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NTFS-3G Makes NTFS Partitions Writable
Posted by Gina Trapani at 12:30 AM on April 30, 2008
Mac OS X and Linux: Now that you're dual booting Windows on your Mac, you want to save files to your Windows partition while you're booted up in OS X. By default, NTFS-formatted disks are read-only in OS X, but the NTFS-3G driver makes it writable. Download NTFS-3G, then use the following command to save and edit files on your Boot Camp partition:
sudo mount -t ntfs-3g /dev/disk0s3 /Volumes/Untitled
You can also use the previously mentioned MacFUSE to write to NTFS disks, but while mounting disks over SSH went without a hitch with MacFUSE for me, I had trouble with NTFS disks (though NTFS-3G worked perfectly). The NTFS-3G driver is a free download for Mac and Linux.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
ShadowBottle
Posted 1:33 AM 30/4/08
NTFS3-g is a FUSE module for use with MacFUSE in OS X.
OS X already has NTFS drivers, but they only allow for read ability. FUSE or MacFUSE with the NTFS3-g module installed will allow you to write to these NTFS mounts as well. It should act like any other mount in OS X, and you shouldn't need to manually mount any of them.
ShadowBottle
Ping
Posted 1:24 AM 30/4/08
Yeah, I've been using NTFS-3G for a few years now (I jumped from Linux's old experimental Captive-NTFS back when) but it never occurred to me that it could be used on MacOS. I'll have to pass this along to those poor Mac users.
Ping
zaxour
Posted 12:49 AM 30/4/08
That's weird, when I installed macFUSE and NTFS-3G (which said macfuse was required) my NTFS disks automount and I don't need to issue any commands to write.
zaxour
Tylas
Posted 1:40 AM 30/4/08
Agreed with rest, it will automount as soon as it is installed and rebooted so no matter of mounting it via term. Good to know if it does ever not mount automatically.
But if you are looking to mount the mac side to XP/Vista, you have to get MacDrive. Unfortunately there is no free alternative, but it does work as advertised. If I am going to dualboot my MacBook Pro, I need freedom to access both parts at all times. Should just be a given - come on Apple and MS!
Tylas
Scott Wegner
Posted 2:13 AM 30/4/08
NTFS-3G has been included in Ubuntu by default since Gutsy. I've been using it since then and haven't had any problems.
For a quick and easy GUI-based setup to enable write support, install the "ntfs-config" package.
--Scott
Scott Wegner
Totorototoro
Posted 2:05 AM 30/4/08
Very cool tip, thanks!
So, why all the hassles with NTFS anyways? Are Microsoft's licensing terms just extremely harsh? Not documented well?
Totorototoro
HeartBurnKid
Posted 3:48 AM 30/4/08
Just thought I'd mention, NTFS-3G is included in Ubuntu Gutsy and Hardy by default.
HeartBurnKid
soldstatic
Posted 4:54 AM 30/4/08
hmm... old news. good tip for those that didn't know about it though.
soldstatic
_||_
Posted 5:35 AM 30/4/08
ntfs-3g is what makes WUBI possible.
the reason for "hassles" is that ntfs is a proprietary system. it had to be reverse engineered. Microsoft has never tried to prevent that, and ntfs-3g is clean-room anyway.
that is why, although both NTFS & HFS+ are better, we still use FAT on portable drives (for cross-platform access) Because, I'm pretty sure Windows can't read HFS (although you can make it read ext)
_||_
amodlin
Posted 6:27 AM 30/4/08
I've been using NTFS-3G for a while now and I get some strange problems (on OS X 10.5.2). Sometimes it does not let me save files into a directory. Usually this happens when I am torrenting onto or from the drive. Also, sometimes I am unable to delete directories (tells me there are files inside).
If I go into term and try to delete the directories or files manually, they just appear again right away.
Overall, it's nice if you need to have huge files on it and you need to easily go between OS X and Windows, otherwise there are probably better solutions.
amodlin
pmcarrion
Posted 3:53 AM 30/4/08
What about Paragon NTFS for Mac?
[www.paragon-software.com]
Not free but works a lot faster.
There are come incompatibiities with VMware Fusion, it won't unmount the Paragon-handled NTFS partition.
pmcarrion
haroonie
Posted 1:20 AM 30/4/08
unfortunately ntfs3g wasn't very stable for me, (kept crashing and not automounting requiring a reboot and scripting) and in a work environment i needed something that works well all the time. i invested in the alternative paragon ntfs for osx (not free). worked out great, every time.
haroonie
alpayerturkmen
Posted 7:03 PM 30/4/08
For those of you who would like to copy a single or a bunch of files from your Mac partition when you are running Windows go ahead and try HFSExplorer ([hem.bredband.net]). It is free, but not that fast.
alpayerturkmen
FizzyPopMan
Posted 11:38 PM 30/4/08
Strangely enough, I had exactly this problem last week (reading off an external hard drive formatted in NTFS). Anyhow, I installed NTFS-3G without any problems (Mac OSX 10.5.2)... and it works perfectly. If I remember correctly, I just downloaded the dmg file, and didn't even need to run a command (but don't quote me on that!).
FizzyPopMan