So, ordered a1 TB Card for the Deck, want to format it (not on the Deck itself, 'cause of the many posts about "breaking" their cards)....some suggestions?
THX
THX
Default answer to this question is use the sd card formatter at sdcard.org
If there's a better answer that's Steam Deck specific, someone else may know
If there's a better answer that's Steam Deck specific, someone else may know
thank you for the hint.....downloaded the Formatter ...but there's no Option for choosing the Type? (ext4, and so on)
I think Steam Deck uses ext4.....
I think Steam Deck uses ext4.....
Ext 3/4 are linux filesystem wich are not supported by windows. And are journaling systems wich produce a lot of writes to the drive, becauses of logging each access and change. If you will use ext3/4, disable the journaling feature on this drive or use ext2 wich is not logging. Or use fat32/exfat for flashdrives and to be interoperal between different OS like Windows.
Steam OS is based on Arch Linux, so this are the filesystems wich are supported.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/file_systems
How to format ext4 on Linux
Run this Command in Terminal
Steam OS is based on Arch Linux, so this are the filesystems wich are supported.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/file_systems
How to format ext4 on Linux
Run this Command in Terminal
sudo mkfs -t ext4 /dev/sdbX ( sdbX > your drive)
Last edited by Sypherone,
Thx @Sypherone
So i format it in exfat with sdformatter and put it in the Steam Deck, then everything must be ok?
So i format it in exfat with sdformatter and put it in the Steam Deck, then everything must be ok?
Yes, it should work and be recognized as drive. Wich can be used as normal.
Edit: If not, the driver needs to be manually installed either through the software center of ArchLinux/SteamOS or by typing in the terminal
Edit: If not, the driver needs to be manually installed either through the software center of ArchLinux/SteamOS or by typing in the terminal
sudo pacman -S exfat-utils
Last edited by Sypherone,
I don't blame you for being concerned as I had to RMA a 400GB card because the Steam Deck broke it when I tried to re-format in the device. When the replacement arrived I decided to just use it for non-Steam stuff so I formatted in Windows (ExFAT or FAT32 - I can't remember which). If you want to use the card for normal Steam games then it's still recommended to format in the Deck but only do it once and don't try to ever re-format. I heard the problem was fixed but I still don't trust it.
For what it's worth the only issue I experienced was that I tried hotswapping once, and the card wasn't detected after I popped it back in - I reformatted it (through the Deck) and it got detected after that. All in all, I reformatted a few times in the last couple of weeks through the internal formatting option and had no issues with that. Nor was I aware of people getting their cards bricked/allegedly bricked... I have a 1Tb coming in, and I'll be more careful with that one now that I am aware.
Format the card in steam deck. If it gets corrupted, do not try to reformat it again in steam deck. pull it out, pop it in your PC and reformat it there in whatever format compatible with windows. this is just to remove the corruption in the card. pop it back again in steam deck. Rinse and repeat until the deck successfully formats the card
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