OS X Knowledge: How to format a drive in FAT-32
Hello, my problem was:
I wanted to use my 512MB SanDisk Cruzer with an USB equipped DVD-Player, which can read FAT-32 only (e.g. my iPod Shuffle).
At last I found a way to format my USB-Stick as FAT-32. I couldn't do it with Disk Utility, as many users recommended in different forums I searched.
Disk Utility did it only as FAT-16.
Here's what I've done:
1. Open Disk Utility
2. Select the device
3. Get Info for the device
4. Look at the Disk Identifier, it says: disk# (#=any number)
5. Go to the "Partition" Tab in Disk Utility
6. Choose from Format: "Free Space"
7. Click the "Partition" button
8. Confirm clicking "Partition"
9. Type in Terminal:
fdisk -i -a dos /dev/rdisk#
(where # is the disk number you got above)
10. Terminal asks: Do you wish to write new MBR and partition table? [n]
11. Type "yes" then press the RETURN Key
12. Type in Terminal:
newfs_msdos -F32 -v volname /dev/rdisk#s1
(- volname is whatever name you want in DOS 8.3 rules,
# is again the disk number you got above)
13. Wait for formatting finishes
14. Go back to Disk Utility, select the new volume on Your device, it reads still "disk#s1" and is still not mounted, click "Mount" in the toolbar.
Voila, it should change it's name to Your choosen one and mounts.
15. Look at the info at the bottom of the Disk Utility Window, it should say
Format: MS-DOS File System (FAT32)
In my case it was a SanDisk Cruzer 512MB USB-Stick, I named "PCSTICK".
It should work with any other device too.
