Add instructions for formatting SDXC cards for use with NOOBS

lurch · lurch · commit 320d77b2d8bf · 2015-04-14T19:30:14.000+01:00
diff --git a/installation/noobs.md b/installation/noobs.md
@@ -27,6 +27,8 @@ To set up a blank SD card with NOOBS:
 
 #### How to format an SD card as FAT
 
+**Note:** If you're formatting an SD (or micro SD) card that has a capacity over 32 GB (i.e. 64GB and above) then see the separate [SDXC formatting](sdxc_formatting.md) instructions.
+
 ##### Windows
 
 For Windows users we recommend formatting your SD card using the SD Association's Formatting Tool, which can be downloaded from [sdcard.org](https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/). You will need to set "FORMAT SIZE ADJUSTMENT" option to "ON" in the "Options" menu to ensure that the entire SD card volume is formatted, and not just a single partition.
diff --git a/installation/sdxc_formatting.md b/installation/sdxc_formatting.md
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Formatting an SDXC card for use with NOOBS
+
+According to the [SD specifications](https://www.sdcard.org/developers/overview/capacity/) any SD card larger than 32GB is an SDXC card, and has to be formatted with the exFAT filesystem. Which means the official SD Formatter tool will *always* format cards that are 64GB or larger as exFAT.
+
+The Raspberry Pi's bootloader (built into the GPU, so non-updateable) only has support for reading from FAT (both FAT16 and FAT32) filesystems though, and is unable to boot from an exFAT filesystem. So if you want to use NOOBS on a card that is 64GB or larger, you need to reformat it as FAT32 first, before copying the NOOBS files to it.
+
+## Linux and Mac OS
+
+The standard formatting tools built into these operating systems are able to create FAT32 partitions (might also be labelled as FAT or MS-DOS). Simply delete the existing exFAT partition and create and format a new FAT32 primary partition, before proceeding with the rest of the [NOOBS instructions](noobs.md).
+
+## Windows
+
+The standard formatting tools built into Windows have a limitation that they only allow partitions up to 32GB to be formatted as FAT32. So to format a 64GB partition as FAT32 you need to use a 3rd-party formatting tool. A simple tool to do this is [FAT32 Format](http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/guiformat.htm) (which downloads as a single file named `guiformat.exe` - no installation is necessary).
+Run the [SD Formatter](https://www.sdcard.org/downloads/formatter_4/) tool first with "FORMAT SIZE ADJUSTMENT" set to "ON", to ensure that any other partitions on the SD card are deleted. Then run the FAT32 Format (guiformat.exe) tool, ensure you choose the correct drive letter, leave the other options at their default settings, and click Start. After it has finished, you can proceed with the rest of the [NOOBS instructions](noobs.md).
+
+If the FAT32 Format tool doesn't work for you, alternative options are [MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition](http://www.minitool.com/partition-manager/partition-wizard-home.html) and [EaseUS Partition Master Free](http://www.easeus.com/partition-manager/epm-free.html) which are "home user" versions of fully-featured partition editor tools, and so not as straightforward to use.
