FAT32 external drives not accepting files over 2GB

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Level 1

21 points

FAT32 external drives not accepting files over 2GB

I recently upgraded from El Capitan 10.11.6 to MacOS High Sierra. I have a number of external drives which must be readable by Windows computers and Windows-compatible devices, such as most modern TVs; hence they have been formatted to FAT32.

However, I now find that none of the external drives in question will write any file over 2GB. The limit on FAT32 partitioned drives is well-known to be 4GB; why has High Sierra suddenly made it impossible to write anything over 2GB, and what can I do about this? (I assume the problem lies with the OS, as nothing else has been changed since the upgrade).

iMac, macOS High Sierra (10.13.2), 3.3 GHz Intel Core 15

Posted on Jan 16, 2018 7:28 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

CountryGirl56

Level 4

2,592 points

Jan 16, 2018 8:17 AM in response to Akominatus

You're welcome.

In the Terminal type cp followed by a space, then drag the file you want to copy into the Terminal window, then drag the volume you want to copy to into the window. Hit Return. It will take awhile and there's no feedback so wait for the Terminal prompt to reappear.

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Answer 2

Eau Rouge

Level 8

42,554 points

Jan 16, 2018 8:17 AM in response to Akominatus

Use the cp command

At the terminal prompt type cp now press the space bar then drag the file you want to copy to the terminal window, then drag the usb stick you want the file to go to in to the terminal window, press return.

and wait till you see the prompt $ again.

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Answer 3

Jan 16, 2018 7:30 AM in response to Akominatus

It's a bug introduced in High Sierra. For now, you will have to copy files over 2 GB using the Terminal.

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Answer 4

Akominatus Author

Level 1

21 points

Jan 16, 2018 8:08 AM in response to CountryGirl56

Thank you. I haven't used the Terminal in that way before. Could you explain?

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