Re: [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