USB connected to sx700 shows unformated. Why?

[dlepera]

Hello, I have been having some issues which started to day in that my SX700 says that my USB is connected and then states that it is unformated.  I have spent hours and tried 3 different drives and getting the same results.  I have formated each one about 7 times on my computer. The computer is fine with them it's just the keyboard having issues. note that I have about 1.8gb of styles, pads and regits and about 35 folder.  Hand no issues yesterday but after I 3 styles on each usb today, the problem stated up. USBs are all Sandisk, 16gb and 64fb with fomart of FATS32 and exFATS
   Any suggests, anyone with a past experience similar to mine?
     Regards! dom

[overover]

Hi Dom,

only FAT32 formatted USB sticks can be used on Yamaha keyboards like PSR-S/SX, Tyros models or Genos.

USB sticks with other file formats like exFAT or NTFS are not recognized by the keyboards, and you will get a message to format it (although there may be data on the stick, but in a different file system that the keyboard does not recognize).

If you are sure that the particular stick really does not contain any data (e.g. with a newly purchased stick), you can format it directly on the keyboard when this message appears.

However, if there might be data on it, you should first check it on the computer. If you still want to use a stick that currently contains data but is not recognized by the keyboard, you must first copy the relevant data to the hard drive of the computer (or possibly to another stick). Then you format the original stick again (preferably directly on the keyboard) and copy the desired data back to the stick on the computer.


P.S.
It is not absolutely necessary to format a USB stick directly on the keyboard. In almost all cases it will work without problems even if it is formatted on the computer (in FAT32 format).

However, every now and then there are sticks that do NOT "want" to work with a certain keyboard model, i.e. are not recognized at all, although they are formatted with "FAT32". The reason for this is that each keyboard model only has certain USB device drivers that are permanently integrated in the firmware and that a computer cannot simply download a suitable driver from the Internet if an "unknown" device is connected.

For every Yamaha keyboard model there is a list of USB sticks that have been tested by Yamaha, for the SX700 here:
>>> https://uk.yamaha.com/files/download/other_assets/5/1279945/en-PSR-SX700.pdf

However, in my experience, almost all other sticks also work. So if a certain stick should "cause problems" on the keyboard, although it is formatted with FAT32 (but works on the computer), I would simply mark this stick accordingly and then only use it on the computer. USB sticks are so inexpensive these days that you can simply buy another stick and try it out.

However, you shouldn't use "no name" sticks, but only sticks from well-known brands. I also recommend using USB 3.0 sticks. The current keyboard models only have USB 2.0 ports, but you can use USB 3.0 speed when the stick is connected to the computer.



Best regards,
Chris

[dlepera]

Chris, thanks for your info and I think somewhere else in this forum you gave some similar info/advice.  The thing that I do not understand is that for a month, I have loaded all kinds of keyboard files from this site and have never had an issue with the Sandisk USBs(only use good quality from Costco). So when I added one folder with only 4 Styles, things started going south. Even after I removed that folder my computers formated(quick and long) ok, copied fine but the keyboard was upset. I pulled out an older 2.0 16gb and loaded the same data and thing did not improve. My computer(s) were fine but not the keyboard. We know that 2.0 usbs are a thing of the past now and 3.0 is about the only thing you can buy so I would expect the keyboards to be smart enough to recognize them which mine did for a while as stated. Formats on 3.0 sticks are only exFat by default as you know.   
   Now there is the odd thing which throws a wrench into my root cause analysis.  I did what you suggested and took the same sticks but this time formated them on the keyboard(was very quick btw). Loaded exactly the same folders(nothing changed) and believe or not, the stupid things are working fine now.
     I have to suspect that the computer does a different type of formating(no volume label added) that the keyboard seems to be getting upset with.
   I did not know  that I could format on the keyboard so thanks for mentioning that.  My issues is now resolved and the sticks have been disconnected and connected many times and still working fine.
    Appreciate your feedback... All the best.     
             dom .

[overover]

Thank you for your detailed feedback, Dom!

In my experience, not all 3.0 sticks are exFAT formatted. I've also had some that worked immediately on the keyboard, i.e. were formatted FAT32 (probably depends on the storage capacity).

When formatting USB sticks on the computer, the original format is retained by default. You may have to switch to the new FAT32 target format first.


Best regards,
Chris