The f_mkfs fucntion creates a file system on the drive.
FRESULT f_mkfs ( BYTE Drive, /* Logical drive number */ BYTE PartitioningRule, /* Partitioning rule */ WORD AllocSize /* Allocation unit size */ );
The f_mkfs function creates a FAT file system on the drive. There are two partitioning rules, FDISK and SFD, for removable media. It can be selected with an argument. The FDISK format is recommended for the most case. This function currently does not support multiple partition, so that existing partitions on the physical dirve will be deleted and re-created a new partition occupies entire disk space.
The FAT sub-type, FAT12/FAT16/FAT32, is determined by number of clusters on the drive and nothing else, according to the FAT specification issued by Microsoft. Thus which FAT sub-type is selected, is depends on the partition size and the specified cluster size. The cluster size affects performance of the file system and large cluster increases the performance.
This function is supported on only _USE_MKFS option is selected.