Formatting 2GB SD card with FAT32 using Disk Utility

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Level 2

215 points

Formatting 2GB SD card with FAT32 using Disk Utility

Hello

I'm trying to format a 2GB SD card in a card reader/writer to FAT32 using Disk Utility. Unfortunately the only option available under the Erase button is "MS-DOS File System (FAT16)". I need to do this to upgrade the firmware in my Sony TV which requires a FAT32 formatted USB device.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Tim

P.S. Unfortunately I'm stuck in OSX Tiger on an old B&W G3 while my G5 undergoes repairs.

PowerMac G5 Dual Core 2.0 GHz, Mac OS X (10.5.8), 6.5 GB RAM

Posted on Jan 19, 2011 5:00 PM

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Answer 1

Asatoran

Level 4

2,532 points

Jan 19, 2011 6:33 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

Do you have a card bigger than 2GB? My 8GB cards are all formatted FAT32 and if I open then in Disk Utility, that's the choice I'm given for erase. I don't know what the cutoff was for FAT16 SD cards, so I don't know if 4GB cards will be FAT16 or FAT32.

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Answer 2

BDAqua

Level 10

238,967 points

Jan 19, 2011 6:48 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

2GB was the ;imit for FAT16...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/118335

Doesn't the camera or whatever it goes in have a Format Option?

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Answer 3

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Jan 19, 2011 7:40 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

There's a message in the post below that says if a drive is 2GB or less it automatically gets formatted to FAT 16, but FAT 32 for larger.

http://www.liquidx.net/blog/2007/05/26/format-partition-as-fat16-on-mac-osx/

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Answer 4

Tim Goodwin Author

Level 2

215 points

Jan 20, 2011 1:12 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

Ok, well anyone know of a free OSX 3rd party utility that will enable me to format the SD card to FAT32?

Unfortunately I don't have a larger SD card.

Thanks
Tim

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Answer 5

Asatoran

Level 4

2,532 points

Jan 20, 2011 1:27 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

Tim Goodwin wrote:
Ok, well anyone know of a free OSX 3rd party utility that will enable me to format the SD card to FAT32?

Unfortunately I don't have a larger SD card.

I tried my 1GB SD card on a XP PC and I'm not given the option of FAT32. So it may be a limitation of the SD specification, which means you may just need to bite the bullet and buy a larger SD card.

Perhaps you can ask Sony if there's some setting on your device to use something other than a FAT32 SD card. (I mean, this is Sony after all, you'd think they'd prefer Memorystick. 😉 )

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Answer 6

Limnos

Level 10

411,091 points

Jan 22, 2011 1:15 PM in response to Tim Goodwin

As BDAqua suggested, doesn't the device have its own erase/formatting feature? That way you'd be sure to get it into a format it would accept.

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Answer 7

Tim Goodwin Author

Level 2

215 points

Jan 22, 2011 2:55 PM in response to Limnos

Unfortunately no it does not. It only has a USB port which, among other things can be used to update the firmware for the TV.

Sony recommends using one of their USB flash drives but I was hoping to avoid yet another expense.

I finally broke down & purchased a 4GB SDHC card that ended up being cheaper (even with shipping) than Sony's least expensive USB flash drive.

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