Unpartitioned FAT32 file system on external hard drive?

[Francis Turton]

I've bought a 60GB laptop hard drive+caddy that I want to use for USB
input to my car stereo[1]. I've formatted it as FAT32 using the
mkdosfs utility (http://www1.mager.org/mkdosfs/). (I had to do this
because Windows XP's Disk Management tool won't let you format FAT32
partitions greater than 32GB.)

When I plug the drive into my stereo[2], I get an error message
(helpfully, "ERROR"). A Linux expert who has the same setup in his car
has told me that this is probably because the HD still has a PC-style
master boot record and a partition table with one partition covering
the whole disk. I need to get rid of the partition table, apparently,
and set up a file system starting from block 0. But the Linux guy
doesn't know how to do that in Windows. Any ideas how I go about this?

Thanks,

Francis

[1] Sony CDX-GT410U
[2] The drive is powered via an adaptor for the cigarette lighter; I'm
fairly sure lack of power isn't the problem as the disk seems to be
spinning OK, and the stereo knows it's there (the stereo says "READ"
for a moment before the error message appears).

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

 

[Bill Blanton]

I've bought a 60GB laptop hard drive+caddy that I want to use for USB
input to my car stereo[1]. I've formatted it as FAT32 using the
mkdosfs utility (http://www1.mager.org/mkdosfs/). (I had to do this
because Windows XP's Disk Management tool won't let you format FAT32
partitions greater than 32GB.)

When I plug the drive into my stereo[2], I get an error message
(helpfully, "ERROR"). A Linux expert who has the same setup in his car
has told me that this is probably because the HD still has a PC-style
master boot record and a partition table with one partition covering
the whole disk. I need to get rid of the partition table, apparently,
and set up a file system starting from block 0. But the Linux guy
doesn't know how to do that in Windows. Any ideas how I go about this?

Native Windows formatting tools don't have that capability. Are you sure
that it's required to be set up as such? Have you run chkdsk on the
newly formatted drive to check for errors?

It is possible, but it requires shifting the boot sectors, FATs, and
th root to the front of the disk. Not something easily done without
a tool that can format it that way.

 

[Francis Turton]

I've bought a 60GB laptop hard drive+caddy that I want to use for USB
input to my car stereo[1]. I've formatted it as FAT32 using the
mkdosfs utility (http://www1.mager.org/mkdosfs/). (I had to do this
because Windows XP's Disk Management tool won't let you format FAT32
partitions greater than 32GB.)

When I plug the drive into my stereo[2], I get an error message
(helpfully, "ERROR"). A Linux expert who has the same setup in his car
has told me that this is probably because the HD still has a PC-style
master boot record and a partition table with one partition covering
the whole disk. I need to get rid of the partition table, apparently,
and set up a file system starting from block 0. But the Linux guy
doesn't know how to do that in Windows. Any ideas how I go about this?

Native Windows formatting tools don't have that capability. Are you sure
that it's required to be set up as such? Have you run chkdsk on the
newly formatted drive to check for errors?

I've sorted it. Yes, the drive has to be set up so that the primary
partition is FAT32, with no logical partitions. The problem, as I
said, is that XP won't format as FAT anything larger than 32GB. The
mkdosfs utility merely reformats existing NTFS partitions as FAT, so
can't, I assume, alter the overall structure of the disk.

A friend of mine has PartitionMagic and I used that - it was really
easy. I didn't even have to install the disk in a computer - it worked
over USB. I am in a good mood

It is possible, but it requires shifting the boot sectors, FATs, and
th root to the front of the disk. Not something easily done without
a tool that can format it that way.

--- www.dogsticks.org ---

 

[Bill Blanton]

I've bought a 60GB laptop hard drive+caddy that I want to use for USB
input to my car stereo[1]. I've formatted it as FAT32 using the
mkdosfs utility (http://www1.mager.org/mkdosfs/). (I had to do this
because Windows XP's Disk Management tool won't let you format FAT32
partitions greater than 32GB.)

When I plug the drive into my stereo[2], I get an error message
(helpfully, "ERROR"). A Linux expert who has the same setup in his car
has told me that this is probably because the HD still has a PC-style
master boot record and a partition table with one partition covering
the whole disk. I need to get rid of the partition table, apparently,
and set up a file system starting from block 0. But the Linux guy
doesn't know how to do that in Windows. Any ideas how I go about this?

Native Windows formatting tools don't have that capability. Are you sure
that it's required to be set up as such? Have you run chkdsk on the
newly formatted drive to check for errors?

I've sorted it. Yes, the drive has to be set up so that the primary
partition is FAT32, with no logical partitions.

Good to hear it's sorted. For future reference, a primary partition does
not mean that there is no partition table. What you describe in your
orignal post (what Linux guy meant) is to set the HDD up as a "removable"
drive. Much the same way floppys and many USB flash drives are
formatted. However, the stereo obviously didn't need that after all.

The problem, as I
said, is that XP won't format as FAT anything larger than 32GB. The
mkdosfs utility merely reformats existing NTFS partitions as FAT, so
can't, I assume, alter the overall structure of the disk.

A friend of mine has PartitionMagic and I used that - it was really
easy. I didn't even have to install the disk in a computer - it worked
over USB. I am in a good mood

Yep.. Thanks for posting back..

 

[Francis Turton]

Good to hear it's sorted. For future reference, a primary partition does
not mean that there is no partition table. What you describe in your
orignal post (what Linux guy meant) is to set the HDD up as a "removable"
drive. Much the same way floppys and many USB flash drives are
formatted. However, the stereo obviously didn't need that after all.

I can't remember exactly what settings I chose in PartiitionManager in
addition to "Primary Partition". All I know is it worked Thanks for
the info though - who knows, it may come in useful at some point.


--- www.dogsticks.org ---