[Verizon Galaxy Note 3 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] SscoootzZ:
Hi all,

I'm starting this thread because I didn't see something quite like what I was looking for to answer some questions I had about exFAT vs FAT32. The question is, essentially, which file system is best to use with this high-cap SD card? If this thread is redundant, please let me know and/or direct me to the appropriate thread.

The reason I started looking for information is because of strange storage symptoms I was experiencing after introducing a SanDisk 64GB Class 10 SD card to my Verizon Note3. I first noticed the symptoms after taking the NC4 OTA (first mistake, I know). Nonetheless, the symptoms were there. I eventually followed some instructions to install BajaROM (thanks [MENTION=4670411]az_biker[/MENTION] and [MENTION=5073386]barrackOBAMA[/MENTION]) since the issue of r/w to SD card was addressed in that ROM, and since I could use that ROM on the NC4 OTA base. However, the symtpoms persisted. One thing I noticed happened when I was re-installing apps on the new ROM. One, in particular, was MinecraftPE, purchased legit through the Play Store. I would install the app, and it would open and function correctly. Then, when I rebooted the device, the app would not run from the app drawer. The app would still be listed in Settings > Applications > Downloaded, but it was listed as 0.00MB installed. If I executed the app from the lingering icon, I got the message "App not installed on this device," which would open the Play Store to re-install the app. But the app wouldn't install at that point, since it was still registered as installed, per Settings > Applications. I had to uninstall from Settings, then reboot, then open Play Store to re-install. Ugh! I was able to get the app to install "correctly," though not as preferred (App2SD), by un-mounting the SD card prior to executing the install from Play Store.

One other major issue involved using the stock camera app and saving to SD. When the pic was snapped, and saved to SD, I could open the pic from the gallery link in the camera right then, and even share it. However, if I exited the camera app and opened the stock gallery app separately, the pic was listed as a broken link (or unreadable file?) and I could neither open it or share it or anything. The file was also defunct if I tried to access it from any file manager utility, stock or otherwise. The only "fix" I found for that was simply to save pics to internal storage. Again, ugh, that takes up space quickly.

I've read a lot of information about exFAT vs FAT32 and I've wondered whether the issue is that exFAT isn't a good functional match with Android in general or, in this case, even with custom ROMs. I do not, by any means, assert that I truly understand Android OS, file system/structure protocols, or anything of the sort. I read when I don't understand. I've read varying opinions about which SD card file structure is best overall to use with Android, and about which to use with high-cap SD cards. I see that ext3 is reliable and scalable, but that I'd need to use Linux to access it from off-device. That is a bit more awkward for me. I see that, overall, FAT32 is more reliable for use, and that there's no incompatibility with Windows. I don't really mind that file size is limited to 4GB, so I'm leaning that way.

Also, I found this on TeamWin website, which I found helpful (quoted & referenced). It explained what's what with exFAT (for me, anyway).:

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"exFAT is an update to FAT32 file system and is commonly found on 64GB or larger sdcards. exFAT has a different and much more restrictive license compared to FAT32. Due to this restrictive license, we'll probably never see exFAT support in the Linux kernel. Many Android manufacturers (e.g. Samsung, HTC) have cross-licensing agreements with Microsoft that allow them to add exFAT support in Android, but that agreement doesn't mean that we're able to add exFAT support for your device in TWRP.

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You can reformat your 64GB card to FAT32. You may need to remove the card from your device and use a computer to accomplish the reformat. You also may have to find and download a third party utility to format to FAT32 if you're using a Windows PC. The biggest downside to using FAT32 is that FAT32 doesn't support files larger than 4GB.

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If you need a file system that can support files larger than 4GB and works in recovery, you pretty much have one choice: ext4. Unfortunately Android often doesn't handle ext4 formatted sdcards automatically. You'll probably have to mount the sdcard manually using a shell script, GScript (free app in the market), or an init.d type of script. You also won't be able to pop your sdcard into a Windows computer because Windows doesn't recognize the ext4 file system.

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You're also welcome to try NTFS, but the majority of the time, NTFS will only mount as read-only in recovery. The Linux kernel doesn't have very good NTFS support either."

So that's a lot for a post. If you're still reading, thanks. I welcome any and all feedback or insight regarding my SD card "woes," or the issue(s) I presented. I'm definitely ok with learning and appreciate your time and help. Have a great rest of your day.

SscoootzZ :fingers-crossed: