Formatting an SD card/Linux

This is an add-on section for formatting an SD card to FAT32.

This page is for Linux users only. If you are not on Linux, check out the Windows or Mac pages.

Instructions

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

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

1. Make sure your SD card is not inserted
2. Open a terminal window and type watch lsblk
3. Insert the SD card and watch for a new device appearing in lsblk
4. Observe the output for the new device. It should match something like this:

   NAME        MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
   mmcblk0     179:0    0 29.7G  0 disk 
   └─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0 29.5G  0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF
   

5. Take note of the name of the device that now appears. In our example above, it was mmcblk0, but it could show up as sda or sdb, if you use a USB adapter
   • If RO is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down
6. Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
7. Type sudo umount /dev/<device name>* (do not replace the *)
8. Install the fdisk and dosfstools packages using your package manager of choice
9. Type sudo fdisk /dev/<device name>
10. Enter o, this will create a new MBR partition scheme
11. Enter n, then press enter until you're returned to the prompt
    • The default values will work fine for all consoles
12. Enter t, then enter 0c
13. Enter a and then p - observe the output, and make sure the device is now formatted correctly:

    Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 29.72 GiB, 31914983424 bytes, 62333952 sectors
    Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
    Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
    Disklabel type: dos
    Disk identifier: 0x########
    
    Device                Boot  Start      End  Sectors  Size Id Type
    /dev/<partition name>        8192 62333951 62325760 29.7G  c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
    

14. If there are no issues, enter w - this will save changes and exit the fdisk prompt
15. Type sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/<partition name> -s 64 to reformat the new partition
    • If the SD card is over 32GB in size, change 64 to 128
16. Type sudo eject /dev/<device name>, then remove and reinsert the SD card
17. Copy your data back onto the SD card

1. Make sure your SD card is not inserted
2. Open a terminal window and type watch lsblk
3. Insert the SD card and watch for a new device appearing in lsblk
4. Observe the output for the new device. It should match something like this:

   NAME        MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
   mmcblk0     179:0    0 29.7G  0 disk 
   └─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0 29.5G  0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF
   

5. Take note of the name of the device that now appears. In our example above, it was mmcblk0, but it could show up as sda or sdb, if you use a USB adapter
   • If RO is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down
6. Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
7. Install the parted and dosfstools packages using your package manager of choice
8. Type sudo parted /dev/<device name> mklabel msdos
9. Type sudo parted -a opt /dev/<device name> mkpart primary fat32 0% 100%
10. Type sudo mkfs.vfat /dev/<partition name> -s 64 to reformat the new partition
    • If the SD card is over 32GB in size, change 64 to 128
11. Type sudo eject /dev/<device name>, then remove and reinsert the SD card
12. Copy your data back onto the SD card

1. Make sure your SD card is not inserted
2. Open KDE Partition Manager, inputting your password as needed
3. Insert your SD card and click Refresh Devices. The new device that shows up in the left pane is your SD card
4. Click your SD card, then click the New Partition Table button at the top of the window
5. When asked, choose Ms-Dos. Do NOT use GPT
   • 
6. Right click the unallocted space in the right pane and select New
7. When selecting your filesystem, choose FAT32 from the drop-down menu. The window should look like this:
   • 
8. Click OK, then click Apply, then Apply Pending Operations
9. Eject and reinsert your SD card
10. Copy your data back onto the SD card