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---
title: "Formatting SD (Linux)"
---
{% include toc title="Table of Contents" %}
### 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.
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This page is for Linux users only. If you are not on Linux, check out the [Formatting SD (Windows)](formatting-sd-(windows)) or [Formatting SD (Mac)](formatting-sd-(mac)) pages.
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### Instructions
1. Make sure your SD card is **not** inserted
1. Launch the Linux Terminal
1. Type `watch "lsblk"`
1. Insert your SD card into your PC
1. 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
```
1. Take note of the device mount point. In our example above, it was `mmcblk0`
+ If `RO` is set to 1, make sure the lock switch is not slid down
1. Hit CTRL + C to exit the menu
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1. Type in the following for your SD card:
- 2GB or lower: `sudo mkfs.fat /dev/(device mount point 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 mount point 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 mount point from above) -s 128 -F 32`
- This creates a single FAT32 partition with 64 KB cluster size on the SD card
