yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] motempo:
I just formatted my 32GB sandisc mobile ultra using this fat32 format tool, and CWM still won't read my external sd. anyone have any insight?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] pdinphx:
Make sure you have the most recent version of CWM for our phone ... I have the touch version (v5.8.4.5) installed.

Earlier versions would not pick up any external SD card, no matter how it was formatted.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] jlokos:
I know you guys are talking about 32 and 64 gig sd cards, but I have an issue with a small 8 gig card. I'm using the latest CWM non-touch downloaded from rom manager. I would like to put data and nandroid backups on my ext-sd card. I formatted the card using the phone. My CWM doesn't show any option to restore or backup to the ext-sd card. Do I need to reformat to Fat32 on the PC in order to get this working? Thanks for your help.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] pdinphx:
I think that version of CWM might be the problem. Try the latest touch version ...

Goto Play and download VZW G3 EZ-Recovery. You can get and install the recovery using the program.

Then try finding your external sd card.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] EndlessDissent:
Can you prove that Android doesn't read ext-formatted cards? I don't see why ext4 wouldn't work, especially since that's how the internal storage is formatted. As long as the kernel supports the filesystem, you should be able to use it. Since I have no card reader to format my card on my computer, I can't test right now. Otherwise, I would.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tillithz:
I can confirm twrp doesnt see the card formated as ext3
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] EndlessDissent:
Interesting. However, internal storage is formatted as ext4, so I'm thinking there's no reason for TWRP or CWM to not work with a microSD card formatted as such. I could still be wrong. I'm close to pulling the trigger on a new microSD card that comes with a USB card reader, so I'll be able to test, but it might be a few days until I buy it, let alone receive it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] tillithz:
point being it doesnt recognize it. maybe an update to twrp? dont know but it plain doesnt see it as is right now.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] EndlessDissent:
Huh? Not entirely sure what you're saying. My point was that just because TWRP has trouble with an ext3 card, it doesn't mean it would have problems with ext4. It makes sense to not include support for ext3 since it takes up valuable kernel space and isn't used much anymore, but TWRP needs to support ext4 for the internal filesystem. The support should be there, meaning TWRP should read cards formatted with ext4.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Excelsius:
I understand the steps involved; however, there is a tiny problem: my phone is NOT mounted under any drive letters. Here is the location of my SD card on my computer: Computer\SGH-T999\Card. How the hell am I supposed to format this using CMD or that programs when there is no drive letter? There is an option to format using right click menu, but it doesn't bring up formatting options. Only formats it and that's it.

I have a 16GB card. OS is Windows 7 64bit Ultimate. I can't make a Nandroid backup because the SD card is apparently not in FAT32. And yes, I also formatted using the Android system. Still doesn't work.

I have the pro version of Titanium back up. Is there any way to do a nandroid backup using that so I avoid all this FAT32 headache? What are the solutions here?

Thanks.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] pdinphx:
You can't format the card while it is still in the phone ... Get a card reader.

Or, if you are only concerned about nandroid backups, most custom recoveries have an option to save to your internal card.

ROM Manager performs backups to your internal card by default.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Brian Gove:
To do the formatting mentioned in the OP you need to remove the card from the phone then plug it into an adapter on/in your computer.

And yes, TiBu does satisfy most backup needs. Easiest way to explain it is that a nandroid is a digital 'photograph' of your phone, EVERYTHING on the system partition. TiBu takes and backs up the individual applications. IMHO I don't do nandroids, just use TiBu because the backups, for the most part, are usable on multiple diff ROMs whereas the nandroid replaces the ROM with whatever one you had when you did the backup when you restore it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] luland:
so does right clicking in explorer window and going to format in FAT32 on windows 7 acceptable? is it just that it is not as quick as downloading another program to format the card?

Is my card still formatted in FAT32? or do I need to reformat using a different method?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] imablackhat:
I just got my 16gb today and popped it in the phone and formatted and started to use it. What's wrong with this method
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] EndlessDissent:
Nothing for a 16GB card. Those are usually already formatted as FAT32. This method is for 64GB cards because they come formatted as exFAT.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Brian Gove:
Windows 7 doesn't have the option top do fat32
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] PJnc284:
yeah, the native windows formatting only does NTFS or exFAT on a 64GB card.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] feom:
gui method worked for me

The command line method failed for me, (and took forever) but the gui method worked great my 64 gb card wasn't being recognized my cwm or beans ROM when it was exFAT. Now everything seems to be working fine.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Excelsius:
I don't get why we can't format into FAT32 right from the phone. I have to get a microSD adapter now, but what if my laptop/PC didn't have an SD slot? This is crazy.

