[iyonix-support] Re: Reformatting memory sticks

Quoting John M Ward <john@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:

> In article <3f4c9eca4f.wra1th@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
>    Gavin Wraith <gavin@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > I expect everybody knows this, but in case they do not I thought
> > it worth posting. If you have a memory stick that works on the Iyonix,
> > and it develops a fault - say a directory refuses to be deleted -
> > so that you need to reformat it on a PC (right click on the
> > drive icon) then choose FAT32 for the format. Plain FAT did not
> > work for me.
> 
> Oh!  Usually it's the other way around.  Pen drives normally need to be
> formatted as just "FAT" (i.e. FAT 16) and with no drive label if they
> are to be recognised by the Iyonix.
> 
> A non-deletable directory is commonplace on these devices, or indeed any
> other USB-connected drive, I have found.  However it is not usually
> necessary to re-format the drive: the PC (Windows) should be able to
> delete the offending directory, complete with its (RISC OS-invisible)
> contents, without problem.
> 
> Beyond all that, one also has to remember the 2 GB size limit with pen
> drives in general, which is another pitfall when users try to use these
> ever so useful devices on our machines.

FAT32 on an Iyonix is OK up to 2 GB, on condition that you have a
sufficiently recent version of DOSFS.  Also see below...

> This is an issue that really
> needs to be tackled one of these fine days, so that there is no longer
> any foreseeable limit to drive size/capacity on our systems.

I've taken us part way there with !ROFS, which can cope with FAT
drives as big as you like.  But I agree, a proper solution is
needed.

Dave


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