FAT16 file limit applies?

[Matt Sephton]

Hi,

Does the FAT16 limit of 512 files hold for current SD card and cameras?

I have a 1GB card and a Ricoh Caplio R4 and am worried that if I exceed the limit I will loose all my photos?

Any advice appreciated,
matt

 

[technicsplayer.]

I think you've misunderstood the numbers, a fat16 partition can hold over 65000 files if they fit, so a flash card with pictures is never going to be a problem.

 

[Hans-Jürgen Reggel]

Hi,

With FAT12/16, the root directory has a preset size. The default value is 512 entries.

The FAT specification sais that you can have up to 65536 entries in each subdirectory, loger filenames take up oe extra entry for each 13 characters. But this is no technical limit, just a precaution.

Other limitations are 4GB file size and a total length of 255 characters for the full path/name of the files.

Hans-Jürgen
--
CARDSPEED - Card Readers and Memory Cards - http://www.hjreggel.net/cardspeed/
HD-Info - Harddisk Information - http://www.hjreggel.net/hdinfo/

 

[catc]

Hi,

With FAT12/16, the root directory has a preset size. The default
value is 512 entries.

The FAT specification sais that you can have up to 65536 entries in
each subdirectory, loger filenames take up oe extra entry for each
13 characters. But this is no technical limit, just a precaution.

Obviously most cameras will create files under \DCIM so the 512 root entries should not be a problem...

Other limitations are 4GB file size and a total length of 255
characters for the full path/name of the files.

4 GB is possible but somehow tricky - 2 GB is a safer FAT16 limit ...

There is also a limit of 2 GB max for a file (ALSO present in FAT32)

 

[technicsplayer.]

yes, I've never seen a camera that writes pictures to the root directory, all use a folder for pics so it never is a problem.

 

[Timskis6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table
--
-Tim
'Be the change you wish to see in the world.' -Mahatma Gandhi

 

[JimBtoo]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DCIM

--
Jim B. :> )

 

[Matt Sephton]

Ah, thanks for the information. Panic over