FAQ: Formatting PCMCIA ATA Flash PC Cards as FAT-16

Post date: Apr 20, 2018 10:57:30 PM

Good Morning,

I would like to request your assistance

While attempting a QAR download the PCMCIA card installed had no data present. Following the aircraft Fault Isolation Manual the first step will be to format the card.

Could you please provide a procedure that our engineers can follow to format the PCMCIA card.

I have attached pictures of the cards we utilise

In your step 2., the instructions say "Use a PC to format the card to FAT 16"

We're not sure what operating system you use on your PC, so here's instructions for two popular ones: Linux, and The Windows.

Unix

Under Linux, and most Unix-like systems, formatting cards as FAT 16 using a command-line utility is both simple and straight-forward.

okinawa-pangolin:~> sudo mkdosfs -F 16 /dev/[specify your device here] mkfs.fat 3.0.28 (2015-05-16)

The Windows

Under The Windows, locate the card's icon in The Windows Explorer. Right-Click the icon and choose "Format…" from the corresponding menu.

In the "Format Removable Disk" dialog, select "FAT" from the "File system" menu, and then click start. Generally, selecting the "Quick Format" check box expedite the formating process.