Format flash in OXS X for use in OS X and OS 9

[barehands]

How do I reformat a flash drive in Mac OS X so it's also readable in OS 9? The flash drive is accessible in OS X but not in OS 9 (no icon; nothing except a brief flicker of the drive light). I tried launching an OS 9 application (PageMaker) in my OS 9-bootable iBook, but I still couldn't access the OS 9 tool bar to reformat.

I think this can be done because I read a flash drive product review in which the reviewer said: "I did run into problems using it [the flash drive] in OS 9 though, because you cannot format a disk in Mac OS X with OS 9 drivers unless your machine is bootable with OS 9. I actually had to use a different OS 9 bootable machine to reformat the drive to use it."

So how did she manage to do that? Can anyone tell me?

Thanks.

barehands

[John A]

To my knowledge, Apple doesn't provide a way to format an HFS filesystem under Mac OS X. Or if they do, it's very well hidden. So, what you need to do is boot into OS 9 and reformat the drive in there... I've never really used OS 9 much though, so I can't help you with that.

Alternatively you can try formatting the drive with the FAT32 (MS-DOS) filesystem. It's supported by both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, and can be formatted using either operating system.

[barehands]

To my knowledge, Apple doesn't provide a way to format an HFS filesystem under Mac OS X. Or if they do, it's very well hidden. So, what you need to do is boot into OS 9 and reformat the drive in there... I've never really used OS 9 much though, so I can't help you with that.

Alternatively you can try formatting the drive with the FAT32 (MS-DOS) filesystem. It's supported by both Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X, and can be formatted using either operating system.

Okaaay. So you're not MacUser. How (on earth) would I reformat this drive with a FAT32 filesystem? I have a PC laptop that I use from time to time for reviewing my web designs. I'm guesssing I'd have to use that, somehow, to accomplish this? Oy. You've "never really used OS 9 much" and I've *hardly ever* used the PC interface. I'm not going to get a wink of sleep.

Waiting to hear.

[John A]

Er... I can't remember how to format the drive in FAT32 in a Windows. Fortunately you don't need Windows to format a drive in FAT32. :)

If you want to do it in Mac OS X, open /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility, and in the left pane select your flash drive. Now on the right side go to the erase tab, and select "MS-DOS Filesystem" as the type, and then hit erase. Should do the trick.

[barehands]

Oooh, I *loved* doing that; thanks.

Sadly, when I rebooted in OS 9 my flash drive *still* was not recognized.

I'm bereft.

[John A]

If you can't see the drive even after formatting it as FAT32, then something else is wrong. Do you know anything about the support for this device under OS 9? Perhaps you need to install drivers before it can be recognized by the operating system.

[lowndesc]

If you go to applications/utilities/diskutility you can format the drive there but you need to check the box that says include OS9 drivers.

[barehands]

Thank you for trying to help. Here's what I've done so far:
Removed MS-DOS OS from the flash drive via the Mac OS X Disk Utility application. (Drive not acknowledged by OS 9.)
Checked formatting of two Relay swivel flash drives that *are* recognized and work perfectly in both OS X and OS 9. Bafflingly, one is formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled); the other is formatted MS-DOS/FAT16.
Reformatted flash drive for Mac OS Extended and installation of OS 9 drivers. (Drive not acknowledged by OS 9.)
Reformatted drive for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) and installation of OS 9 drivers. (Drive not acknowledged by OS 9.)
I guess I'll try formatting the drive on my PC in some version of FAT, if I can figure out how to do it, and see if that works. In the meantime, if anybody has a magic bullet, please shoot me.
barehands

[redage]

Under System 9, a Dos Volume is only recognized when PC-Exchange is switched on, and you have to reboot when switching it on.

best redage