16GB's pen drive shows 14.9GB's

tony · 29. Jul 2011, 10:15 AM

I have a 16GB pendrive I use for my satellite TV recorder. I take off the TV programs then burn them to DVD discs. Problem is that the Sat recorder does not recognise it now and it only shows 14.9GB's? I have reformatted it to ext3 for the simple reason the stupid sat recorder would only accept fat32 therefore was restricted to 4GB's to load onto the pendrive. I was told on the forum to use Linux and format it to ext3 and that would allow me to load bigger files and resolve the problem. I did and the sat recorder didn't like it. SO I formatted the pen drive back and there lies the problem. Ubuntu won't format it back to ext3 now, it doesn't recognise it. The sat recorder doesn't recognise it either so I can't load or download onto it with the pendrive. Something is not showing with the lost GB. I have formatted it loads of times to see if I can resolve it. Has anyone any idea how to resolve this lost GB and I think if I can I can then use it. It does work on the 14.9GB on computers. Sorry long winded I know, but I couldn't put it simpler

wdhpr · 29. Jul 2011, 07:55 PM

If I understand you correctly you reformatted back to fat32 and now Ubuntu will not recognize your USB drive.

Have you tried to to reformat the drive again to fat32 using windows. At least this will get you back were you started. I have several thumb drives all formatted to fat32 and I can use all with either Mint or Windows. I can actually run Portable Apps while in Mint using Wine.

J_L · 30. Jul 2011, 12:44 AM

This might be the difference between gigabits (manufacturers use to sell) and gigabytes (computers use to store).

Anupam · 30. Jul 2011, 08:18 AM

Tony, are you sure that the drive earlier showed the full capacity? Its because drives do not show the full capacity, even if bought brand new. Its the same with HDDs too. Its because they keep some of the capacity to store information about the drive, and other things... and as J_L points out in his post, its another factor why drives show capacity less than indicated.

For e.g., my 8 GB new pen drive shows 7.50 GB only, and there is nothing on the drive.

J_L · 19. Sep 2011, 05:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J_L

This might be the difference between gigabits (manufacturers use to sell) and gigabytes (computers use to store).

My mistake, I meant 1000 MB (decimal=manufacturer) vs 1024 MB (binary=computer). They're both in gigabytes.

29. Jul 2011, 10:15 AM	#1 (permalink)
tony Foundation Editor Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Wales Posts: 119	16GB's pen drive shows 14.9GB's I have a 16GB pendrive I use for my satellite TV recorder. I take off the TV programs then burn them to DVD discs. Problem is that the Sat recorder does not recognise it now and it only shows 14.9GB's? I have reformatted it to ext3 for the simple reason the stupid sat recorder would only accept fat32 therefore was restricted to 4GB's to load onto the pendrive. I was told on the forum to use Linux and format it to ext3 and that would allow me to load bigger files and resolve the problem. I did and the sat recorder didn't like it. SO I formatted the pen drive back and there lies the problem. Ubuntu won't format it back to ext3 now, it doesn't recognise it. The sat recorder doesn't recognise it either so I can't load or download onto it with the pendrive. Something is not showing with the lost GB. I have formatted it loads of times to see if I can resolve it. Has anyone any idea how to resolve this lost GB and I think if I can I can then use it. It does work on the 14.9GB on computers. Sorry long winded I know, but I couldn't put it simpler

30. Jul 2011, 08:18 AM	#4 (permalink)
Anupam Moderator Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: India Posts: 9,484	Tony, are you sure that the drive earlier showed the full capacity? Its because drives do not show the full capacity, even if bought brand new. Its the same with HDDs too. Its because they keep some of the capacity to store information about the drive, and other things... and as J_L points out in his post, its another factor why drives show capacity less than indicated. For e.g., my 8 GB new pen drive shows 7.50 GB only, and there is nothing on the drive. __________________ Anupam

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29. Jul 2011, 07:55 PM	#2 (permalink)
wdhpr Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: The north Coast Posts: 1,117	If I understand you correctly you reformatted back to fat32 and now Ubuntu will not recognize your USB drive. Have you tried to to reformat the drive again to fat32 using windows. At least this will get you back were you started. I have several thumb drives all formatted to fat32 and I can use all with either Mint or Windows. I can actually run Portable Apps while in Mint using Wine.

30. Jul 2011, 12:44 AM	#3 (permalink)
J_L Co-Author, Best Free Security List Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,475	This might be the difference between gigabits (manufacturers use to sell) and gigabytes (computers use to store).