[solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

jewnersey · 2012-03-04 22:25:13

I have an mkv file that is larger than the FAT32 limit of my external hard drive. Obviously i would like to keep the 720p quality, so splitting seems to be my best option, but what is the best software to do so?

Last edited by jewnersey (2012-03-06 13:21:26)

karol · 2012-03-04 22:28:37

http://www.archlinux.org/packages/?name=mkvt
http://techfleece.com/2011/06/18/how-to … kvtoolnix/

Do you have to keep the drive formatted as fat32?

Last edited by karol (2012-03-04 22:29:37)

.:B:. · 2012-03-05 08:00:01

Convert to NTFS and be done with it.

Avant-texte · 2012-03-05 08:32:54

The only reason people keep external drives formated as FAT is because it's commonly supported and/or because modern FSes have to much overhead to be justified for small drives. If you have a file that your FS can't support, consider upgrading it. If you need OSes like Windows to support it, NTFS might be the way to go. If you only need *nix OSes to read the drive, than an EXT might be the better way.

HalfEmptyHero · 2012-03-05 12:01:43

You can use split.

split -b 100M video.mkv split_video.mkv
this splits it into 100 mb sections named split_video.mkva, split_video.mkvb etc.

join them again with
cat split_video.mkv* > joined_video.mkv

Last edited by HalfEmptyHero (2012-03-05 12:01:58)

DSpider · 2012-03-05 13:58:16

Using Windows you can convert it to NTFS without formatting, tho it's recommended you back it up first (and if you do back it up, you may as well format it as NTFS and put the data back). Google is your friend on how to do that. This isn't a Windows support forum.

Personally, I'd format it with a 10 GB NTFS (empty) partition and ext4 the rest of the HDD so that I can mount it as Read-Only from Windows, using Ext2Fsd. This way I wouldn't be getting my files infected, because I know that some of my friends and family play online poker and download every single toolbar possible. They're simple folk, you know?

jewnersey · 2012-03-05 15:15:56

thanks for all the replies.
laughed at the toolbars comment because it is actually what made me buy my first computer. gotta love when your browser window has only 30% useful real estate.

back on topic:

i am using this drive for media with my custom firmware PS3, which has limited NTFS support at the moment, so switching is not my best option at the moment. i found some info about having the ps3 read ntfs but it's currently being a bastard.

Avant-texte · 2012-03-05 18:21:01

jewnersey wrote:

thanks for all the replies.
laughed at the toolbars comment because it is actually what made me buy my first computer. gotta love when your browser window has only 30% useful real estate.
back on topic:
i am using this drive for media with my custom firmware PS3, which has limited NTFS support at the moment, so switching is not my best option at the moment. i found some info about having the ps3 read ntfs but it's currently being a bastard.

Ah, I see. You're not dealing with an IBM compatible PC. In the PS3's case it seems like splitting or resizing are your only options (short of installing a new OS).

FAT32 supports a max file size of 4 gigs. Are you sure you can't simply shrink the file a bit. I assume you're dealing with a movie file (i.e. something with about 1.5-ish hours of content). Most movie files, with 720p resolution, I come across are 1-2 gigs in size. They look and sound just fine on my 35in (90cm) TV screen, so I'd think dropping a (test) file just below 4 gigs is worth a try. All things being equal, the bitrate is a variable to look at.

jewnersey · 2012-03-05 21:16:10

Id be interested in just shrinking the file and hoping that he loss in quality is minimal. I too usually download 720p that do not exceed 3.5GB at the VERY most, but for whatever reason there are some that fall in the 4+ range. I have no idea how to go about simply shrinking the file, but i would give it a shot for sure.

Avant-texte · 2012-03-05 21:53:00

Take a look at HandBrake or MEncoder.

Last edited by Avant-texte (2012-03-05 21:53:29)

Mr.Elendig · 2012-03-05 22:02:22

Mencoder should not be used. It is a dead bitrotted piece of crud. It might even get removed from mplayer soon. ffmpeg with optional frontend is what should be used instead.

jewnersey · 2012-03-05 22:15:06

I am giving handbrake a shot currently. not sure exactly what settings to use, but im gonna play around with it and see what comes out.
if i fail at handbrake, ill move on to ffmpeg

thanks for the help

Gusar · 2012-03-05 22:15:48

Nothing wrong with mencoder if you're aware of it's limitations. Two rules basically: One, always output raw video. Two, if you do output to avi, don't use anything other than mpeg4-asp (xvid or lavc mpeg4). And that's it. Which means using mencoder to encode with x264 is perfectly fine, as long as you use "-of rawvideo -o video.264"
I once encoded mpeg2 video and mp2 audio for a SVCD, it worked fine, so even that's possible if you for some weird reason require a SVCD.

jewnersey · 2012-03-06 00:54:11

used handbrake on my 4.7GB mkv file.
used default settings and mkv output and it is now 3.6GB.

Thank you all

DSpider · 2012-03-06 08:23:45

Cool. You should mark it as solved.

Arch Linux

#1 2012-03-04 22:25:13

[solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#2 2012-03-04 22:28:37

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#3 2012-03-05 08:00:01

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#4 2012-03-05 08:32:54

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#5 2012-03-05 12:01:43

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#6 2012-03-05 13:58:16

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#7 2012-03-05 15:15:56

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#8 2012-03-05 18:21:01

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#9 2012-03-05 21:16:10

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#10 2012-03-05 21:53:00

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#11 2012-03-05 22:02:22

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#12 2012-03-05 22:15:06

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#13 2012-03-05 22:15:48

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#14 2012-03-06 00:54:11

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

#15 2012-03-06 08:23:45

Re: [solved] mkv too big for fat32 partition... split, shrink.. ?

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