# Formatting SD (Linux)

## Required Reading

This is an add-on section for formatting an SD card to work with the 3DS.

If the 3DS already recognizes the SD card, this guide is not required.

Denne siden er kun for Linux-brukere. If you are not on Linux, check out the [Formatting SD (Windows)](formatting-sd-\(windows\)) or [Formatting SD (Mac)](formatting-sd-\(mac\)) pages.

## Instructions

1. Make sure your SD card is **not** inserted
2. Launch the Linux Terminal
3. Type `watch "lsblk"`
4. Sett inn SD-kortet i datamaskinen din
5. Observe the output. It should match something like this:
    ```
    NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
    mmcblk0     179:0    0   3,8G  0 disk
    └─mmcblk0p1 179:1    0   3,7G  0 part /run/media/user/FFFF-FFFF
    ```
6. Take note of the device name. In our example above, it was `mmcblk0p1`
    - If `RO` is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down
7. Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
8. Type in the following for your SD card:
    - 2GB or lower: `sudo mkfs.fat /dev/(device name from above) -s 64 -F 16`
        - This creates a single FAT16 partition with 32 KB cluster size on the SD card
    - 4GB - 128GB: `sudo mkfs.fat /dev/(device name from above) -s 64 -F 32`
        - This creates a single FAT32 partition with 32 KB cluster size on the SD card
    - 128GB or higher: `sudo mkfs.fat /dev/(device name from above) -s 128 -F 32`
        - This creates a single FAT32 partition with 64 KB cluster size on the SD card

## Troubleshooting

- SD card remains undetected by console or continues to display the wrong capacity after formatting
    - Your SD card may be partitioned or have unallocated space. Follow the instructions [here](https://wiki.hacks.guide/wiki/SD_Clean/Linux) to reformat your SD card.