How To Format a USB Drive For CDJ Use - DJ Tips & Tricks - Works On Windows PCs and Macs (FAT32)
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Published 2019-01-13
Spinning with CDJs and thumb drives is straightforward: you plug a thumb stick into a CDJ's USB slot, and you're all set. But that's not always the case: sometimes the drive can't be read by an older CDJ. Maybe you plug it into an XDJ-RX and track waveforms don't appear as they should.
One way to troubleshoot is to make sure you've got the USB thumb stick formatted properly using a file system recognised by the CDJ or XDJ.
A file system is a hard drive's way of organising data. Formatting it lets you specify what file system you want it to use. There are lots of file systems out there, some are compatible only with Windows computers, some only with Macs, and some are readable by both Macs and PCs, but can only be written to by either a Mac or a PC. Confused yet?
Here's a cheat sheet: modern Windows computers use the NTFS system (or exFAT if newer), and Macs use the HFS+ (MacOS Extended Journaled) system. Macs can read NTFS thumb drives, but can't write to them. PCs can't read or write to HFS+ at all.
However, there is one file system that both Macs and PCs can read and write to: FAT32. Pioneer DJ's CDJ media players are also able to read music files from drives formatted with FAT32 (FAT 16 and HFS+ are also included).
FAT32 works on both Windows PCs and Macs, and it's the recommended file system format by Pioneer DJ when it comes to CDJ and XDJ use. That's why if you're going to be spinning with a USB drive, we recommend formatting it to FAT32. This ensures read and write compatibility with both Windows and Mac computers, and guarantees compatibility with Pioneer DJ's CDJs as well as other media players including the Denon DJ SC5000 Prime.
At the time of this writing, it's the closest thing we've got to a "near-universally compatible" file system.
Sure FAT32 has its disadvantages: it's an older file system, so you can't add a file larger than 4GB to it. That's not a problem though if it's a USB stick for spinning since you probably don't have a song that's got a file size that huge. Another disadvantage is if you're formatting a thumb drive larger than 32GB using a Windows PC, you need to download extra software in order to do the formatting.
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All Comments (21)
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he shows you how to format the drive at 2:40 if you're in a rush
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the fat32 format exe wont open for some reason
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very small note here. selecting FAT on a 4GB or lower driver will actually format it as FAT16. Although FAT(=16) and not FAT32 was selected in the formatting dropdown, Mac OSX is smart enough to know this should be FAT32 actually. Just remember that =) Also great tip for windows users out there. On linux you can use parted or gparted (gui version) , consult your start menu and/or distribution for instructions as they very slightly across linux distributions.
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Did this and worked perfectly on the CDJs.
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THANKYOU!!! just thought I wasted my money on new usbs for them not to work in CDJ2000s but this fixed them 💜💜💜
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I tried to download windows app, it don't work. I fond the older version 1.0.1 it worked fine. But be very careful! Might be a good idea to format and name the drive with built in windows utility then use the app so you don't select the wrong drive by mistake!
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You should update the link to Fat32 Format in the video description. It looks like the download was replaced with a pure command line version of the tool (Why on Earth would anyone do this? Adding command line options? Yes, please. Completely replacing the download under the same URL? Hell no!) As computer science student I was able to figure out how to use it myself, but most people won't know how to do this.
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Well, if you have a mac, the you want to format it hfs+. CDJs can read HFS+ and it is faster, on your mac and also on the cdjs. Plus it is less fragile to pull it out without unmounting.
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I’m making the move to cdjs this week so this is clutch as I’m scared 😱 thank you so much! I’ve been doing ddj200 and I’m scared 😱 I’ve come a long way since 1200s technics someone help me lol
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Having some problems when downloading - I can't open the ZIP file and also, when I extract using WinRAR and get the .exe file I can't open in... A screen that looks like command prompt appears and disappears quickly... can anyone help ? OR is there any other tools to achieve this?
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thank you this helped my usb show up on my xdj!!
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Hey can i ask you the "Allocation unit size" ? what is that mean ? can i choose whatever i want or just do the same thing 4096 size on your video? I just want to Analyze tracks and sync in rekordbox faster
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Should i use GUID or Master Boot Record while clicking in options below the fat32 on mac disk utility? and why 64gb pen drives are slow? even if its a fast pen drive sandisk extreme?
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tons of thanks....this is a proper tutorial which is really helpful....
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Good day to you sir, I have done exactly what you have instructed but none of the apps will run on my laptop I have tried several different app but with no joy, they all down load but will not run 😢 I am running Windows 10
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Sos!!!I have sandisk extreme pro 128gb should I use this method cuz format fat32 tool says it doesn't work with ssd's.Also with 128gb should I format my USB at 4096 or above...Im interested for windows 10 method only.Pls answer asap thanks in advance!
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Thank you. It worked!
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So if I convert it to fat32, whats the benefits of it on a cdj 2000 As opposed to an default USB drive. And this is without any rekordbox analyzing.
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Great video as always sir
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I don’t have fat 32 options I have the following options Mac OS extended journaled Mac OS extended case sensitive journaled ExFat. Or MS-Dos (Fat) and also it requires a scheme Master boot record Apple partition map or Guid partition map