Another thing: with all those great features, I don't understand why Titanium Backup can't do a simple ROM backup. Yes, backing up the applications is nice, but just like Windows, I'd like to be able to reimage my entire phone every year to ensure best performance. Titanium Backup obviously can't do it. So we're stuck either with CWM nandroid backup, which has a bad interface and doesn't support exFAT, or have to pay for yet some other app to do this. Unless I'm missing something.

By the way, does "Backup Current ROM" from inside CWM interface work or do we have to boot to recovery to make a proper nandroid backup?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Brian Gove:
TiBu was build to be a dynamic and versatile tool... which it is... I believe the nandroid option was already around when TiBu was first made, so why make an app that does the same thing as one thats hugely popular thats already out there? They did what they did and are obviously very popular for it.

And I'm not 100% sure what youre referring to with the "backup current rom" but more than likely it just automatically boots you into recovery and starts the backup process for you(so you don't have to use the "bad interface" ;)
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] cmajetic:
thanks, the shift & rightclick method didn't show cmd command for the folder but it is easy without.

i did it like that:

put folder with .exe on desktop

press windows + r

cmd

cd C:\Users\Yourname\Desktop\fat32format

fat32format x:
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] skim7x:
Just used the "EASY PEASY" method (method #2) and it worked fine at first, but then when I rebooted the phone, the SD card became "damaged" again and the phone would not mount it. Any suggestions??
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DeathmonkeyGTX:
I don't have a S3, but I used this method to format my Sandisk 64GB UHS1/Class 10 microSDXC card to FAT32. Basically what I did was use diskpart to clean the disk, create partition, format quick ntfs, assign, exit, fire up guiformat.exe and let it quickformat FAT32. It works fine now. Thank you very much.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] :
If you don't partition your 64 gig drive and you format to fat32 you will format it to 32gigs which is pointless. So partion it first then format the partions all can be done through cmd prompts.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] skim7x:
This is incorrect information. I formatted my 64gb SD card to fat32 and it still has 64gb of space without partitioning
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
Excuse my newb-ness. I just want to see if I have this correct. The 64gb card comes formatted ex-fat but we need to format to FAT32 in order to use it for flashing roms because ex-fat is not recognized by your recovery.*The downsize to FAT32*is you can only transfer a file up to 4gb at a time. Vs Exfat you can have any size file but you cant use it to flash roms? If we do not care about that because someone like me likes to transfer files larger than 4gb can we just insert the card and ready to go keeping it ex-fat? Or does it still need to be formatted? I think I read somewhere the card my only show up as 32gb?*Thanks.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] skim7x:
From my own experience, the SG3 will not even recognize the SD card when it is in ex-fat formatting. I had to format to fat32 in order to get the phone to even recognize the SD card (otherwise it just says "Broken SD card"). You're right in that fat32 cannot transfer files larger than 4gb, which is a drag because all my movies are about 8gb =(

Is there a way around it so I can have 8gb movies on my SD card?? That's my question...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
Yeah I definitely want to be able transfer files way larger than 4gb.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
Does anyone have an answer for the above? I got a 64gb card for Christmas and want to know how I can use it properly.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
It should work fine on stock or rooted Verizon official TW. You mention you don't want to put roms on the external sd card, so does this mean you will not be flashing roms/kernels/etc. at all? Reason being is that if you still do plan on using roms but refuse to format the sd card, you'll likely receive errors in the notification bar similar to this: "sd card is safe to remove." Basically, you should be fine on stock, rooted/unlocked TW but once you move away from that then any sd issues you have will be a direct result of exFat.

I use a 32 gb sd card so I am not speaking from experience, I only use Fat32.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
I am unlocked and rooted and do flash roms, (I am on Synergy right now which is a TW rom) and plan to continue to do so. I save all my roms and nandroids etc to my internal sd card and not external. I would like to be able to keep it ex-fat so I can transfer files, movies etc well over 4gb which from what I understand you can't do that on FAT32...but if keeping it ex-fat will cause issues then I guess I will have to suck it up and do FAT32 and keep files under 4gb.*Let me know if I am making sense, thanks!

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] SlimSnoopOS:
I believe the kernel included in Synergy rom, built by Ziggy, supports exFat to some degree either with 16, 32, or 64 sd cards. Again, not speaking from experience just trying to put pieces together. My suggestion is to use Synergy with your 64 gb and see how or if any sd card issues arise. I think with that specific rom, you may be fine but no guarantees.

For the long term, Fat32 is the preferred format for us rooted folks. What you're saying makes perfect sense, this shouldn't even be an issue but that's just the luck of the draw.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Phk:
Guys,

The only problem is with CM10.1 (Android 4.2)

In 4.x (not 4.2) use the "modified sdcard binary".

