ExFat Format

Skryber · April 06, 2011, 12:21:14 PM

I just got external 1 TB hard drive that I need to use on mac and PC. I just now noticed the ExFat format in Disk Utility on OSX 10.6.6. After reading of all it's glory, I went with ExFat. I still have yet to try it out on my PC. Anyone have problems with this format? I can't believe it's been out this long and I'm just discovering it now.

I probably should have checked it out before I threw 600 gigs on it.

Joe · April 06, 2011, 12:29:49 PM

I wouldn't recommend it. I'm not a big fan of MS-DOS(FAT) either as your file size is limited to 2 gb so disk image backups are out of the question. I prefer to just format it as a Mac Disk and then share it out via SMB for use on Windows.

gnubler · April 06, 2011, 12:33:08 PM

Whole other thread about this from a couple months ago when I was reformatting an HD.

Skryber · April 06, 2011, 12:35:13 PM

Quote from: Joe on April 06, 2011, 12:29:49 PMI wouldn't recommend it. I'm not a big fan of MS-DOS(FAT) either as your file size is limited to 2 gb so disk image backups are out of the question. I prefer to just format it as a Mac Disk and then share it out via SMB for use on Windows.

I thought it was 4 gigs.

Gnub, link?

gnubler · April 06, 2011, 12:38:49 PM

https://www.b4print.com/index.php?topic=5545.0

Farabomb · April 06, 2011, 12:44:59 PM

Quote from: Joe on April 06, 2011, 12:29:49 PMI wouldn't recommend it. I'm not a big fan of MS-DOS(FAT) either as your file size is limited to 2 gb so disk image backups are out of the question. I prefer to just format it as a Mac Disk and then share it out via SMB for use on Windows.

I would contest that seeing as I have a video here on my external FAT32 formatted passport drive that is greater than 2g. I also have a 3.22g .iso on the drive as well.

Skryber · April 06, 2011, 12:48:34 PM

I'm pretty sure it's a 4 gig limit.

So Gnub, did you try the ExFat format? I didn't see anything in that thread about it.

Farabomb · April 06, 2011, 12:57:27 PM

Quote from: WikiThe maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus 1 byte or 4 294 967 295 (232−1) bytes. Video applications, large databases, and some other software easily exceed this limit. Larger files require another filesystem, such as NTFS.

Quote from: WikiexFAT Main article: exFAT exFAT (also sometimes incorrectly and inappropriately known as FAT64) is an incompatible replacement for FAT file systems that was introduced with Windows Embedded CE 6.0. MBR partition type is 0x7 (the same as NTFS). exFAT is intended to be used on SDXC and flash drives, where FAT is used today. Microsoft has provided a hotfix to add support for exFAT to Windows XP,^[26] while Windows Vista Service Pack 1 added exFAT support to Windows Vista.^[27]
exFAT introduces a free space bitmap allowing faster space allocation and faster deletes, support for files up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 (2⁶⁴-1) bytes, larger cluster sizes (up to 32 MB in the first implementation), an extensible directory structure and name hashes for filenames for faster comparisons. No short 8.3 filenames are stored. It does not have security ACLs or file system journaling like NTFS, though device manufacturers can choose to implement simplified support for transactions (backup file allocation table used for the write operations, primary FAT for storing last known good allocation table, which is essential for writeable removable media to mitigate corruption).

Think FAT32 could work but just formatting it for one OS and mounting it through the network might be the best.

gnubler · April 06, 2011, 12:59:24 PM

I don't recall Exfat being an option on 10.5.8 Disk Utility.

gnubler · April 06, 2011, 01:01:58 PM

"mounting it through the network" keeps getting mentioned, but what if you're not dealing with a network? In my case, I wanted a Windows format partition in case I bring my drive to a friend's PC and want to connect it and have it just work.

DigiCorn · April 06, 2011, 01:06:39 PM

Quote from: gnubler on April 06, 2011, 01:01:58 PM"mounting it through the network" keeps getting mentioned, but what if you're not dealing with a network? In my case, I wanted a Windows format partition in case I bring my drive to a friend's PC and want to connect it and have it just work.

That won't work.

You don't have any friends.

Skryber · April 06, 2011, 01:07:18 PM

I'm not mounting it through a network either. Just storage. I'm going to take this puppy home tonight and see what happens. I'm running XP. Hopefully I won't need any drivers. It seems like the people who had issues with XP and drivers were from a year ago. Perhaps MS fixed it with an update. FAT32 takes up so much space on your HD. You lose so much room. ExFat is supposed to be a lot like NTFS except compatible with PC and Mac.

gnubler · April 06, 2011, 01:12:40 PM

Quote from: DigiSig on April 06, 2011, 01:06:39 PM
Quote from: gnubler on April 06, 2011, 01:01:58 PM"mounting it through the network" keeps getting mentioned, but what if you're not dealing with a network? In my case, I wanted a Windows format partition in case I bring my drive to a friend's PC and want to connect it and have it just work.
That won't work.

You don't have any friends.

Good point. I should have said "the friend's PC" because I do have one friend. (I'm not exaggerating)

Joe · April 06, 2011, 01:15:17 PM

Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2011, 12:44:59 PM
Quote from: Joe on April 06, 2011, 12:29:49 PMI wouldn't recommend it. I'm not a big fan of MS-DOS(FAT) either as your file size is limited to 2 gb so disk image backups are out of the question. I prefer to just format it as a Mac Disk and then share it out via SMB for use on Windows.

I would contest that seeing as I have a video here on my external FAT32 formatted passport drive that is greater than 2g. I also have a 3.22g .iso on the drive as well.

On my external USB formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) on the Mac it won't let me copy anything over 2 gb to it.

Maybe if you format it on the Windows box it's different.

You can format it as NTFS on the Windows box and use it on the Mac but you need a 3rd party Mac driver for it. I don't think there is a free one though.

Skryber · April 06, 2011, 01:19:12 PM

Quote from: Joe on April 06, 2011, 01:15:17 PM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2011, 12:44:59 PM
Quote from: Joe on April 06, 2011, 12:29:49 PMI wouldn't recommend it. I'm not a big fan of MS-DOS(FAT) either as your file size is limited to 2 gb so disk image backups are out of the question. I prefer to just format it as a Mac Disk and then share it out via SMB for use on Windows.

I would contest that seeing as I have a video here on my external FAT32 formatted passport drive that is greater than 2g. I also have a 3.22g .iso on the drive as well.

On my external USB formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) on the Mac it won't let me copy anything over 2 gb to it. Maybe if you format it on the Windows box it's different.

You can format it as NTFS on the Windows box and use it on the Mac but you need a 3rd party Mac driver for it. I don't think there is a free one though.

By use you mean you can write to it with a mac driver?

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ExFat Format