The reason is that your RAM is too small for the "one shot" RAM requirements of the FastFileSystem validator for the size of your partition. In order to mitigate this, you have to raise the block size of the partition, which is 512 Bytes by default. For flash memory like Compact Flash, this isn't a bad idea anyway. To do this, follow these steps:
- Start HDToolbox either from your Install3.1.4 floppy diskette's HDTools/ directory or, if you successfully installed AmigaOS 3.1.4 already, from SYS:Tools/.
- Select your CF card and click on "Partition Drive".
- Select the partition in question, activate the "Advanced Options" checkbox and click on "Change...".
- On the mid-right you can see a chooser "File system block size", which is set to 512 by default. Click repeatedly on it, until it shows 4096.
- Click "Ok" two times, "Save Changes to Drive" and "Exit", which will ask you to reboot. Confirm the reboot.
- After reboot, quick format the partition as usual.