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Edit NTFS files in OSX?

T

T3hPreacher

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 7, 2008
61
1
Hi all,

I am working on a project where I must edit an extensive amount of filenames on an NTFS drive.

I know that it is not possible to edit the filenames of files on an NTFS drive straight through OSX. Right now I am accomplishing this through Fusion. However, someone else working on it has noted that when he connects the drive to his router and then connects his Mac to the drive wirelessly (through the router), he is able to edit files. So somehow he's able to edit over the network, just not when it's plugged straight into his Mac.

Does anyone know how that worked? Can I simulate this through the VM on my machine, so that I somehow plug the disc into my VM, share it, and edit it in OSX? That would be so much easier, as Finder is easier to work in than Explorer.

Thanks for any advice!
 
T3hPreacher said:
Does anyone know how that worked?
Click to expand...

The router has read/write access to the drive and is sharing the drive as read/write as a SMB/CIFS share which OS X can mount and edit fine.

You should be able to do the same thing with your VM.

EDIT: I don't believe this would actually work with an Airport Extreme or Time Capsule. I believe they only provide read access to NTFS.

B
 
balamw said:
believe they only provide read access to NTFS.
Click to expand...

from this support article:

The AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule support USB storage devices that are formatted as Mac OS Extended (HFS-plus), FAT16, or FAT32.
Formatting a storage device as Mac OS Extended with journaling is recommended, as it may provide some more resilience if the device is removed or powered down while in use.​
 
Jolly Giant said:
meanwhile, wouldn't installing e.g. the NTFS 3G on the Mac take care of things ?
Click to expand...

It would be another option, and there are other read-write NTFS options like Paragon NTFS.

I'm not a fan, as they often show up in data corruption threads. Even if they may not be the ultimate culprit.

So i prefer to do what is being suggested here. Abstract the native read/write capabilities over the network.

B
 
Jolly Giant said:
are you saying the macoshints article = the "apple driver hack" that was mentioned ?
Click to expand...

Yes. By default Apple only enables read-only access you need to force it to mount read-write this or some other way that is unsupported by Apple.

If Apple thought the feature was ready for prime time, they'd enable it themselves.

B
 
balamw said:
Yes. By default Apple only enables read-only access you need to force it to mount read-write this or some other way that is unsupported by Apple.

If Apple thought the feature was ready for prime time, they'd enable it themselves.

B
Click to expand...

okay, got it.

but, looking @ the final post in the thread

Just an update, I disabled the Apple bootcamp R/W driver, and installed the NTFS-3G one. No problems since. I'm certain that it was the problem.
Click to expand...

it seems the 3G driver is quite stable. i'm with you on the Paragon stuff, though.
 
Jolly Giant said:
it seems the 3G driver is quite stable. i'm with you on the Paragon stuff, though.
Click to expand...

Plenty of success with NTFS-3G, however it's a third party driver mucking with my data built without access to the NTFS documentation by enthusiasts in the OSS community. There are other places where it comes up as a problem. Search the forum.

I prefer to live without it.

EDIT: example: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/719549/ was NTFS-3G the principal cause? was it a factor?

B
 
balamw said:
Plenty of success with NTFS-3G, however it's a third party driver mucking with my data built without access to the NTFS documentation by enthusiasts in the OSS community. There are other places where it comes up as a problem. Search the forum.

I prefer to live without it.

B
Click to expand...

well, as long as one's well backed up, what can go wrong ... ;)

anyhoo, the OP has plenty to digest so 'nuff said !
 
balamw said:
The router has read/write access to the drive and is sharing the drive as read/write as a SMB/CIFS share which OS X can mount and edit fine.

You should be able to do the same thing with your VM.

EDIT: I don't believe this would actually work with an Airport Extreme or Time Capsule. I believe they only provide read access to NTFS.

B
Click to expand...

Great! I like this solution the best. Thank you so much! Any chance you'd be able to tell me how to share this drive through XP on WMware Fusion 3 with my Mac? I haven't figured out how to share a drive through the VM.
 
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