[dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

eilenbeb · 2009-06-14 20:37:36

The mkfs.vfat (mkdosfs) manpage claims it can't make a bootable fat32. True enough, win2k installer sees the partition as unformatted or damaged, and disk checking utils claim lots of bad clusters.
I'm dual-booting ms & Arch. I can use my old win98 fdisk and format tools for the fat32 partition, but isn't there something in Arch that can as well?

Last edited by eilenbeb (2009-06-24 18:20:54)

lifeafter2am · 2009-06-14 21:01:34

Can't you use mkfs.vfat to format it and then use fdisk to flag it as bootable?

arch0r · 2009-06-14 21:01:53

install dosfstools :>

eilenbeb · 2009-06-14 21:20:34

Yup, dosfstools is what I used... ms doesn't like the results. Win2k won't even install on a partitiion I format with mkfs.vfat, doesn't seem to matter if I flag it bootable. Don't know why.
I was just looking for a new tool that ms would play nice with.

I just used the old win98 fdisk/format (both show wrong sizes, but it seems to work) and win2k is ready to go on to the partition as fat32.

I've had other systems, however, where the above would not work, and I was forced to use ntfs (which I'm not too fond of).

lifeafter2am · 2009-06-14 21:26:18

Only other thing I can think of is gparted, but I assume that it uses all the tools that have already been discussed as backends ..... so it's probably not an option.

eilenbeb · 2009-06-14 21:33:41

Yeah, I tried gparted from an Ubuntu Hardy live cd, no-go.

The only thing I can think of is that the old win98 tools do -something- for a long time while formatting. The linux tools (and non ms/linux tools I've tried in the past) are finished almost instantly.
They probably just set up the tables and exit, whereas I think ms tools do something to mark the clusters, which is what the win installer might be looking for.

tomk · 2009-06-14 23:18:15

No offense intended, eilenbeb, but your issue is not an Arch issue. mkfs.vfat does what it claims to do i.e. create vfat filesystems under linux. If you want to set things up for another operating system, my advice is to set them up under that operating system.

sand_man · 2009-06-14 23:22:59

tomk, I think eilenbeb does have a good point. It may not be an Arch issue but maybe a GNU/Linux query in general.
I would have thought there would be a tool to do this but if mkfs.vfat doesn't then I don't know what does.

perbh · 2009-06-15 12:38:06

One solution - though not very satisfactory - is to use an install-cd for windows and let it format the partition. Whenever it starts copying files you can reboot it and put your windoze backup back on ...

Mr.Elendig · 2009-06-15 20:28:17

eilenbeb wrote:

Yup, dosfstools is what I used... ms doesn't like the results. Win2k won't even install on a partitiion I format with mkfs.vfat, doesn't seem to matter if I flag it bootable. Don't know why.
I was just looking for a new tool that ms would play nice with.
I just used the old win98 fdisk/format (both show wrong sizes, but it seems to work) and win2k is ready to go on to the partition as fat32.
I've had other systems, however, where the above would not work, and I was forced to use ntfs (which I'm not too fond of).

Sure the partion type is set correctly? Personaly I've had no problems with accessing fat32 partions formated using dosfstools.

tomk · 2009-06-15 20:37:44

Accessing is one thing, but he wants to create a Windows-bootable vfat partition using linux tools. The only relevant app, mkdosfs, explicitly states in its man page that it can not create bootable file systems.

Mr.Elendig · 2009-06-15 21:12:14

Sorry, missed the bootable part.

perbh · 2009-06-16 13:20:52

I have never been able to understand just _why_ linux is not able to make a bootable vfat/ntfs partition/filesystem. I believe it has something to do with 'reserved sectors', but I have never found a full explanation ...
Can anyone shed any light on the subject?

eilenbeb · 2009-06-24 18:20:08

Hello again, had to leave town for a while. Thanks for the replies, everyone.

perbh wrote:

I have never been able to understand just _why_ linux is not able to make a bootable vfat/ntfs partition/filesystem. I believe it has something to do with 'reserved sectors', but I have never found a full explanation ...
Can anyone shed any light on the subject?

No, but I thought fat32 would be more understood by this time.

Since this has been bothering me for quite some time, I think I'm going to look into it myself.
Sometime this fall I'm going to start creating partitions on a spare machine and analyzing the differences between them, possibly writing a tool of my own.
If I have any luck I'll come back to the forums with my findings and hopefully some code.

Might as well drop this one for now.
See ya after the summer...
b

Arch Linux

#1 2009-06-14 20:37:36

[dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#2 2009-06-14 21:01:34

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#3 2009-06-14 21:01:53

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#4 2009-06-14 21:20:34

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#5 2009-06-14 21:26:18

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#6 2009-06-14 21:33:41

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#7 2009-06-14 23:18:15

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#8 2009-06-14 23:22:59

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#9 2009-06-15 12:38:06

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#10 2009-06-15 20:28:17

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#11 2009-06-15 20:37:44

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#12 2009-06-15 21:12:14

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#13 2009-06-16 13:20:52

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

#14 2009-06-24 18:20:08

Re: [dropped]Searching for a fat32 formatting tool

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