Hacking Recommended formatting modes?

[Hammyface]

Hey guys, I just got my M3 Simply and the M3 Lite for my DS lite so I can enjoy the best of both worlds. Both are using 1GB cards, the DS slot has a Ultra II microSD card, the M3 Lite has a regular one. I was wondering what cluster size and FAT system I should use for each one.

Thanks so much!

 

[Destructobot]

FAT with 64k clusters will give the best performance.

 

[Hammyface]

FAT with 64k clusters will give the best performance.

This is true with the M3 Lite for GBA games as well?

The reason I ask is because even with my Ultra 2 on the M3 Simply I get some slowdowns in Animal Crossing!

 

[Destructobot]

It should be true for any media with a file system. FAT is faster than FAT32 because it doesn't need to deal with as much data to get the job done. Larger cluster sizes are faster for the same reason; fewer are needed to get the job done, so the file table is smaller.

 

[Hammyface]

It should be true for any media with a file system. FAT is faster than FAT32 because it doesn't need to deal with as much data to get the job done. Larger cluster sizes are faster for the same reason; fewer are needed to get the job done, so the file table is smaller.

Well then shouldn't I use a larget cluster size than 64 then if that's the case?

 

[mr_blonde_88]

I have an R4 with a SanDisk 1GB
How should i format this?

 

[mr_blonde_88]

 

[mr_blonde_88]

Shit, triple post, sooorrrryyyyyyyy

 

[Destructobot]

Well then shouldn't I use a larget cluster size than 64 then if that's the case?

64k is the largest cluster size for FAT.

I have an R4 with a SanDisk 1GB
How should i format this?

From m3wiki.com:


Go to: Start -> Run -> diskmgmt.msc

Select your SD card and right-click "Format"

* Volume Label: Whatever you like
* File System: FAT
* Allocation unit size: 64k

 

[Hammyface]

Why do I experience slowdown in Animal Crossing with a Sandisk Ultra 2 in my M3 Simply and formatted properly?

 

[mr_blonde_88]

What does the cluster size do??

 

[Destructobot]

The clusters (AKA allocation units) are the chunks that the filesystem uses when allocating disk (or flash memory) space to files. Each file uses a whole number of allucation units, so with 64k clusters a 1 byte file uses up 64k of space, a 65k file takes up 128k, and so on.

 

[mr_blonde_88]

i seee, kwlness

ive just orderd a 2GB SanDisk MicroSD card, same settings as the 1GB??

 

[lionheartsyd]

Hi

I just brought myself a brand new 8G SanDisk MicroSDHC card for my EDGE card.

I have the latest firmware 1.45 and would like to know whats the best method for formating?

The options I have are

FAT32 (Default)
exfat
NTFS

I would assume I have to use FAT32 in this case, not sure what exfat does.

Apparently people have been saying 64k for allocation unit size is the best for game compatibility and speed - does this rule still apply to MicroSDHC cards?

Thank you for your time and attention.