USB drive file system - incompatibility?

[dogfonos]

I have two known-brand 64GB USB memory sticks that I'd like to use with both my Windows PC and Toshiba smart TV. Both sticks work fine with the PC but only one of the memory sticks works with the TV - the other is not recognised.

When I plug them both into the PC and look at file system formatting, I notice that the PC gives me the option of three file system formats for one stick ((FAT32, exFAT & NTFS - and it's currently set to FAT32) yet only two file system formats for the other (exFAT & NTFS - and it's currently set to exFAT). So somehow, one memory stick limits the PC to a choice of just two file systems? I find that strange. Anyway, it's the stick with just the two file systems options (currently set to exFAT) that's not recognised by the TV.

Is this is a file system incompatibility? Seems to me that the TV will only work with FAT32. Or is something else afoot here? Any workarounds? Can I force a FAT32 file system onto a USB memory stick when the PC (or stick?) doesn't presently give me that option? Advice appreciated, thanks.

 

[chalkywhite]

I think that the exFAT USB manufacturer has joined the 21st century and bravely chosen to bin the archaic but more compatible FAT standard which your TV seems to accept.

My guess is that the exFAT USB will never work with that TV, no matter what you do to it.

 

[dogfonos]

Ah, bugger.

I suppose there's no harm in me re-formatting the memory stick that offers three file formats, from FAT32 to exFAT, just to prove that file system incompatibility is the problem. Easy enough for me to save the stick contents elsewhere.

I've read through the TV's manual and only seen mention of a FAT32 file system, although the manual doesn't specifically state compatibility with any particular file system.

 

[dogfonos]

For the sake of completeness...

A solution!

SanDisk customer services were most helpful. They directed me to third-party software that allowed me to format a SanDisk Extreme Go 3.1 USB flash drive with the FAT32 file system. The USB stick now works a treat with both a Roberts internet radio and the TV (and the PC too, of course). Here's a link to the formatting software:

https://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/10505