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Formatting an SD card/Linux
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< Formatting an SD cardThis is the approved revision of this page, as well as being the most recent.
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.
Make sure your SD card is not inserted
Open a terminal window and type watch lsblk
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:
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
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
Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
Type sudo umount /dev/<device name>* (do not replace the *)
Install the fdisk and dosfstools packages using your package manager of choice
Type sudo fdisk /dev/<device name>
Enter o, this will create a new MBR partition scheme
Enter n, then press enter until you're returned to the prompt
The default values will work fine for all consoles
Enter t, then enter 0c
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)
If there are no issues, enter w - this will save changes and exit the fdisk prompt
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
Type sudo eject /dev/<device name>, then remove and reinsert the SD card
Copy your data back onto the SD card
Make sure your SD card is not inserted
Open a terminal window and type watch lsblk
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:
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
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
Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
Install the parted and dosfstools packages using your package manager of choice
Type sudo parted /dev/<device name> mklabel msdos
Type sudo parted -a opt /dev/<device name> mkpart primary fat32 0% 100%
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
Type sudo eject /dev/<device name>, then remove and reinsert the SD card
Copy your data back onto the SD card
Make sure your SD card is not inserted
Open KDE Partition Manager, inputting your password as needed
Insert your SD card and click Refresh Devices. The new device that shows up in the left pane is your SD card
Click your SD card, then click the New Partition Table button at the top of the window
When asked, choose Ms-Dos. Do NOT use GPT
Right click the unallocted space in the right pane and select New
When selecting your filesystem, choose FAT32 from the drop-down menu. The window should look like this:
Click OK, then click Apply, then Apply Pending Operations
