external firewire hard drive problems

garzy · Jan 13, 2003, 04:23 PM

hey

i just got a lacie 40gb pocketdrive. i need to use it on both pcs and macs. i formatted it on a pc running xp. today i tried to use it on an emac and got the message "This disk is unreadable, do you want to initialize" Do I have to reformat the drive everytime I cross platforms??? any help is much appreciated

thanks

zarathustra · Jan 13, 2003, 04:45 PM

MacOS X should read all FAT and NTFS drives no problem. What format did you use exactly?

garzy · Jan 13, 2003, 04:59 PM

i used NFTS because it newer. this emac was running classic. im at school now and none of the macs here run OSX

zarathustra · Jan 13, 2003, 05:07 PM

Maybe there is an extension for OS9 to enable NTFS volumes??

This is what I found on Apple's support site about OS9:

"It is only possible to read FAT and FAT32 formatted drives in a Macintosh. Do Not use NTFS formatted drives in a Macintosh computer."

SOL

garzy · 05:29 PM

wow thanks for the info zarathustra

i found that support page and it said
do not use a NTFS with a macintosh computer. i dont think it matters what OS your using

i guess ill just have to reformat to FAT32 so i can use it in classic, OSX, and XP

what are the limitations of FAT32?

zarathustra · 05:49 PM

I could have sworn that I have used NTFS volumes with my PowerBook using OSX before...

Anywho, the few negatives of FAT32 are (compared to NTFS) - no per user permissions and larger block size. Other than that, almost every X86 machine will be able to read a FAT32, compared to Win2000/XP (NT4??) compatibility for NTFS (I think *scratches head*).

howard · May 19, 2003, 11:23 PM

i got a new external hard drive too..how do i reformat it?...i checked in the disc utility...do i just press erase??

saabmp3 · May 19, 2003, 11:34 PM

Ok, if you do some kernel hacking, Unix can (and linux) read NTFS systems and there is beta support for a write to NTFS systems but it is very buggy. Apple only has support for FAT file systems right now so your going to have to use that.

Jan 13, 2003, 04:23 PM	#1
garzy macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2002	external firewire hard drive problems hey i just got a lacie 40gb pocketdrive. i need to use it on both pcs and macs. i formatted it on a pc running xp. today i tried to use it on an emac and got the message "This disk is unreadable, do you want to initialize" Do I have to reformat the drive everytime I cross platforms??? any help is much appreciated thanks

Jan 13, 2003, 05:17 PM	#5
garzy Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2002	wow thanks for the info zarathustra i found that support page and it said do not use a NTFS with a macintosh computer. i dont think it matters what OS your using i guess ill just have to reformat to FAT32 so i can use it in classic, OSX, and XP what are the limitations of FAT32? Last edited by garzy : Jan 13, 2003 at 05:29 PM.

Jan 13, 2003, 05:46 PM	#6
zarathustra macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Dallas, TX	I could have sworn that I have used NTFS volumes with my PowerBook using OSX before... Anywho, the few negatives of FAT32 are (compared to NTFS) - no per user permissions and larger block size. Other than that, almost every X86 machine will be able to read a FAT32, compared to Win2000/XP (NT4??) compatibility for NTFS (I think scratches head). Last edited by zarathustra : Jan 13, 2003 at 05:49 PM.

May 19, 2003, 11:23 PM	#7
howard macrumors 68000 Join Date: Nov 2002	i got a new external hard drive too..how do i reformat it?...i checked in the disc utility...do i just press erase?? __________________ Check out my new EP, its acoustic with a touch electric, mellow, a little folky, indie rock/pop.

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Jan 13, 2003, 04:45 PM	#2
zarathustra macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Dallas, TX	MacOS X should read all FAT and NTFS drives no problem. What format did you use exactly?

Jan 13, 2003, 04:59 PM	#3
garzy Thread Starter macrumors regular Join Date: Dec 2002	i used NFTS because it newer. this emac was running classic. im at school now and none of the macs here run OSX

Jan 13, 2003, 05:07 PM	#4
zarathustra macrumors Demi-God Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Dallas, TX	Maybe there is an extension for OS9 to enable NTFS volumes?? This is what I found on Apple's support site about OS9: "It is only possible to read FAT and FAT32 formatted drives in a Macintosh. Do Not use NTFS formatted drives in a Macintosh computer." SOL

May 19, 2003, 11:34 PM	#8
saabmp3 macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Tacoma, WA	Ok, if you do some kernel hacking, Unix can (and linux) read NTFS systems and there is beta support for a write to NTFS systems but it is very buggy. Apple only has support for FAT file systems right now so your going to have to use that.