MKFATFS(8)                                                          MKFATFS(8)



NAME
       mkfatfs - create a FAT file system

SYNOPSIS
       mkfatfs [options] device

DESCRIPTION
       mkfatfs is used to create a FAT file system on a device (usually a disk
       or flash partition).  device is the special file corresponding  to  the
       device (e.g.  /dev/sdXX, /dev/block/mmcblk1p1).

OPTIONS
       Below is a summary of all the options that mkfatfs accepts.  Nearly all
       options have two equivalent names.  The short name is preceded by - and
       the long name is preceded by --.


       -f, --force
              Allow formatting a FAT volume for which the physical sec‐
              tor size cannot be automatically detected (for example an
              image file).

       -l, --volume-label STRING
              Set the volume label for the filesystem. The volume label
              can be up to 11 ASCII units long, i.e. in most  cases  11
              bytes.

       -i, --volume-id STRING
              Sets the volume-id for the volume to STRING.

       -r, --rootdir-entries NUMBER
              Set  the  count of 32 bytes directory entries in the root
              directory to NUMBER.  For FAT32  volumes  this  value  is
              ignored and set to zero. For FAT 12/16 volume the default
              value is 512.

       -f, --fat-type FATBITS
              Set the FAT bits for the volume  to  FATBITS.  The  legal
              values for this field are [12, 16, 32].

       -S, --sector-size SIZE
              Set  the  volume  sector  size  (in  bytes)  to SIZE. The
              default is to detect  sector  size  automatically.  Note:
              This option should probably never be used when formatting
              devices directly as most FAT drivers won't be able to use
              a  FAT  volume where the volume sector size doesn't match
              the physical sector size.

       -s, --sectors-per-cluster VALUE
              Set the volume cluster size (in bytes) to  VALUE  *  sec‐
              tor_size.   The  default  value is calculated dynamically
              depending on FAT type (FAT 12/16/32) and the size of  the
              volume.  The legal values for this field are [1, 2, 4, 8,
              16, 32, 64, 128], such that VALUE * sector_size does  not
              exceed 32K.

       -v, --verbose
              Makes mkfatfs emit certain status messages related to the
              formatting process.

       --sda-strict
              Forces the formatted volume to adhere to  SD  Association
              recommendations.

       --sda-whole
              Performs  a  whole device formatting, including partition
              table, according to the SD  Association  recommendations.
              This  option should only be used with whole devices (e.g.
              /dev/mmcblk0) and never partitions (e.g. /dev/mmcblk0p1).

       --sda-relax
              Relaxes sanity checks for --sda-strict and --sda-whole to
              allow  formatting  devices  that don't comply to the size
              specifications of SD cards to be formatted  according  to
              the SD Association guidelines.

              NOTE:  This option is only a modifier to --sda-strict and
              --sda-whole and does not do anything on its own.

       --discard
              This option sends a 'discard' command, like TRIM, to  the
              device which will zero all data on it.

BUGS
       If you find a bug please send an email describing the problem to
       fat-support@tuxera.com.

AUTHORS
       mkfatfs was written by Sougata Santra, Tuxera Inc.

AVAILABILITY
       mkfatfs is part of the Tuxera FATprogs package.



Tuxera TFATprogs 3014.9.11        March 2014                        MKFATFS(8)