I formatted my external sdcard to ext4 and everything works OK. I have a 10GB file there, no problems :)

Cheers
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
Synergy rom most recent release works with exfat. Just insert the 64gb card and it works without having to do anything else.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Phk:
Nope, Not that. I'm talking about supporting >4GB file.

exFAT doesn't do that.

Cheers
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] DieselNY:
I thought it was the other way around. Fat32 doesnt let you transfer files over 4gb.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy SIII
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vicky4112:
I bought a 64 GB Sandisk card which was exFat format. When I tried to format using many of the programs suggested it is now only 32 GB. Is there any way to go back and make it its 64 GB size. I have looked many threads and googled it and there are similar cases as mine. However no particular solution.

Any help will be greatly appreciated. I have spent many hours trying to fix this.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chase67:
Custom Recovery and 64g Sandisk Micro SDXC Class 10

First off I have used many different Roms and I am not sure if this applies specifically to this ROM or not as far as this method only working but I honestly think that it should not make a difference what ROM you are running. However the recovery and Kernel that you are using could make a considerable difference.

Currently Working on the following ROM, Kernel, and Recovery

Galaxy MOD RLS 14.1 Using the newest version of TWRP and FAUX kernel.

Not sure about the kernel or Rom but from what I understand only certain recoverys can read this type of card and prior to me updating to the new TWRP I could not get this to work so make sure that you are using 2.3.3.0 and if you are using clockwork Mod, I suggest throwing it in the crapper because TWRP is a million times faster and more efficient.

The best solution that I have found is to go and download http://www.easeus.com/ the home edition becasue it has a free trial. This app will allow you to format it to Fat32 on your computer. Once you have it installed place the SD card in and select the card in the menu. I went ahead and wiped mine completely first as I had some trouble getting it to work for quite some time even after trying some of the other various ways listed. Once you have it wiped and deleted select a name for the new partition. I used the letter "F:" In some of the other posts and forums that I have read in most suggested to not format it using this program but I had already tried everything else and decided to give it a try. It is kind of confusing but select to format the sd card to FAT32 once you have selected this you will have to go to the toolbar at the top and actually select apply before any formatting will actually take place. Once that is complete make sure that you properly eject the card by un-mounting it first before you remove it from your pc. Then put it in your phone and it should recognize it, as mine did after the first try. I also took an extra step that I believe was unnecessary and went into the settings on my phone in the storage option and then formatted it again by wiping any data on it just to make sure it was properly aligned with the phone. Other than that you should not have any problems and believe me I have spent countless hours trying to figure this out and after I got this working felt obligated to share to save people the time and effort I put in to get this working. I attached a screen shot as proof to show that this is an actual fix. Feel free to hit the thanks button because I do not ever post and am trying to get to where I can actually post in forums and I am not a noob, I just do not have time to get on here all the time. Thanks Chase
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chase67:
I might add that I am also using the custom binary settings as well which come with but not installed on Galaxy Mod. I would suggest installing the settings as I hae found if very beneficial to the function of the phone. Better battery life, no lag, and blazing fast.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vicky4112:
chase67

My card is 64g Sandisk Micro SDXC Class 10

Thank you very much for your detailed procedure. I have been spending many hours to get this issue resolved. I ended up sending 64 GB card back and exchanged but the issue of 32 GB was never resolved.

I had finally given up and accepted 32 GB as the maximum I can get from the card. As a final desperate effort, I followed your suggestion. First formatted to fat32 using the "guiformat" program ( any other suggested program EaseUS etc) should work. Then checked it works on my Galaxy S3 --still 32 GB. Made backup files on this... Then transfered this to my computer.

Next I formatted the card with Galaxy S3 option. It warned me of deleting the data and I OK'd it. Once finished, it automatically mounted the CARD and lo and behold it showed 59.47 GB exactly as you have shown in the picture.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH...... and I DO HOPE THIS CAN HELP MANY OTHERS IN SIMILAR SITUATION. A LIFE SAVER.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] starbiker99:
I have a class 10 32gb SD card in my galaxy. I went to look at my pictures and well over 50% would not open and I could not view them on my PC form the card either. Will changing my format from exFAT to FAT32 stop this from happening again or do I have a def card? Good thing all of the photos had been previously uploaded to Dropbox where they can be viewed fine. Thanks for any info.

Edit: I reformatted my card and to FAT32. I took a few test pictures and it worked . Then a few minutes later I went to take some more test pictures and I got an error "can not write to SD card default storage changed to phone". this sucks!

Shawn
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] beanboy33:
Thanks, I have a 32Gb card that was working in my S3 and then it stopped for some reason.. cant even read it on my pc anymore. will this help?
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chase67:
Did you make any changes to your rom? Or did you happen to make any changes to the system? If you use the method I mentioned and fully reformat it then it should be fine. Also I always recommend TWRP.

