Why won't my USB flash drive work?

I am working between two Macs in my house: the upstairs one is MAC OSX 10.6.8, and the downstairs one (an eMac) is MAC OSX 10.5.8 -- if that matters.
I need to transfer files from the downstairs computer to the upstairs one.
When I insert a USB flash drive into the upstairs Mac, I am able to save files to it and from it. (I have already read about the correct way to format the flash drive for FAT 32 and read/write, and I eject the drive correctly when I'm finished.)
Then when I go insert the flash drive into the downstairs Mac:
the flash drive appears on the desktop
I'm able to open it, to see the files saved to it
I can save files off of it, BUT
I cannot save files to it. I get a message that there isn't enough disk space, which is incorrect -- there's plenty of memory
I have tried opening Disk Utilities on both MACs, erasing the flash drive's contents, and reformatting it, but I get the same situation.
I'm guessing the solution is simple and involves the eMac's preferences. Am I on the right track?
Frustrating.
Many thanks for your help!

Niel:
Thanks for the reply!
The file on the eMac that I'm trying to transfer onto the flash drive is far less than 4GB.
So I went onto the eMac's Disk Utilities and reformatted the flash drive as Mac Extended: still no dice. Even with the contents of the flash drive erased, any attempt to copy files onto it resulted in the same "not enough disk space" message.
So I tried reformatting the same flash drive on the upstairs Mac. Same thing. I tried reformatting the flash drive both as "Mac Extended" and "Mac Extended (journaled)."
Thoughts?

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