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MACALEX · Jan 18, 2004, 05:33 PM

mount_ntfs is kind cool, but it's only works under Darwin without GUI it's kind sucks to copy files specialy that have cyrillic names, you just can't copy them and it's still read only access like in BSD or Linux.
Anyone know if Apple plans to make normal read/write access to NTFS?

pat++ · 06:07 PM

Why don't you just use FAT32 instead of NTFS if you want a read/write file system under OS X?

btw, you can read NTFS disks with a GUI, it's called Finder

WJMoore · Jan 19, 2004, 03:34 AM

Originally posted by MACALEX:
...it's still read only access like in BSD or Linux.
Anyone know if Apple plans to make normal read/write access to NTFS?

Read/write NTFSS in Linux has been around for a while now. I suspect it would be available for the BSD's too. I'm sure Apple will do read/write soon - they will have to eventually. It is the default file system for Windows nowadays.

MACALEX · Jan 19, 2004, 12:06 PM

Originally posted by pat++:
Why don't you just use FAT32 instead of NTFS if you want a read/write file system under OS X?
What if you already have a disk that has an NTFS and you have to copy files from this disk directly, not via net from PC, I prefer to use Firewire box if I need to transfer 100Gb or more.

btw, you can read NTFS disks with a GUI, it's called Finder

Yes, no kidding. Did you try? Doesn't work.
You could only see NTFS in Terminal or use Fugu for exampe with GUI, but not Finder. Smart Franch ass!

Misanthrope · Jan 19, 2004, 01:26 PM

Originally posted by MACALEX:
Yes, no kidding. Did you try? Doesn't work.
You could only see NTFS in Terminal or use Fugu for exampe with GUI, but not Finder. Smart Franch ass!

A Russian and a Frenchmen are arguing. I predict hilarity to come out of this.

NTFS disks can in fact be read via the Finder, I've done it, and it's quite painful.

I suspect Apple won't be able to implement NTFS read/write without MS breathing down their throats. So we'll have to wait for someone to port it on their own time.

iohead · Jan 19, 2004, 03:22 PM

Originally posted by WJMoore:
Read/write NTFSS in Linux has been around for a while now. I suspect it would be available for the BSD's too. I'm sure Apple will do read/write soon - they will have to eventually. It is the default file system for Windows nowadays.

NTFS read-write support in Linux is (with respect to the "write" part):

1. experimental
2. very incomplete
3. unusable in real life

BSD's situation is similar.

Apple's situation is also similar.

Somebody recently implemented a way to use the NTFS driver from Windows on Linux (basically, you take the driver from your Windows installation, plus some other files, and through a software layer on Linux, make it believe that it is running under Windows, etc.) While this solution works better (for writing) than the current NTFS drivers on Linux/BSD/Mac OS X, it is messier legally.

Regards
Amit

pat++ · Jan 19, 2004, 05:58 PM

Originally posted by MACALEX:
Yes, no kidding. Did you try? Doesn't work.
You could only see NTFS in Terminal or use Fugu for exampe with GUI, but not Finder. Smart Franch ass!

Sorry, I couldn't help

Tsilou B. · Jan 19, 2004, 06:42 PM

I don't know if you have heard of Zeta, the successor of BeOS, developed by YellowTAB. YellowTAB has licensed technology from Paragon Software, so that Zeta 1.0 will be able to read/write NTFS volumes and even resize NTFS partitions without data loss.

I think it's quite strange that a tiny company like YellowTAB manages to get the technology to read/write NTFS and Apple Computer, "the world's largest UNIX supplier" doesn't

.

X-Ray · Jan 19, 2004, 07:02 PM

When I try to mount NTFS drive under Panther directly to my computer I get nothing, However, if I connect the drives via a bridge cable through my ADS Pyro external firewire drive they mount and I am able to read and write to them. I've done this with 2 different branded external firewire drives. As a matter of fact my nieghbor recently bought a drive that came NTFS formatted and he couldn't mount it. He brought it over to me and I mounted it and formatted it in HFS plus for him. Strange, huh?

CharlesS · Jan 19, 2004, 07:35 PM

Originally posted by Tsilou B.:
I don't know if you have heard of Zeta, the successor of BeOS, developed by YellowTAB. YellowTAB has licensed technology from Paragon Software, so that Zeta 1.0 will be able to read/write NTFS volumes and even resize NTFS partitions without data loss.

I think it's quite strange that a tiny company like YellowTAB manages to get the technology to read/write NTFS and Apple Computer, "the world's largest UNIX supplier" doesn't .

How well does it work, though?

P · Jan 21, 2004, 06:03 PM

There is a project for read/write NTFS support for OS X:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ntfsosx/

Only development versions yet, though.

dwishbone · Jan 22, 2004, 03:21 PM

i too wish it could read and write ntfs. i have a 120GB firewire drive id like to just move back and forth between my PC and my macs. i use NTFS on the drive since my PC needs it more than my macs and i dont like the FAT32 file system. plus, partitioning a firewire harddrive of 120GB in size to the FAT32 format is not a simple task in windows.

K++ · Jan 22, 2004, 03:27 PM

Originally posted by pat++:
Sorry, I couldn't help

Arghh and the frenchmen already gave up.