Minimum volume size for FAT16

Question

What are the theoretical and practical minimum sizes for a FAT16 volume?

I'm trying to determine the smallest Flash-chip size that can handle a FAT16 FS.

John T · Answer 1 · 2009-11-23 18:43:01Z

up vote 3 down vote accepted

If I remember correctly it's 4.1MiB (1,048,576 bytes*4.1 = 4,299,161.6 bytes).

answered Nov 23 '09 at 18:43

John T
79.9k7105149

	That's correct. It is either 4.1MiB or equivalently 4.3MB. If you would also like the max size, it is (on a NT/2000/WinXP machine) 4GiB or 4.29GB. – Marcin Nov 23 '09 at 19:06
	Ah! So it makes sense that my FAT driver throws error at about 4MB. Where does the 4.1 come from? – MandoMando Nov 23 '09 at 20:13

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JeffP · Answer 2 · 2009-11-23 19:02:09Z

up vote 0 down vote

4.1 MiB is correct, however you could go smaller with FAT12, which is still readable by modern OS's.

answered Nov 23 '09 at 19:02

JeffP
52725

I would, though I hear implementing a FAT12 driver is not easy. – MandoMando Nov 23 '09 at 20:14

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2 Answers