Speed up a 4GB SD in you Axim

[PaulSM]

okay, i have Windows XP with x51v and Transcend 4GB SD...how do I format it to fat 16 or whatever to make it faster? Thx.

I prefer win2k.

From XP, open a console (Start|Run...|"cmd")
Use "/fs:fat" to format your 4GB card in FAT16.
See the attached image:

[randomwalk101]

I prefer win2k.

From XP, open a console (Start|Run...|"cmd")
Use "/fs:fat" to format your 4GB card in FAT16.
See the attached image:

Didn't you said something about OS is the limitation and if do it in XP, the max is only 2GB???

[PaulSM]

Didn't you said something about OS is the limitation and if do it in XP, the max is only 2GB???

No. Have you tried it?
Let me know if you do not know how to do it.

[VineeLee]

I'm thinking of buying a Patriot 2gb SD Card, that is 40x speed. Is this fast enough to watch videos and listen to music from?

[randomwalk101]

No. Have you tried it?
Let me know if you do not know how to do it.

Here is what you said....Post #7

"2GB is not a FAT16 limitation, it's an OS limitation. 4GB is the limit for FAT16.
If you have Win 2K, you can format your 4GB card in FAT16.

The difference between FAT16 and FAT32 is 19 seconds vs 147 seconds to copy a 10MB file in an Axim X51v."

[PaulSM]

Here is what you said....Post #7

"2GB is not a FAT16 limitation, it's an OS limitation. 4GB is the limit for FAT16.
If you have Win 2K, you can format your 4GB card in FAT16.

The difference between FAT16 and FAT32 is 19 seconds vs 147 seconds to copy a 10MB file in an Axim X51v."

True. XP won't let you do it in GUI.

[randomwalk101]

PaulSM,
Thanks...your method works...I'm now Fat16 and the x51v still sees it as 4GB.

I also have the 4GB compact flash....will FAT16 method works for CF as well? Does it increase speed??? Thanks.

[0gopogo]

Random,

FAT16 may make it faster or it may not. Just try it out, it depends a lot on the card, and the device the card is used in. Some cards are not that sensitive to the cluster size. Others, like my Transcends, are. Formats without Backup FAT seem to be faster, too. (I did not come up with this. Menneisys did, and my observations since I read his article confirm his statements with only one exception so far.)

"SD was not designed for FAT16" has very little if anything to do with it. I am not saying the statement is right or wrong. But it has no practical relevance. Use whichever format works best for you; which means you'll have to experiment.

Where is that Menneisys thread about formats for the cards?
I just bought a Transcend 4GB CF 120x and a Transcend 4GB SD 150x from amazon.
I benchmarked them with Pocket Mechanic and to my (bad) surprise they are much more slow than my simpleTech (normalX) I got like 2 years ago. The difference in writing is unbelievable. So these were supposed to be faster.
I think they could be fake transcend or that version of Pocket Mechanic is too old it doesn't benchmark well something over 3GB or i should format them differently.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

[banjocyborg]

Thanks this is a helpful post

[PaulSM]

Where is that Menneisys thread about formats for the cards?
I just bought a Transcend 4GB CF 120x and a Transcend 4GB SD 150x from amazon.
I benchmarked them with Pocket Mechanic and to my (bad) surprise they are much more slow than my simpleTech (normalX) I got like 2 years ago. The difference in writing is unbelievable. So these were supposed to be faster.
I think they could be fake transcend or that version of Pocket Mechanic is too old it doesn't benchmark well something over 3GB or i should format them differently.
Any ideas?
Thanks.

You should only compare memory cards with same density and technology.
Have you tried to format your 4GB SD card with FAT16?

[PaulSM]

Thanks this is a helpful post

I'm glad you like it

[Daniel2006]

I have switched to 64k FAT16 on my Transcend card a while ago, after reading an article by Menneisys on the topic of card formatting. This format clearly improves benchmarks. I have not noticed any improvements in my practical, daily experience, though, which requires, I admit, mostly read and small file write access.

How did you format it to 64K? I tried everything I could and can't get it to 64k... best I can get is 32k. What tools did you use?

Daniel,

[PaulSM]

How did you format it to 64K? I tried everything I could and can't get it to 64k... best I can get is 32k. What tools did you use?

Daniel,

What did you try?

[PaulSM]

The OCZ 150X 4GB SD card works out of the box and it's very fast in my X51v :approve:
However, it's not as fast as the Trandscent 150X 4GB SD card in my desktop PC
:cheers: