[SOLVED] Need help creating and mounting FAT32 systems

spudgunner · 02-05-2011, 09:41 AM

For some reason I have trouble creating and mounting FAT partitions. Whenever I try to create one using mkfs, I'm told that mkfs.vfat doesn't existing (although I can create FAT partitions using fdisk). When I try to mount FAT partitions (whether creating on my machine or not), I've tried using:

Code:

mount -t vfat ...

and

Code:

mount -t msdos ...

(with correct permissions, selecting the correct drive, etc.), and it tells me that I've chosen an incorrect file system.

Any suggestions?

tux_dude · 02-05-2011, 10:12 AM

You need dosfstools to for FAT drives. fdisk only creates the partition. The disk is still not usable until it is formatted.

vonbiber · 02-05-2011, 10:13 AM

after you created your fat partition you need
to format it with

Code:

mkdosfs /dev/sdz1

you should replace '/dev/sdz1' by the actual
name of your fat partition (e.g., /dev/sda1, /dev/sdb3, ...)

I usually run it with '-F 32' option (for vfat 32):

Code:

mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/sdb1

spudgunner · 02-05-2011, 10:17 AM

Thanks for the reply, that worked perfectly!