Formatting an SD card/Linux: Difference between revisions

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{{warning|Before beginning these steps, copy all of your SD card's contents to a folder on your computer.}}

{{warning|The commands in this guide are case-sensitive. Enter them exactly as written, or there may be unintended consequences.}}

{{warning|The commands in this guide are case-sensitive. Enter them exactly as written, or there may be unintended consequences.}}<tabber>

|-|fdisk=

# Make sure your SD card is '''not''' inserted

# Open a terminal window and type <code>watch lsblk</code>

# Insert the SD card and watch for a new device appearing in lsblk

# Observe the output for the new device. It should match something like this: {{#tag:syntaxhighlight|

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT

mmcblk0 179:0 0 3,8G 0 disk

└─mmcblk0p1 179:1 0 3,7G 0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF

|lang=text}}

# Take note of the name of the device that now appears. In our example above, it was <code>mmcblk0p1</code>, but it could show up as <code>sda</code> or <code>sdb</code>, if you use a USB adapter

#* If <code>RO</code> is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down

# Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu

# Install the <code>fdisk</code> and <code>dosfstools</code> packages using your package manager of choice

# Type <code>sudo fdisk /dev/<device name></code>

# Enter <code>t</code> and then enter <code>0c</code>

# Enter <code>a</code> and then <code>p</code> - observe the output, and make sure the device is now formatted correctly

# If there are no issues, enter <code>w</code> - this will save changes and exit the fdisk prompt

# Type <code>sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/<device name>1 -s 64</code> to reformat the new partition

#* If the SD card is over 32GB in size, change </code>64</code> to <code>128</code>

# Type <code>sudo eject /dev/<device name></code>, then remove and reinsert the SD card

# Copy your data back onto the SD card

|-|cfdisk=

# Make sure your SD card is '''not''' inserted

# Open a terminal window and type <code>watch lsblk</code>

# Insert the SD card and watch for a new device appearing in lsblk

# Observe the output for the new device. It should match something like this: {{#tag:syntaxhighlight|

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT

mmcblk0 179:0 0 3,8G 0 disk

└─mmcblk0p1 179:1 0 3,7G 0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF

|lang=text}}

# Take note of the name of the device that now appears. In our example above, it was <code>mmcblk0p1</code>, but it could show up as <code>sda</code> or <code>sdb</code>, if you use a USB adapter

#* If <code>RO</code> is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down

# Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu

# Install the <code>cfdisk</code> and <code>dosfstools</code> packages using your package manager of choice

# Type <code>sudo cfdisk /dev/<device name></code>

# Choose the <code>Delete</code> option and delete any existing partitions

# Choose the <code>New</code> option, keep partition size at the recommended size, and choose primary partition type

# Choose the <code>Type</code> option, scroll up until you see <code>b W95 FAT32</code> and select it

# Finally, choose the <code>Write</code> option. '''This will overwrite any existing data. You have been warned.'''

# Choose the <code>Quit</code> option

# Type <code>sudo eject /dev/<device name></code>, then remove and reinsert the SD card

# Copy your data back onto the SD card

|-|parted=

# Make sure your SD card is '''not''' inserted

# Open a terminal window and type <code>watch lsblk</code>

# Insert the SD card and watch for a new device appearing in lsblk

# Observe the output for the new device. It should match something like this: {{#tag:syntaxhighlight|

NAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT

mmcblk0 179:0 0 3,8G 0 disk

└─mmcblk0p1 179:1 0 3,7G 0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF

|lang=text}}

# Take note of the name of the device that now appears. In our example above, it was <code>mmcblk0p1</code>, but it could show up as <code>sda</code> or <code>sdb</code>, if you use a USB adapter

#* If <code>RO</code> is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down

# Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu

# Install the <code>parted</code> and <code>dosfstools</code> packages using your package manager of choice

# Type <code>sudo parted /dev/<device name> mklabel msdos</code>

# Type <code>sudo parted -a opt /dev/<device name> mkpart primary fat32 0% 100%

# Type <code>sudo eject /dev/<device name></code>, then remove and reinsert the SD card.

# Copy your data back onto the SD card.

</tabber>

# Make sure your SD card is '''not''' inserted

# Open a terminal window and type <code>watch lsblk</code>.