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I want to create a windows accessible partition(FAT16/FAT32). But even the created partition can read under linux. It can not see on Windows. Just display a driver symbol like E:.

I'm using parted to create the partition. And then use mkdosfs -a -F32 -v /dev/sdc2

Disk /dev/sdc: 2022MB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: msdos
Disk Flags: 

Number  Start   End     Size    Type     File system  Flags
 1      4096B   22.0MB  22.0MB  primary  ext3
 2      22.0MB  56.6MB  34.6MB  primary  fat32        lba
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  • According the maintainer of dosfstools. Daniel Baumann <daniel at debian.org> told me. That's Windows' feature.
    – Daniel YC Lin
    Jan 25, 2013 at 6:53

2 Answers 2

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According to this linuxquestions thread, Windows needs the FAT32 ID type to be 0xc instead of the mkdosfs default of 0xe.

In my anecdotal experience, GParted will automatically make FAT filesystems that Windows can read, so if that is an option, it may be something to consider.

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  • A current up to date Windows 10 system can see several partitions in a USB drive.

  • But previous versions of Windows (XP, Vista, 7, 8) can see only the first partition in a USB drive. This is also the case with early versions of Windows 10 (that have not been upgraded with the relevant program packages).

If you have a Windows system, that can only see the first partition in a USB drive, you should make the partition, that you want Windows to see, 'partition #1' (number 1) in the partition table. It need not be located at the beginning of the drive space (at the drive's 'head end').

When you create a partition table in a USB drive, you can start by creating the partition, that you want Windows too see. Then it will be 'partition #1'. You can use gparted for this purpose.

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