Is there a way of formatting a 4TB external drive to FAT32 ?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by vudicus, Jan 31, 2017.

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  1. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I'm wondering if it's possible to format a 4TB drive to FAT32.
    Does anyone know if it's possible and if so, how can it be done?
    Most programs I know of can only convert drives up to 2TB.
     
  2. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    EDIT : Just realized what your actual question is.

    FAT32 has limits. 2GB files as a ceiling. Can only be formatted up to 2TB per partition so you could theoretically have 2 partitions in FAT32 that are 2TB each on that single drive.

    Question ; why do you want to format in FAT32?
     
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  3. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
  4. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    My Marantz AV receiver reads only FAT16 and FAT32 according to the manual.
    It won't recognise the drive currently so I thought I'd try and change it.
    I've just followed your instructions above and it doesn't give the option of FAT32, but does have exFAT.
     
  5. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    I made the same mistake initially. I thought the OP was asking *how* to format but after reading his post more carefully, I see he wants to specifically format a 4TB drive into a single FAT32 partition which is technically impossible due to the limitations of that format.
     
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  6. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    Which specific model is your Marantz?

    You can try this application which will grant you the ability to use FAT32.

    Fat32Formatter »
     
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  7. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    It's the NR1506
     
  8. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    Actually that link (the link i posted) is just the title of the page. If you clicked the link you'd have seen the first suggestion on the page is Fat32Formatter. It is not a simple "how to"; it is a "how to get around the 2tb limit imposed by the OS"
     
  9. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    You cannot. It's the limit of the format.

    It'd be like me asking you to figure out a way for an LP to have 12 hours of great stereo sound on it per side. Just can't be done. Those are the limitations of the format which can't be circumvented.

    As I said earlier, you could take that drive and have *2* partitions on it of 2TB in capacity, each. That's the only other solution, really.
     
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  10. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    I've tried the link but sadly the program won't work for me.
     
  11. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

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  12. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

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    It works in Windows 7 but there's no talk about it working on Windows 10 which I'd have to assume you're using if it's not working.
     
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  13. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    It is not the "limit of the format", FAT32 is capable of supporting 16TB volumes, as is regular-old FAT. It is a limitation imposed by the operating system due to the inefficiencies of dealing with large, FAT-based volumes compared to NTFS. This is explained in the link I posted originally. There are ways to get around this, however not ideal.
     
  14. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    There is a single sentence which insinuates this in the article but it most definitely is not clear in any way.

    Do you have any sources which would indicate this being possible on a 16TB drives?

    Secondly, the OP will most likely be using a PC to add files to that drive. Do you know whether Windows would detect the entire 4TB FAT32-formatted partition (assuming that's possible to begin with) and whether it'd be possible for him to add files at all and even beyond the 2TB limit Windows can only see/manipulate?
     
  15. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    There's some more info here regarding technicalities: File Allocation Table - Wikipedia » -- have a look at the table on the right, particularly max volume size. The limitations are imposed by the OS, not the filesystem. They are limitations to be overcome nevertheless.

    Don't get me wrong here I'm not arguing this is simple thing to achieve. I personally have never tried it, and my original thought was to do what you're suggesting, that is, create two 2TB partitions.

    @vudicus: maybe there's a solution in this thread. Might be a bit technical though... Formatting my 4tb portable HD as Fat32 - [Solved] - Storage »
     
  16. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    Ah, I believed you had some experience in circumventing these hard limits. It's not surprising as Microsoft had a hand in developing it.
     
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  17. tiller

    tiller Forum Resident

    Location:
    Montreal
    As the OP originally said, he needs to use FAT32 because that is what his receiver is expecting to see. Suggesting an alternative filesystem is not a solution.
     
  18. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
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    Won't help whatsoever. His Marantz won't support any other file table structure than FAT or FAT32. :(
     
  19. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Oops. Sorry I missed that.
     
  20. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    I had the same problem with my Pioneer receiver that only takes fat32 or fat.

    I ended up using a computer with external DAC when trying to play from USB disk.

    I also just got Opp 203 and it recognizes my extfat drive just fine. I like Oppo as it's grace note function is more advance than the av receiver and my computer. It could display album arts whereas all my other devices can't.

    Sorry couldn't offer more help with formatting.
     
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  21. Schoolmaster Bones

    Schoolmaster Bones Poe's Lawyer

    Location:
    ‎The Midwest
    Have you checked their support page?: Marantz US »

    There may possibly be a firmware update for your model that could remedy this.
     
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  22. daglesj

    daglesj Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norfolk, UK
    The reason for the OS limits are that FAT and FAT32 for large data volumes are a liability. Just not as robust as NTFS and onwards.
     
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  23. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Similar topic from another thread: I use this tool, in Windows 10 - Ridgecrop Consultants Ltd »

    This allows for formatting beyond the FAT32 limit in Windows, but whether or not it will work on a 4TB partition is not something I can answer. If you have a new 4TB drive with no data on it, you can certainly test it out.

    That link btw actually brings up the 2TB partition limit. Sounds like if the drive is 4k sectors, it could actually work but it will not be a quick mount if using USB 2.0.
     
  24. Ron Scubadiver

    Ron Scubadiver Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston TX
    Will exfat work? The alternative is to partition the drive into a pair of 2 TB volumes.
     
  25. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    UK
    Sadly my A/V receiver doesn't recognise exFAT, only FAT32 and FAT16.
     
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