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iag48

macrumors regular
Original poster
Hey guys sorry for the dumb question but I have not really found a solution through google.

I have a 8gb DMG file i want to transfer to my external hdd (fat32) but I keep getting an unknown error.
I searched around and found out that I cannot transfer files over 4gb to a fat32 drive.
How can transfer the file into the external HDD? should I format the drive to NTFS?
 
Hey guys sorry for the dumb question but I have not really found a solution through google.

I have a 8gb DMG file i want to transfer to my external hdd (fat32) but I keep getting an unknown error.
I searched around and found out that I cannot transfer files over 4gb to a fat32 drive.
How can transfer the file into the external HDD? should I format the drive to NTFS?

Format it to NTFS if you want to be able to use it with Windows, or HFS+ if Mac only.
 
you've prob got it formatted as MS-DOS (FAT) at the moment. unfortunately with that format you can't transfer files over 4GB.

best thing to do is to either format the drive as HFS+ if you're just using it on a mac, otherwise MS-DOS is prob best, unfortunately that means u can't copy the file over though. maybe partition the drive? MS partition and HFS+ partition?
 
I know that, but kastenbrust specifically said MacFUSE, not NTFS-3G. MacFUSE just allows other file systems to be used, it doesn't have inbuilt support for those file systems as kastenbrust seems to think.

Don't presume to know what people think. I never said that, if you opened your eyes and read my post you would see i wrote "MacFuse no longer works to allow Macs to write to NTFS formatted hard drives" as it doesn't since NTFS-3G which is an add on for it is no longer distributed officially since the creator got banned from making it by Apple and Google.

Lets not nitpick over words, anyone can see i was trying to say your method basically no longer works.
I would love if someone had something actually constructive to say, like an alternative method, which would be amazingly useful.
 
Don't presume to know what people think. I never said that, if you opened your eyes and read my post you would see i wrote "MacFuse no longer works to allow Macs to write to NTFS formatted hard drives" as it doesn't since NTFS-3G which is an add on for it is no longer distributed officially since the creator got banned from making it by Apple and Google.

Where did you hear this? I couldn't find anything to corroborate that.

There has been a bunch of bandying about of filesystems and terminology and personal preferences here, so I'm going to boil it down a bit to make it easier for the OP (remember, the person we're supposed to be helping) to understand.

FAT32: The only filesystem that both Macs and Windows can both read and write to without third-party applications. Unfortunately, it has a number of problems, beyond just the 4 GB file limit, but suffice it to say it's better not to use FAT32 if you don't have to.

HFS+: Also known as Mac OS Extended, this is Mac OS X's default filesystem. If you're going to be using the drive exclusively with your Mac or with other Macs, it's the way to go. Windows computers won't even recognize the drive without extra help. The free HFSExplorer gives Windows read-only capabilities, or you can purchase MacDrive for $50 which will give you read/write access.

NTFS: Windows XP/Vista's native filesystem. Macs can read NTFS drives out of the box, but they can't write to them. If you want read/write access to NTFS drives, you have to install the free MacFUSE and NTFS-3g applications. This is best if you plan to be using the drive with Windows computers, especially with friends' computers or public computers.
 
Thank each and everyone of you for helping me.

So I guess I will back up all of data on external HDD on my macbook and then reformat the drive to Mac Extended. Then I'll simply transfer all the data, including the 8gb file, to the external Hdd.

How do I command my Macbook to reformat the drive with Mac Extended?

Once again , thanks a million.🙂
 
Thank each and everyone of you for helping me.

So I guess I will back up all of data on external HDD on my macbook and then reformat the drive to Mac Extended. Then I'll simply transfer all the data, including the 8gb file, to the external Hdd.

How do I command my Macbook to reformat the drive with Mac Extended?

Once again , thanks a million.🙂

Applications --> Utilities --> Disk Utility.
 
I read some article on the guys blog that said he wasnt supporting or updating it anymore, i'll try to find it.
Hi Everybody,

I'm Szabolcs Szakacsits and I work for NTFS-3G Technology Ltd. I'd like to state that nobody ever tried to ban or discontinue NTFS-3G. We are very actively working on NTFS-3G for OS X up to this days and there isn't any plan to change on this in the near future.

In fact, the NTFS-3G GPL license ensures that nobody can ban or revoke any ever released software for any reason. Not even we, the developers, because anybody could continue the work. The GPL license is the guarantee for this.

The misunderstanding comes from the fact that anybody is allowed to make modifications, packaging and distribute the driver under the GPL license. This has resulted some variants. The author of one of such variant was advised by his employer to stop working on it and he did. This is completely common situation in some countries.

Sadly the person announced this two years ago as "NTFS-3G for OS X is Dead" instead of the correct "My variant of NTFS-3G for OS X is Dead". They are very much NOT the same. Nobody can stop NTFS-3G development.

In short, NTFS-3G for OS X is absolutely well and we are working very closely and supporting the most advance variant at http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com For any more clarification or confirmation, please feel free to contact me at szaka@ntfs-3g.com.

Thank you for the attention, Szabolcs
 
he misunderstanding comes from the fact that anybody is allowed to make modifications, packaging and distribute the driver under the GPL license. This has resulted some variants. The author of one of such variant was advised by his employer to stop working on it and he did. This is completely common situation in some countries.

Sadly the person announced this two years ago as "NTFS-3G for OS X is Dead" instead of the correct "My variant of NTFS-3G for OS X is Dead". They are very much NOT the same. Nobody can stop NTFS-3G development.

Thats exactly what i read, he said he worked for Google or something and they banned him from making it 🙂 Thanks for clearing that up.
 
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