ExFAT Bug ? - Urgent Help Required

[Akimi]

Running Mountain Lion 10.8.3 (Issue could be other versions too) there appears to be a bug in the meta data, or in the reading of the meta data, with Fat or ExFat images and external flash drives. I am concerned because the data we keep on ExFat drives is time sensitive. Please could some members attempt to recreate the following and post results, thanks in advance:


Mac: Create Disk Image, format as ExFAT

1) Go to Disk Utility and create a new blank disk image, formatted as ExFat, save to desktop.

2) Go to Desktop and Get Info on that new image.

3) The date created will be: Thursday 1 January 1970 01:00

4) The date modified will be: 31 December 1979 23:00


Mac: Create Disk Image, format as HFS+

1) Go to Disk Utility and create a new blank disk image, formatted as HFS+, save to desktop.

2) Go to Desktop and Get Info on that new image.

3) The date created will be correct.

4) The date modified will be correct.


Mac: Format USB Flash Drive as ExFat

The same bug happens when formatting a USB flash drive as Fat or ExFat.

1) The date created will be: Thursday 1 January 1970 01:00

2) The date modified will be: 31 December 1979 23:00


Mac: Format USB Flash Drive as HFS+

But if you re-format the same USB Flash Drive as HFS+ then:

1) The date created will be correct.

2) The date modified will be correct.


Windows: Format USB Flash Drive as ExFat

If you format the USB Flash Drive as ExFat on a PC, then take it to a Mac:

1) The date created will be: Thursday 1 January 1970 01:00

2) The date modified will be: 31 December 1979 23:00




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[justperry]

I only created an exFat disk Image as suggested in point 1, no problem with dates, created and modified today at the correct time.

Date created and modified would normally not get you into trouble.

I do want to say though that I find Disk Utility to be a bit buggy, well the one in 10.8.2-3, I had 3 Errors last few weeks, moved the file over to a Powerbook on 10.5.8, didn't have any trouble there.

 

[Akimi]

I only created an exFat disk Image as suggested in point 1, no problem with dates, created and modified today at the correct

Thanks for your help, were the dates acquired using Get Info ?

This is the strangest bug I have ever seen since I started using Macs (iBook). I have tried several different USB flash drives, formatted as ExFat on both Mac and PC, in every case the date is incorrect on the Mac, but when I format the same drives as Mac OS Extended the date is correct.

I know Disk Utility experienced a few bugs here and there, but I don't think this is a Disk Utility issue because the same thing happens when the drive is formatted as ExFat using a PC and then plugged into the Mac, Get Info shows the date created as: Thursday 1 January 1970 01:00

I just Googled that date and it has something to do with Unix Time, but I am more interested to see if anyone else can reproduce this. I may try and install OS-X into Parallels and see if I can reproduce the error there, but hopefully some other member's can reproduce this issue first?

 

[Akimi]

Update

I have made a few calls and this issue has now been reproduced on several Macs, running various versions of OS-X, still not sure if it's an ExFat issue or an OS-X issue. I cannot find a way of viewing external drive properties such as Date Created and Date Modified in Windows, does anyone know how to do this ?

 

[justperry]

Thanks for your help, were the dates acquired using Get Info ?

This is the strangest bug I have ever seen since I started using Macs (iBook). I have tried several different USB flash drives, formatted as ExFat on both Mac and PC, in every case the date is incorrect on the Mac, but when I format the same drives as Mac OS Extended the date is correct.

I know Disk Utility experienced a few bugs here and there, but I don't think this is a Disk Utility issue because the same thing happens when the drive is formatted as ExFat using a PC and then plugged into the Mac, Get Info shows the date created as: Thursday 1 January 1970 01:00

I just Googled that date and it has something to do with Unix Time, but I am more interested to see if anyone else can reproduce this. I may try and install OS-X into Parallels and see if I can reproduce the error there, but hopefully some other member's can reproduce this issue first?

I did use get info on the image.

Might be CoreStorage which is the problem.
I guess you are right, it is not DU which is the problem, if you created an ExFat Partition/disk on Windows and connect it to the Mac it must be OS X which has this problem.

This is not the only problem so it seems in ML, there are also threads about DU reporting different free and used on a disk than get Info.

Still, I don't think it will affect your files, it's just the date which is off which should not have any influence on the files contents.

 

[Akimi]

Still, I don't think it will affect your files, it's just the date which is off which should not have any influence on the files contents.

I agree, I don't think it will be detrimental to the files, but any data abnormality is a concern, so I will stick with formatting as HFS+ for now, just in case.

Thanks for your help.

 

[steviep147]

Running El Capitan on MBP. Just noticed a similar bug on a FAT USB disk. It was actually formatted on a PC but MAC info shows created 1st January 1970. The contained files show correct dates. I also have Parallels 10 running Windows 10 on this machine and that correctly identifies the disk.

 

[Airsculpture]

Still happens in Ventura with my brand new micro SD Card.