---------- Post added at 01:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:57 PM ----------

What kind of Rom and recovery are you running? When you formatted the card did you use a computer? Make sure thar you are using the option when formatting that will do a complwtw format. It will take quite a while to complete. I would recommend using easus if you havent already and make sure you do the complete format and let it sit for an hour. If that doesnt work then check your recovery and kernel and let me know which ones you are using.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] lazerax:
So, I just used the GUI method to format my 64GB SDXC to Fat32. Previously, my phone read the card, just couldn't access it from apps (e.g. music players not finding the music on the card, gallery not finding the pictures, etc., but it was visible under My Files). Now, my phone won't even recognize that there's a card in it. How do I fix this?

I'm running Synergy ROM, if that's relevant. I have no issues changing it if someone has had prior experience with this on Synergy and the ROM is to blame.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chase67:
Are you using TWRP as your recovery as well as the latest version of it? I had the same issues until I updated to the newest version of TWRP. Also I woukd suggest mouting the SD card whike you are in recovery and seeing if it is recognized and mounting. From what I have gathered some roms have issues readinf the full memory state but am not aware with synergy. I am using Hyperdrive RLS 5 currently but have also uaed Galaxy Mod as well.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] lazerax:
I'm actually using CWM. I have a lot of experience with it from prior phones, and because of that I figured I'd use it on my GS3 as well.

I'm going to try something else quickly and see if that works. If it doesn't, I'll flash a new ROM. If that doesn't fix it, I'll replace CWM with TWRP.

EDIT: Used the guiformat method. Didn't recognize the card at all. I went back to my computer, reformatted it through Windows, then loaded it, and it worked.

So, to recap, I formatted with guiformat, then reformatted in Windows once it was formatted as Fat32. My GS3 now recognizes it permanently with no issues as a 64GB card. Problem solved.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usafle:
Dusting off an old thread here. I've tried numerous times with this SanDisk 64GB in my windows 7 machine and Windows simply won't recognize it. Is it because I am using a MicroUSB adapter?

The full card reads fine in my Asus TF201 and my woman's Galaxy S3. But that doesn't help me if I want to pop the SD Card into the computer to transfer movies onto it.

So how in the heck do I get the computer to "See" the drive. It tells me it needs to be formatted once I plug it into the computer.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] chase67:
Do you know if the computer is actually recognizing that there is a card even in there? I understand it may not read it but does anything show up when its put in? To me it sounds more like a hardware issue on the computer rather than the SD card format, especially if you say that the card is readable in other devices. You may be able to narrow it down by trying the card in another device with the same operating system you are using and seeing if it works on it. Another thing that I would try is going into the control panel and check the port specific to the ad card reader and make sure if is functioning properly by going into the properties. The drivers for that port could be corrupted and you may just need to update them and reinstall. Hopefully that will help you out.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] usafle:
Figured it out. My USB "microSD" adapter wasn't "SDXH" compatible. Had to order another MicroSD-USB adapter. Now it reads fine. Sorry. but thanks for the suggestions.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] sholsten:
I just used this on my 64 GB SD Card. It's the only way my phone can read it.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] studpuppy102:
Any one have this issue (the card works just fine) but no matter what.it's formatted the s3 just wigs out. It recognizes it just fine as its proper size but as soon asi get my music videos and pictures, things start force closing now the card can't see anything on it, phone slow s down to nothing I had to go back to my 32 gig, the 64 is working just fine in my incredible 2- any advice I'm r running clean rom 5.6
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hussler87:
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!

This have been driving me nuts for the past few days.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vinnyj85:
Formated 64gb sandisk micro sdxc u1 I followed these and other instructions the card does now work and is recognized but I missing 4gb of storage is that normal
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rojovilla:
No, it's not normal. I used the software referenced in this thread and didn't have that issue.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vinnyj85:
Does anyine know how to fix this should I just take it back to the stores
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] rojovilla:
Did you try it again?

EDIT: Also, what's your card's model #? Mine is SDSDQUA-064G
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vinnyj85:
Yea I did it numerous times wipe partitions format just cant get the 4gb and im not sure of model number
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] Hipcatjack:
huh, you know what? After reading your post, I checked my SanDisk Ultra 64GB microSD xc1 on an Win7 machine and it lost a little more than 4 GB as well. Reformatted it to exfat using "stock" formatting technique on Win7 and still remains 59.7 GB free...

Interesting...
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] hallstevenson:
This IS *normal*. FAT is a terribly inefficient filesystem. My 32gb card only ends up with 29.x GB after formatting - a 7% loss! Losing 4gb on a 64gb card is a little more, but that's to be expected too.
[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S III] vinnyj85:
I was making sure I wasbresdy to take it bac for an exchange