Support exFAT filesystem for big games

[MASTAN]

Lets say someone has laptop with small drive and wants to install game on external USB 3.0 flash drive, an example:
http://steamcommunity.com/app/257510/discussions/0/2592234299542833992/

Steam forbids installing some big games(like Talos Principle) on FAT, but it also forbids installing them on exFAT which does not have problem with big files. Of course one can format USB drive using NTFS but it causes more strain and decreased performance on them(which is exactly why exFAT was developed).

So, would be good for Steam to detect exFAT drives and not forbid installation there. Right now it says "The Game You are installing requires a drive with the NTFS file system and can not be installed on a FAT32 filesystem". Which is wrong.

And by the way Talos Principle has file sizes no more than 1.7 Gigs, so FAT should also work fine there.

[Spawn of Totoro]

https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/

From what I can read, there is no reason to use exFAT on an external drive.

I can find no evidence of slow down when using NTFS either, nor benefit over using exFAT instead of NTFS, unless you are using the drive on a seperate device that is not compatible with the NTSF file system. Most modern devices work with NTFS though unless you want to write to the drive using a Mac/Apple computer.

[MASTAN]

Spawn of Totoro eredeti hozzászólása:

https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/

From what I can read, there is no reason to use exFAT on an external drive.

I can find no evidence of slow down when using NTFS either, nor benefit over using exFAT instead of NTFS, unless you are using the drive on a seperate device that is not compatible with the NTSF file system. Most modern devices work with NTFS though unless you want to write to the drive using a Mac/Apple computer.

That article says

exFAT is optimized for flash drives—designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32, but without the extra features and over head of NTFS and without the limitations of FAT32.
Like NTFS, exFAT has very large limits on file and partition sizes., allowing you to store files much larger than the 4 GB allowed by FAT32.

- optimized for flash drives without overhead and limitations. Performance may be similar to NTFS on fast drives, but overhead and increased wear level are still there.

Anyway Steam wrongfully says that game can't be installed on exFAT as if its an old FAT.

Its like if on Linux Steam would say "I can't install on your drive, its not ext3/4" while user has ReiserFS for example.

[Satoru]

It's sort of moot since steam doesn't recommend you install on external drives anyway

The overhead and file allocation advantages are only relevant for embedded systems or flash memory. They aren't relevant on external hard drives

[Burne]

There's a great reason to use exFAT over NTFS and that is it has no security isses when switching the drive from one computer to another. NTFS is causes CONTENT FILE LOCKED nightmares with programs such as Steam and Origin.

Bottom line is identifying the drive at FAT32 vs exFAT would be a simple fix regardless of whether it's recommended (or not) to install on an external drive.

[Start_Running]

MASTAN eredeti hozzászólása:

Spawn of Totoro eredeti hozzászólása:

https://www.howtogeek.com/235596/whats-the-difference-between-fat32-exfat-and-ntfs/

From what I can read, there is no reason to use exFAT on an external drive.

I can find no evidence of slow down when using NTFS either, nor benefit over using exFAT instead of NTFS, unless you are using the drive on a seperate device that is not compatible with the NTSF file system. Most modern devices work with NTFS though unless you want to write to the drive using a Mac/Apple computer.

That article says

exFAT is optimized for flash drives—designed to be a lightweight file system like FAT32, but without the extra features and over head of NTFS and without the limitations of FAT32.
Like NTFS, exFAT has very large limits on file and partition sizes., allowing you to store files much larger than the 4 GB allowed by FAT32.

- optimized for flash drives without overhead and limitations. Performance may be similar to NTFS on fast drives, but overhead and increased wear level are still there.

Anyway Steam wrongfully says that game can't be installed on exFAT as if its an old FAT.

Its like if on Linux Steam would say "I can't install on your drive, its not ext3/4" while user has ReiserFS for example.

Optimized for.. but here's the thing the real world applications don't amount to much.

http://www.flexense.com/fat32_exfat_ntfs_usb3_performance_comparison.html

Basically... the nTFS beats out the exFAT system

[Satoru]

Gassey eredeti hozzászólása:

There's a great reason to use exFAT over NTFS and that is it has no security isses when switching the drive from one computer to another. NTFS is causes CONTENT FILE LOCKED nightmares with programs such as Steam and Origin.

Bottom line is identifying the drive at FAT32 vs exFAT would be a simple fix regardless of whether it's recommended (or not) to install on an external drive.

That's patently false as I've moved entire libraries, reformatted OS, etc on my Steam library and it has no issues with file content locked. Most Windows 10 simplys allow all "Authenticated Users" modfy rights on the folder. Thus this isn't even an actual problem unless you're logging in as Guest

Regardless those are simplisitc permissions issue which are easily resolved by 3 clicks

[MASTAN]

http://technogog.com/information/usb-flash-drive-comparison-part-2-fat32-vs-ntfs-vs-exfat/

Here's another comparison where exFAT beats NTFS in some tests/drives by big numbers.

[Start_Running]

MASTAN eredeti hozzászólása:

http://technogog.com/information/usb-flash-drive-comparison-part-2-fat32-vs-ntfs-vs-exfat/

Here's another comparison where exFAT beats NTFS in some tests/drives by big numbers.

You might want to read trhose test summaries. and perhaps the conclusion. The SiSoft tests tend to be idealized tests not so much real world application which the Diskbench tests tend to skew closer to. You may also notice that there's somce curious discrepencies between the actual thumbdrive models used.

As said. Lab tests versus real world tests.

[MASTAN]

Anyway, the whole point of this thread is that Steam incorrectly identifies exFAT as file system which can't handle big files(ie old FAT). This is wrong.

What FS and where to use is another thing, it should be user's choice.

[tin pin]

MASTAN eredeti hozzászólása:

Anyway, the whole point of this thread is that Steam incorrectly identifies exFAT as file system which can't handle big files(ie old FAT). This is wrong.

What FS and where to use is another thing, it should be user's choice.

This.
The exFAT filesystem supports filesizes of up to **16 exabytes, or 17,179,869,184 gigabytes!** The reason that Steam provides for failure to install is completely invalid because it cannot correctly identify the filesystem in use on the volume. Everything else mentioned here is superfluous and not the issue at hand.

[Burne]

I contacted Steam Support. After one knockback, I believe the exFAT identification issue has now been sent to the team. Whether or not its fixed in a timely fashion... well.. everyone cross fingers and keep petitioning :)

[eilegz]

Valve need to fix this ASAP, december 11 and still have the issue, and reformating its a pain when you dont have another harddrive to move all the content

[76561198407601200]

eilegz eredeti hozzászólása:

Valve need to fix this ASAP, december 11 and still have the issue, and reformating its a pain when you dont have another harddrive to move all the content

ahem.....

Burne eredeti hozzászólása:

I contacted Steam Support. After one knockback, I believe the exFAT identification issue has now been sent to the team. Whether or not its fixed in a timely fashion... well.. everyone cross fingers and keep petitioning :)

[Washell]

It's a bug that affects almost no customers for a situation they strongly advise against. Don't hold your breath on it getting fixed.

You might get lucky if and when the new client is released.

[Satoru]

Note that the 'benefits' of exFAT are more or less moot now because the underlying technologies of flash drives no longer care or require this level of hand holding.

This is the kind of myth that 'was' true like when flash drives were first created.

Today even the junkiest usb flash drive has internal logic and protections, and has a lifespan that makes all the benefits of 'saving' the underlyhing flash module basically moot.