GoFlex hard drive owns my MBP

[Shacklebolt]

So, this is awesome:

I took Seagate GoFlex hard drive, plugged it into my MBP, and have been using it as backup/additional iPhoto library.

As such, helped my girlfriend transfer some files from my computer (MBP) to her computer (Thinkpad). When I plugged the hard drive back into my MBP, I found to my dismay that all files on the hard drive (not MP3s, obviously, more like, my iPhoto library, etc)- have been converted to windows files format, and the drive is now in NFTS! WTH!

I've download a driver that allows me to read and write onto NFTS hard drives on OSX, but I can't get my MBP to open the iPhoto library anymore (which is now titled library6.iphoto)

1. PCs are so annoying.

2. What's the fix? How do I re-OSX-ify my iPhoto library?

 

[2Turbo]

That sux big time man. Sorry don't know the fix cause I don't have one but plan to get the 1.5TB Mac version. Is yours the normal PC black version?

FYI: Seagate is releasing a Thunderbolt connector later this year.

 

[finchwizard]

The story doesn't track very well.

If you were storing things on the hard drive on your Mac first, it was either in HFS+ or FAT32.

If you moved it to your girlfriends PC it would of been fine if it was FAT32, but it wouldn't of been seen as HFS+, and there's no way it would of converted it to NTFS unless specifically told to by a program.

And even then it shouldn't break your iPhoto library.

Is there an error message when opening the Library?

I'd be considering running a hard drive test on the drive with Seagates Windows Tool when plugged into your girlfriends computer to make sure the hard drive isn't on it's way out.

 

[Shacklebolt]

The story doesn't track very well.

If you were storing things on the hard drive on your Mac first, it was either in HFS+ or FAT32.

If you moved it to your girlfriends PC it would of been fine if it was FAT32, but it wouldn't of been seen as HFS+, and there's no way it would of converted it to NTFS unless specifically told to by a program.

And even then it shouldn't break your iPhoto library.

Is there an error message when opening the Library?

I'd be considering running a hard drive test on the drive with Seagates Windows Tool when plugged into your girlfriends computer to make sure the hard drive isn't on it's way out.

I'm sorry, let me clarify.

My girlfriend gave me her old Macbook Pro, similar one I owned before which was stolen. It's running 10.5.8.

She was recently given not one but two Thinkpads by her work (one to use at work, one to use at home). She is using one as her home computer. She has asked that I move her iTunes library to her new computer. This is fine by me as her iTunes library takes up half the MBP, and I'm happy deleting it.

I copy the iTunes library to the hard drive - which currently houses an iPhoto library - from the MBP and attach it to the thinkpad, which is currently running windows 7. I transfer the iTunes library to the Thinkpad. I eject the hard drive.

When I attach it back to my mac, I am unable to write to it anymore, as it's now somehow an NTFS formatted drive (despite the fact that all my mac files are still on there). I download a driver (Tuxera) that enables me to read and write to NTFS drives through OSX.

However, my iPhoto library is now somehow in NTFS format. It is now "Library6.iphoto". As such, I cannot open it with iPhoto anymore.

That is my dilemma.

 

[alFR]

AFAIK you shouldn't be able to change the format of a drive on the fly like that without erasing all the data. Have you looked at the drive with Disk Utility on the mac to see if you can get any more details?

 

[ZilogZ80]

AFAIK you shouldn't be able to change the format of a drive on the fly like that without erasing all the data. Have you looked at the drive with Disk Utility on the mac to see if you can get any more details?

No, I believe it is possible to convert FAT32 -> NTFS without losing any data. So this is probably what happened. Your data is probably OK.

Lesson to be learnt: don't screw around with your backup drive. If it is your only backup (also a mistake) then don't use it for anything else.

 

[johnnyturbouk]

i have a go-flex
partitioned it into 2 halves:
one for media and video

the other for storage and back-up

did you format the drive as HFS+ when you got the drive
i used disk utility to create 2 hfs+ partitions, then re-formatted one as fat32

 

[Shacklebolt]

No, I believe it is possible to convert FAT32 -> NTFS without losing any data. So this is probably what happened. Your data is probably OK.

Lesson to be learnt: don't screw around with your backup drive. If it is your only backup (also a mistake) then don't use it for anything else.

Yeah, thankfully this is a new backup drive, and I extracted the photos from my memory card to dedicated folder BEFORE adding them to my iPhoto library, so though I'm kind of screwed with the iPhoto library, I can always pull the .NEF files to a new hard drive and re-add them to a library. THAT will be a monstrous pain, but it's better than nothing.

I suppose a better question now is, since I have a driver that will allow me to read and write to NTFS formatted drives, is it safe to move OSX-specific files there without them being converted to NTFS? (like iPhoto libraries, iTunes libraries, etc).

This is all very Star Trek TNG: Best of Both Worlds. I feel like I'm looking at the Borg version of my hard drive.

 

[Shacklebolt]

i have a go-flex
partitioned it into 2 halves:
one for media and video

the other for storage and back-up

did you format the drive as HFS+ when you got the drive
i used disk utility to create 2 hfs+ partitions, then re-formatted one as fat32

Yeah, perhaps a good idea is to pull the files off this thing, to another hard drive, reformat it as a partitioned drive, and start from scratch.

See above for my comment about how Windows 7 is the the borg. It really is. What the hell kind of backwards operating system actually CONVERTS my files to their own format with no warning?

 

[deadwulfe]

You could try rebuilding the database. Hold down Cmd + Opt while launching iPhoto. If that doesn't work, you can try copying the file back to your computer, off of the GoFlex, and opening it from your computer.

By the way, NTFS is a filesystem, not a format for files. Why in the world your GoFlex would allow itself to go from being a Fat32 drive to NTFS just from being plugged into a different computer is beyond me. Either it's a piece of garbage I'll never buy or some piece of information is missing from your story. It just doesn't make sense. Doesn't matter.

 

[Shacklebolt]

Either it's a piece of garbage I'll never buy or some piece of information is missing from your story. It just doesn't make sense. Doesn't matter.

Absolutely nothing relevant missing. I have no reason to fib to make myself look less stupid. Lesson learned re: partitioning though.

 

[deadwulfe]

Glad you could work out your problem.

 

[Ccrew]

No, I believe it is possible to convert FAT32 -> NTFS without losing any data. So this is probably what happened. Your data is probably OK.

You're correct, but it's far from an automatic process. you have to run convert.exe on the windows box with command line switches. Specifically convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

And even then it wouldn't change the iphoto file.

 

[8CoreWhore]

If you can, use Disk Util to partition that drive - adding an HFS partition. Then mount, and drag and drop the files to the HFS partition. Then use Disk Util to erase the NTFS partition.

I keep a FAT32 partition on my ext HDD so I can share stuff with PC users. I just drag from HFS to FAT32 and then I'm only dealing with copies.

So maybe you'll want to just change the NTFS part to FAT32 and shrink it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q_BrBk5KsI

 

[gorskiegangsta]

That sux big time man. Sorry don't know the fix cause I don't have one but plan to get the 1.5TB Mac version. Is yours the normal PC black version?

FYI: Seagate is releasing a Thunderbolt connector later this year.

You do know that the "Mac version" is exactly the same as PC version except that it is formatted in HFS+.