[ros-dev] Partition size and FAT32 cluster size?

[Thomas Mueller]

On 07-12-2014 10:07, Thomas Mueller wrote:
> > What is the biggest partition size compatible with 4096-byte (4 KB) cluster size, cluster size being the minimum amount of space taken by a file however small?

> > I googled some years ago and found it to be about 8 GB, however now I wonder if that was wrong, and I can accommodate a bigger partition.
> I'm not sure, but..... in FAT32, there are 28 bits to address the cluster
> number. (But FAT entries are 32-bit aligned.)
> So...
> 4*1024*(2**28)  = 1TB
> So the maximum size of the filesystem with 4KB clusters is about 1TB; I say
> "about" because there are some reserved cluster numbers...
> It is possible that my math is bogus. :-)

> > I believe the best file system ReactOS can use so far is FAT32, true also for FreeDOS.
> Off-topic: One can write file-system drivers for DOS, using the REDIRECTOR
> feature...

> JJ

I googled again, apparently what I got previously was MS recommendations for Windows.

Larger partition sizes on FAT32 with 4 KB cluster size could mean slow disk access, but I guess it would be OK to use FAT32 with 4 KB cluster size for 16 GB or 32 GB USB sticks, or hard-drive partitions should I order an old clearance-priced refurbished SATA hard drive.

I'm reluctant to do heavy compiling on a USB stick; or FreeBSD or Linux with Wine for ReactOS or DOSBox for FreeDOS.  Then I could use BSD or Linux filesystem.

I've never actually run ReactOS.  Closest I came was burning installation CD for 0.3.15 and finding it wouldn't boot.

Tom