[UPHPU] [way OT] knoppix rescue w/ long filenames

[MilesTogoe]

ok, this is way OT but with so many sysadmins here, maybe someone can 
help - I've spent hrs on google search w/ no luck (maybe google is 
getting worse?)

anyway I broke a partition table so using knoppix to rescue the data 
(some unbacked up) - but it seems knoppix does not copy files with long 
filenames to the 16 gb usb stick (since it's fat I guess)  - how can 
long filenames be copied ?  does usb stick have to be reformatted ?   
thks for any help.