RHS for shipping)

I bought a USB card reader too, but it's slower than our multi-card reader. 3megs per second compared to 5megs per second.

Does it make ANY difference at all whether the microSD is formatted in FAT or FAT32 on an R4DS? Will stuff like DLDI-patched homebrew care which way it's formatted? Is one way faster than the other? Which way do you guys recommend I format it?

 

[HaaTa]

It shouldn't matter; however, I have an old linux desktop that will not detect a FAT32 flash card. As for speed FAT16 (that you call FAT) is faster; however, it will not support drives over 2GB (I think).

Do FAT16 as that's what I use on my R$DS and have done on all my other flash carts. If your have some problems try FAT32; however, it may just cause more.

 

[GameGeezer]

I haven't heard much feedback about 2 GB cards yet. I've read that card access is faster using FAT than it is with FAT32. It has also been recommended that the card be formatted with an allocation unit size of 32k to assure better success with programs like Castlevania POR.

These were recommendations based on the 1 GB card size. I'm not sure what speed and access issues would be present due to the memory size being larger. I'm sure people who own the cards will chime in.

 

[Rayder]

It shouldn't matter; however, I have an old linux desktop that will not detect a FAT32 flash card. As for speed FAT16 (that you call FAT) is faster; however, it will not support drives over 2GB (I think).

Do FAT16 as that's what I use on my R$DS and have done on all my other flash carts. If your have some problems try FAT32; however, it may just cause more.

Thanks, I'll use FAT16. It was just a curious thing, ya know?

I did try formatting both ways, but seeing as my card readers are slow, I didn't see any difference in speed, which is why I asked.

Now all I need is the R4DS to show up.