[spoon]

I apologize if this topic has already been covered. I did a search and didn't find anything.

I have a question. I would like to get one of these 120+Gb external firewire HD's to put my music, photos, and videos on but want to be able to hot-swap it between my PCs (Win2k/XP) and Mac (OS 10.2). Does it matter whether I format it with the PC or MAC, or use FAT32, NTFS, or Mac File System? And should I be aware of any potential problems that I may encounter when trying to read the data on either system? I am weary because PC/Mac interoperability has never been perfect for me, even with OS X reading Window's networks. Thanks for any help you may be able to give.

Be well.

[legionare]

I think the concensus is to use FAT32, although I personally will just ftp or hotline the files across platforms.

[spoon]

I do use FTP to transfer individual files, serving on my PC and using Transmit on my Mac. It's nice and convenient. But I need to a new hard drive anyways, and like the ability to carry all of my information with me without copying it from one hard drive to another.

Be well, friend.

[bradoesch]

Macs work best with HFS disks (I'm sure there's a reason for it.)
So, how much of your data do you want to share with the PC, and how often? Consider creating two partitions, one small FAT32 partition, the other a HFS+ partition that will be the rest of the drive. If you need to move data, simply copy it to the smaller FAT32 partition so that the PC can read it.
There is also software that can read Mac formatted disks. Gem Explorer, or something to a similar name can read Mac floppies and CD-ROMs, but I don't know about hard disks and FireWire drives. There is also other software that let's Windows use HFS disks.


Brad

[spoon]

Originally posted by bradoesch:
Macs work best with HFS disks (I'm sure there's a reason for it.)
So, how much of your data do you want to share with the PC, and how often?

hmmm, i'm not looking into getting a firewire HD as a means to 'share' data, but to store it, and have it all accessible by both platforms. i currently use FTP to share small amounts of data across platforms. therefore, having to copy information from one partition to another partition on the HD would defeat the purpose - i have FTP to do that directly.

so if I format the HD via FAT32 on my PC desktop under one partition, are there any problems for OS 10.2 when I hot-plug the sucker into my iBook?

be well, friend. you have enlightend me.

[Eug]

FAT32 (Firewire) on my iBook worked, but was flaky. I haven't tried the same drive in X.2, but my FAT32 drive in X.1.3 just stopped working one day, even though it continued to work fine in OS 9 and Windows. Even a reformat of iBook AND the drive did not solve the problem.

Also, FAT32 doesn't seem to like some filenames with weird chars that OS X and HFS+ accept. (I think "?" is one of those - can't remember off hand.) The files couldn't be copied over to that drive via Firewire, or over a network.

Finally I just gave up and formatted the drive with NTFS for the PC, and store my Mac files elsewhere.

[OreoCookie]

If you want an external HD, use FAT32.

For a network, you can connect your Mac with your PC using a plain ethernet cable. No extra software is needed if you use OS X. If you have 10.2, it's like connecting two PCs.

An external HD however. will be faster.

[spoon]

Originally posted by Eug:
Finally I just gave up and formatted the drive with NTFS for the PC, and store my Mac files elsewhere.

Poor soul, is there no justice for us? Perhaps my quest towards bring peace to my PC and Mac through the love of a firewire HD is a foolish game. I will persevere, and if I succeed I will raise a lantern that will become a beacon for all those trying to have their firewire HD be the equivalent of a Swiss bank account. Put in, take out - no matter where you are.

Be well friends, and thanks for your help. Happy New Year.

[BTP]

I have had no problems with 2 W2K machines, an iBook(10.2) and a G4(10.2) all sharing an external FW HD with FAT32.

Nothing to complain about from me on this issue.