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Partitioning WD My Passport for Mac?

R

RunawayTruck

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2010
18
0
Hey guys,

I recently got a steal on a new My Passport for Mac 500GB and I am hoping someone can help me with how I go about partitioning the drive into halves (one half NTFS, one half FAT32.)

This drive is not used to backup any devices. It's going to have videos, music, movies, TV shows (basically all media) on it.

I want to use the drive to store media from my iMac, and also have the ability to plug it into my PS3 and play media off of that.

Obviously, it came properly formatted for my iMac with NTSF. But, the PS3 only recognizes FAT32. So, I was hoping some of you all might be able to point me in the right direction with how to go about creating partitions on my new drive.

Thanks!!
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
RunawayTruck said:
I recently got a steal on a new My Passport for Mac 500GB and I am hoping someone can help me with how I go about partitioning the drive into halves (one half NTFS, one half FAT32.)
Click to expand...
You can use Disk Utility (in your /Applications/Utilities folder) to partition and format your drive. To format NTFS, you need to install Paragon.

Partition a Hard Drive in Mac OS X

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
    [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)
  • Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
  • Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
    [*]To Read/Write HFS+ from Windows, Install MacDrive
    [*]To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
  • Maximum file size: 8EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 8EiB
  • You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)
exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.
 
R

RunawayTruck

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2010
18
0
GGJstudios said:
You can use Disk Utility (in your /Applications/Utilities folder) to partition and format your drive. To format NTFS, you need to install Paragon.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the quick reply!!

If the drive comes pre-formatted as NTFS...do I still need to download Paragon in order to partition the drive?

I am assuming I do, as I would probably start from scratch and allocate however much space I want to either NTFS or FAT32?

Thanks again!!
 
R

RunawayTruck

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 21, 2010
18
0
GGJstudios said:
You need Paragon, as Mac OS X can only read, but not write to NTFS drives. Read the NTFS info I posted.
Click to expand...

OK, that's what I figured.

One last question...Is there any alternative that is free? Or, can I download the trial version of Paragon to get done what I need to get done?

Thanks again!!
 
GGJstudios

GGJstudios

macrumors Westmere
May 16, 2008
44,545
943
RunawayTruck said:
One last question...Is there any alternative that is free? Or, can I download the trial version of Paragon to get done what I need to get done?
Click to expand...
Again, look at the NTFS info I posted in my first post, which contains alternatives. A trial version won't help, as you need ongoing ability to read and write to the drive, not just to format it.
 
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