sanphil101

[sanphil101]

I have just purchased an Acer IconiaTab A500, trying to learn how it all works. I have a separate hard drive which doesn't seem to be working when I plug it in - it doesn't read any files on the hard drive.

I've tried downloading Fat32 program, but got more confused,...... help anyone??

 

[Droid-Xer]

Welcome. Check out Acer section here or join us at Acer Android Tablet Forum

 

[Spider]

Welcome to the forum. I moved your post to the Acer Tablets section of our forum. This is where you're most likely to get a response.

 

[ObsidianBlk]

Don't quote me, but I believe the only file system the a500 can currently read is the FAT file system (fat32). If you haven't done any custom formatting of your external hard drive, I'd check to see if it might be formatted as an NTFS file system (as a lot of external harddrives are). If it is formatted as NTFS you'd have to reformat the hard drive into a FAT file system.

Hope that helps some.

 

[Spider]

If you have to convert the drive to Fat32, you shouldn't need a Fat32 program. Just plug the drive into your PC and format it as Fat32.

 

[wolfganggold]

FAT32 isn't a program that you download. It's a way of setting up a hard drive (or thumb drive) so certain devices (like the A500) can read it. You can check a drive to see what file system it's using by hooking it to your PC and right clicking it once it's detected and shows up in Computer (if you have Windows Vista or 7). From the right click menu, choose properties and the file system will be listed about a third of the way down. If it says NTFS, the A500 won't read it. If it says FAT32, it should just fine. To format a Drive as FAT32, you must hook it to your PC. Keep in mind that doing this will permanently erase any data that's already on the drive so if it has stuff on it you want to keep, copy it somewhere before starting the format. When it comes up in Computer, right click it and click Format... Make sure the File system dropdown menu says FAT32, then check the box that says Quick Format and then click start. Once it's done, click close and you're good to go.

 

[deedub]

I don't have any large drives to try it out on, but my A500 reads the thumb drives I have tried just fine. As has been stated, they are FAT32 formatted.

 

[Mike02z]

I have a small Toshiba 500 GB drive and it works just fine with my Iconia. As was said earlier, the file system MUST be FAT32 and not NTFS. There are a multitude of free programs that will let you format drives larger then 32GB to FAT32. I use guiformat.

 

[spexwood]

Because some people arent as knowledgeable about computers as others, I just want to clarify on some stuff.

To format a Drive as FAT32, you must hook it to your PC. Keep in mind that doing this will permanently erase any data that's already on the drive so if it has stuff on it you want to keep, copy it somewhere before starting the format.

I know that wolfgang probably didnt mean for this to sound this way, but plugging your drive into your computer will not erase your data. Once you format it, you will erase everything. So plug your drive into the computer and check if it is NTFS (most likely will be if it is not a thumb drive or memory card) or FAT32 by doing what wolfgang mentioned about the My Computer, right click, properties, etc. If it is NTFS, then it will need to be REFormatted as FAT32.

When it comes up in Computer, right click it and click Format... Make sure the File system dropdown menu says FAT32, then check the box that says Quick Format and then click start. Once it's done, click close and you're good to go.

I cannot remember which Microsoft OS it was, but I think XP was the first Windows system to stop offering FAT32 reformatting of harddrives (NOT thumb drives or memory cards) through the right-click>format method. I am running Windows 7 and I do not have the option of reformatting harddrives as FAT32. I can only do it with thumb drives or memory cards.
So it the option does not appear as wolfgang described, then you will need a seperate program. A good free one that I always recommend is fat32formatter. Just Google the term and it should be the first link in the results (thank god for Google nowadays!). Just download the program, run it (no installation even occurs!), select the right drive, and click format button. Then you will have a drive in FAT32.

The Iconia a500 can only read FAT32 formatted drives natively. You can get it to read NTFS too, but it requires you to root your tablet, which I dont recommend unless you know exactly what you are doing.

Let us know if we are not solving your problem


Sent from my A500 using Android Tablet Forum

 

[wolfganggold]

I know that wolfgang probably didnt mean for this to sound this way, but plugging your drive into your computer will not erase your data.

HEHEH, I actually originally had that sentence at the end of that paragraph but didn't want to rely on someone reading the whole post to the end BEFORE they started if they were following my instructions.

I looked on an XP box I have laying around and you could still format drives as FAT32 but really, how many XP boxes are around anymore?

Thanks for the corrections!