As Windows CE development is evolutionary, it cannot be confirmed that such errors do not exist under older editions of Windows CE. Known faults exist in the initial Windows CE 5.0 offering which have been shown to cause corruption and data loss under certain circumstances.
The Windows CE's driver was not designed to address large volumes and was never tested against having to manage a large address table.
In the event that Windows CE detects, or incorrectly detects an error on the volume it will automatically attempt to repair the issue, which could inadvertently result in data loss.
Windows CE versions greater than and including Windows CE 2.11 can theoretically read and address volumes larger than 32GB, however the upper limitation boundary for the File System drivers in Windows CE is unknown and untested (even by Microsoft).
There are however third-party software tools which can manage such volumes, as can any Linux distribution. No Windows version is natively able to create or mane any FAT32 volume which goes beyond the 32GB limitation boundary. Microsoft have artificially limited the support for FAT32 partitions greater than 32GB in its operating systems. The maximum possible integer generated by a 32-bit number is 4,294,967,295 with the largest file size integer under FAT32 being 4,294,967,294 or 4GB. The maximum file size of 4GB is such because as the name suggests, FAT32 uses 32-bit addressing for cluster as well a 32-bit file size index. This applies to all computer system, not just Windows CE. In order to correct the issue, you must locate firmware updates for the SD controller in your device, and, depending on the Windows CE version, driver updates for the controller hardware itself. Older cards greater than or equal to 2GB may use proprietary addressing techniques and may not offer any compatibility with the reader hardware. Older cards smaller than 2GB make use of byte addressing based upon a 32-bit address, where as newer cards supporting sizes greater than 2GB require 32-bit LBA support. However, changes to the SD Card specification to support storage capacities greater than 2GB may create issues on older hardware. Max File Size (ExFAT): 16 ExaBytes (16EB) theoretical, in practice no larger than available system memoryĪs a local controller independent technology, Windows CE can theoretically support any size SD card that the device can provide power for, within the file-system limitations of the built-in drivers. Maximum Cluster Size (ExFAT): 32MB (2x2 to the 255th power is theoretical) Maximum Non-Native Partition Size (ExFAT): Unknown (HPC:Factor assumes 16 ExaBytes) Maximum Native Partition Size (ExFAT): Unknown (Greater than 32GB) Supported FAT implementations: FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32 / TFAT / ExFAT (FAT64)
Maximum Supported Volume: 128 PetaBytes (48-bit LBA | Theoretical) Maximum Non-Native Partition Size: 2TB | 16TB (Theoretical) Supported FAT implementations: FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32 / TFAT Max File Size (FAT): 4GB theoretical, in practice no larger than available system memory Maximum Non-Native Partition Size: 32TB (Theoretical) Supported FAT implementations: FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32 / TFAT (CE. Windows 2.10 (with the enhancement pack & all QFE's), 2.11, 3.0 and Windows CE. Max File Size (FAT): 2GB theoretical, in practice no larger than available system memory NT cluster sizes up to 64KB are not supported Maximum Supported Volume: 128 GB (Documented) 137GB (28-bit LBA) Supported FAT implementations: FAT12 / FAT16 Max 32-kb cluster = not good for large disk performance as file seeks need to scan every.įAT32 driver supports up to 99 simultaneously mounted volumes
It outlines the maximum supported and maximum recommended peripheral memory devices under Windows CE, including Compact Flash (CF), SD, MMC, ATA Flash, USB memory fobs and external hard drives. This article discusses the file system driver limitations of Windows CE FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 implementation. Maximum supported Memory Card & File Sizes under Windows CE CESD-H-0044 Applies To: