Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard

I've tried the original method posted by the OP as well as KingYaba's alternate way and despite several (maybe up to 10) reboots, my 'Get Info' dialogue for my NTFS volume still says "read only"



waiting on a script or something here that hopefully gets right what i keep getting wrong, because i'm following everything by the book.

would this require a USB plug-out/plug-back-in or something?

i really want this to work because Paragon/MacFUSE are not preferable. they stick to the bottom of the OS like nasty gum on your shoe, and it's just gunky crap.

Thanks for the tip - this works a treat.

KingYaba said:

You're missing an s?

Click to expand...

That was a typo here I have double checked the fstab file and it is correct. The automount is not able to find the path to mount the filesystem. I wonder what I am supposed to do
Also I had installed ntfs-3g, when I remove this even my FAT file system will not mount

pontiacy said:

(...)

I think what happened is that apple created a new folder with the same name without noticing it would replace the old one.

Click to expand...

Apple? Apple is a company (or a fruit...)! They do not create folders on your mac

dukee101 said:

I've tried the original method posted by the OP as well as KingYaba's alternate way and despite several (maybe up to 10) reboots, my 'Get Info' dialogue for my NTFS volume still says "read only"



waiting on a script or something here that hopefully gets right what i keep getting wrong, because i'm following everything by the book.

would this require a USB plug-out/plug-back-in or something?

i really want this to work because Paragon/MacFUSE are not preferable. they stick to the bottom of the OS like nasty gum on your shoe, and it's just gunky crap.

Click to expand...

Same with me, I've tried it twice and I can't get it to work. Anyone got it running with 10.6.1 (maybe Apple "fixed" it).

edit
3rd times a charm, just tried it again and it worked.

Thanks so much Chrysaor! It worked perfectly for me on a WD Passport USB external HDD.

Chrysaor said:

Save the file (ctrl-x then y) and restart your system.

Click to expand...

Works like a charm, but the reboot is not required. All you need to do is unmount and remount the volume. You can do this from Disk Utility, or if the disk is external, by unplugging it and then plugging it back in. (Be sure to eject the disk before unplugging it...)

Thanks for the tip about simply ejecting and unplugging instead of doing a reboot. That makes it easier to diagnose the problem.

Unfortunately, doing this again didn't enable write support. Could it be a compatibility issue? Like does this trick not work with WD MyBook's or something? Or it should just work across any device?

Also, would manually deleting the fstab and fstab.hd files from the /etc folder make a difference? Perhaps trying it from scratch, saving a new file in the editor app?

Any help would really be appreciated, as well as perhaps a custom pref-pane or plug-in or something

Rename the original /sbin/mount_ntfs tool:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

Create a script like this:

#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@“

save the script to /sbin/mount_ntfs

sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs

Enjoy R/W access to NTFS volumes...

In case you don't like it

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs

and everything is back to R/O.

Worked like a charm. Thanks!

iBlacky said:

Rename the original /sbin/mount_ntfs tool:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

Click to expand...

I can't rename the file. It says "You don't have permission to rename the item "mount_ntfs"" even though I modified the permissions and added 'admin(me)' to the list of read/write users. in the "Get Info" dialogue box.

Furthermore, how would I create and execute that script? Why do some people have to do this and others (seems like most) don't have to even bother?

iBlacky of the same forum posted a better method. Basically, it's running mount_ntfs with read/write option specified.

Here's how it's done in Terminal:



Make sure to check that mount_ntfs is listed as -rwxr-xr-x and root wheel when you type ls -al /sbin/mount_ntfs and you're good to go.

P.S.
If it isn't working for you, it may be that the NTFS partition wasn't cleanly unmounted previously (e.g. not using safe eject in Windows). To check if this is the case, open Console in Utilities, and go to 'All Messages' instead of 'Console Messages'. Search for 'ntfs' and you may come across an error that displays like this:


You need to plug the disk into Windows-running system, and do a safe eject. Then the NTFS partition will mount in read/write mode.

Good luck!
Again thanks iBlacky

dukee101 said:

I can't rename the file. It says "You don't have permission to rename the item "mount_ntfs"" even though I modified the permissions and added 'admin(me)' to the list of read/write users. in the "Get Info" dialogue box.

Furthermore, how would I create and execute that script? Why do some people have to do this and others (seems like most) don't have to even bother?

Click to expand...

Sorry I forgot to mention that you have to use the Terminal.app, but "applevx" explained the missing parts very good , so follow his guide.

I tried this method on my WD Passport that's formatted NTFS, and it works. I am using OSX 10.6.1. On the Prasys' Blog website, it said that there is a chance that this method would corrupt the partition (in my case it would be my external hard drive), but I took the gamble. Worked out in my favor. I used NTFS-3G + MacFuse on Tiger and Leopard before, and the transfer speed is much slower to my external hard drive. I thought it was because of my Macbook's USB 1.0 ports. Now that I use native NTFS read/write support from Snow Leopard, I see that it was NTFS-3G + MacFuse that slowed me down.

Um, excuse me, iBlacky, it's not applevx's guide. It's mine.

applevx just copied and pasted what I wrote at my blog without giving a proper link.

http://www.tool-box.info/blog/archives/1193-Snow-Leopards-NTFS-readwrite-support.html

applevx, please don't rip off what other people write outright. I clearly gave credit to iBlacky about the method and expanded upon it to be fully doable in Terminal, as well as a way of diagnosing and fixing possible error that may arise. The post stands on its own properly. On the other hand, you just copied the major part of my posting without changing even a word. That's just wrong.

wesley96 said:

Um, excuse me, iBlacky, it's not applevx's guide. It's mine.

applevx just copied and pasted what I wrote at my blog without giving a proper link.

http://www.tool-box.info/blog/archives/1193-Snow-Leopards-NTFS-readwrite-support.html

applevx, please don't rip off what other people write outright. I clearly gave credit to iBlacky about the method and expanded upon it to be fully doable in Terminal, as well as a way of diagnosing and fixing possible error that may arise. The post stands on its own properly. On the other hand, you just copied the major part of my posting without changing even a word. That's just wrong.

Click to expand...

I am sorry wesley96 if my post hurts your feeling, I am sorry.

I got that explanation from web site but not sure whether or not your blog. I am just simply try to help people here as you trying to do so. We have the same goal here and also the original idea comes from iBlacky, doesn't it?

I am not sure whom I was copy from, but clearly that was iBlacky's idea, that's why I said that THANKS iBlacky! The credit goes to iBlacky!

Again, wesley96, I am sorry, hope you can forgive me.

I wrote a small app to help mounting ntfs volume read/write : http://ntfsmounter.com

applevx said:

I am sorry wesley96 if my post hurts your feeling, I am sorry.

I got that explanation from web site but not sure whether or not your blog. I am just simply try to help people here as you trying to do so. We have the same goal here and also the original idea comes from iBlacky, doesn't it?

I am not sure whom I was copy from, but clearly that was iBlacky's idea, that's why I said that THANKS iBlacky! The credit goes to iBlacky!

Again, wesley96, I am sorry, hope you can forgive me.

Click to expand...

Apology accepted.

Doesn't Work on SL 10.6.1

I don't know if something has changed in SL since the last post, but none of the above works on either my internal drive's Bootcamp partition (made under 10.5). I cannot get a UUID from the command line or from Disk Utility. The drive is not mounted and there's no information about it. Disk Utility sees the partition, but cannot verify or repair. I tried running chdsk while booted in Windows, but that cannot be done as it is the boot partition, i.e. it cannot be unmounted first. I attached a screenshot of what Disk Utility gives when I ask for information. I also tried using the Label=BOOTCAMP method, but that did not work either.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

iBlacky said:

Rename the original /sbin/mount_ntfs tool:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

Create a script like this:

#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@“

save the script to /sbin/mount_ntfs

sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs

Enjoy R/W access to NTFS volumes...

In case you don't like it

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs

and everything is back to R/O.

Click to expand...

with this tricky shell script, should /etc/fstab file still needed ?

adrianmak said:

with this tricky shell script, should /etc/fstab file still needed ?

Click to expand...

Nope, you don't need /etc/fstab

/etc/fstab is deprecated anyway

wesley96 said:

Um, excuse me, iBlacky, it's not applevx's guide. It's mine.

applevx just copied and pasted what I wrote at my blog without giving a proper link.

http://www.tool-box.info/blog/archives/1193-Snow-Leopards-NTFS-readwrite-support.html

Click to expand...

Btw. to edit

/System/Library/Filesystems/ntfs.fs/Contents/info.plist

and to add "-o rw"

to

FSMountArguments

doesn't work because the

diskarbitrationd

deamon doesn't read the info.plist, so no matter what you insert in "FSMountArguments" the "diskarbitrationd" daemon ignores it.

iBlacky said:

Nope, you don't need /etc/fstab

/etc/fstab is deprecated anyway

Click to expand...

I followed the instruction to create this shell script and made a reboot. But I can only have read on hdd in ntfs format .

I used console.app and didn't find and errors,warning with ntfs

adrianmak said:

I followed the instruction to create this shell script and made a reboot. But I can only have read on hdd in ntfs format .

I used console.app and didn't find and errors,warning with ntfs

Click to expand...

I assume your NTFS volume wasn't cleanly unmounted previously and this way you can only mount it read-only.

iBlacky said:

I assume your NTFS volume wasn't cleanly unmounted previously and this way you can only mount it read-only.

Click to expand...

I used diskutil gui to unmount all ntfs HDDs and reboot SL but they are still read only.