Author Topic: FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader  (Read 5957 times)

davidnix71

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 760
  • Kudos: 501
FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader
« on: 8 September 2011, 01:22 »
There is no legal free support in Linux or OSX for FAT16 (MS patents, I'm told). That makes the built-in SD card reader of little use on the MBP. If you insert and try to use a FAT16 sd card OSX will eventually fsck up the filing system and mark it "dirty" even though it isn't. Even Terminal can't fix it after that happens. The usual fix is to put it a camera and reformat.

I went to CompUSA and bought a $10 generic USB card reader and put a SanDisk sd card the internal would not read and in the external adapter it would allow me to read/write/format. Fvck you MS, and Apple, too. If I can do it in an external and not the internal without any extra software, both of you svck.


bedouin

  • VIP
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 654
  • Kudos: 443
    • http://homepage.mac.com/alqahtani/
Re: FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader
« Reply #1 on: 8 September 2011, 08:31 »
Have you tried formatting it FAT32 on the Mac and then using it in whatever device you're using it with?

I have a couple pieces of musical gear that claim to only support FAT16, but FAT32 was added unannounced in a firmware update later on.

davidnix71

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 760
  • Kudos: 501
Re: FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader
« Reply #2 on: 9 September 2011, 01:21 »
I did some more checking today and the card I reformatted won't fully work in the Mac again.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2166984?start=0&tstart=0 Scroll down to the bottom.

If I flip the lock switch back and forth and toggle the chip a bit it changes from read only to read and write.

Apparently Apple has some cheap sh1t internal card readers and they don't want to own up to it. Although it really doesn't make sense to crack open a laptop to replace a part that retails for less than $10 as an external device.

 The external reader works perfectly. I guess that means I need to keep it handy.
« Last Edit: 9 September 2011, 01:30 by davidnix71 »

piratePenguin

  • VIP
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 3,027
  • Kudos: 775
    • http://piratepenguin.is-a-geek.com/~declan/
Re: FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader
« Reply #3 on: 9 September 2011, 20:08 »
No legal free software - that you can distribute - in the US.

(and probably more places)
"What you share with the world is what it keeps of you."
 - Noah And The Whale: Give a little love



a poem by my computer, Macintosh Vigilante
Macintosh amends a damned around the requested typewriter. Macintosh urges a scarce design. Macintosh postulates an autobiography. Macintosh tolls the solo variant. Why does a winter audience delay macintosh? The maker tosses macintosh. Beneath female suffers a double scum. How will a rat cube the heavier cricket? Macintosh calls a method. Can macintosh nest opposite the headache? Macintosh ties the wrong fairy. When can macintosh stem the land gang? Female aborts underneath macintosh. Inside macintosh waffles female. Next to macintosh worries a well.

Aloone_Jonez

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 4,090
  • Kudos: 954
Re: FAT16 SD card problems with the internal MBP reader
« Reply #4 on: 10 September 2011, 11:17 »
As far as I'm aware the patent only applies to long file names, it's still legal to use the old 8.3 DOS file naming convention.
This is not a Windows help forum, however please do feel free to sign up and agree or disagree with our views on Microsoft.

Oh and FUCKMicrosoft! :fu: