On Sun, May 25, 2008 at 2:48 PM, Andrew Carter
<> wrote:
> --- In Rob Danielson <> wrote:
> ...
> I am a little confused by the file size problem. Do all computers have
> a limit on the file they can cope with?
>...
Hi everyone,
I don't know much about the digital audio recording devices under
discussion, but I have a strong suspicion as to where the 4GB single
file size limit comes from.
Consider that digital audio recorders are not alone in having this 4GB
file size limit. Digital cameras that can record videos also have this
4GB file size limit for the large video files they create. (The limit
applies even when you are using 8GB and larger memory cards.) Same for
the latest Canon flash memory camcorders (among others).
The limitation, I believe, usually comes from the fact that these
flash memory-based devices format the memory in FAT32 file system (as
opposed to NTFS on Windows PCs, for example).
And FAT32 file system has an inherent file size limitation: 4GB maximum.
"The maximum possible size for a file on a FAT32 volume is 4 GiB minus
1 Byte (232-1 bytes)."
[ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File_Allocation_Table ]
Even on a PC/Mac, if you connect an 8GB USB thumb drive/ flash
drive/memory card reader and try to copy a > 4GB file (of any type)
from the computer's hard drive to the flash drive, it usually doesn't
work. Because these memory cards are usually (i.e., by default)
formatted in FAT32 file system.
This results in questions from confused computer users such as this:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=3D20080311134405AAR6kvn
(I am the author of the answer.)
Again, I can't speak definitively about these digital audio recorders,
but my guess is the type of file system in use is likely at the root
of these limits (especially when the limit is 4GB).
FWIW
-Akira
Pleasanton, CA
|