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Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard

nvrau said:
How did it work for you? Did you purchase it?
Click to expand...

Works like a charm for me. Didn't buy it just because I'm moving so lately I have been using my Motorola Milestone 2 as my 'main computer', haven't messed much with my Mac lately :)
 
Something went wrong, please give me your advice

I have an external hard rive formatted in NTFS on win7 64. I could see and copy the files but not RW. My mac is new with last osx and no bootcamp. Only one master partition on the mac hard drive. I have followed the first procedure and everything looked all right. after reboot the external hard drive did not show in finder anymore. In disk utility I can see the disk and the volume but not mount it, i can not repair it neither.
I have reopen terminal and type sudo nano /etc/fstab to edit the file and the UUID=paste_the_uuid_here none ntfs rw line was not in it. so i saved it again empty but it did not changed a thing. I have try to disconnect abd reconnect the disk and reboot but no luck. I am new to mac and linux code so please any advice would be welcom.
 
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This no longer works for me after the 10.6.7 update. The drive is visible in Disk Utility, but the NTFS partition is grayed out and does not mount in Finder. Reverting back to the original file allows it to mount.
 
cashel said:
This no longer works for me after the 10.6.7 update. The drive is visible in Disk Utility, but the NTFS partition is grayed out and does not mount in Finder. Reverting back to the original file allows it to mount.
Click to expand...
Are you booted in 64-bit mode?
 
applevx said:
iBlacky of the same forum posted a better method. Basically, it's running mount_ntfs with read/write option specified.

Here's how it's done in Terminal:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

sudo nano /sbin/mount_ntfs
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@"​
(press Enter, Ctrl-O, Enter, Ctrl-X in sequence)​

sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs​


Make sure to check that mount_ntfs is listed as -rwxr-xr-x and root wheel when you type ls -al /sbin/mount_ntfs and you're good to go.
.
.
.
Click to expand...

Hi I did everithink like in this guide and now i can even mount or see external ntfs hard drive (tried with 2 different HD, non works). I can see that the hard drive is connected in System Profiler, under USB, but disk is not in a finder or on desktop like before. I also tried to return it back with
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs
but it didnt help (maybe becouse mount_ntfs.orig is blank). Looks like the same problem that ntk14 describes on page 4.
I have MBA 13inch with OS X 10.6.7
Anyone please can help me??
 
Another option is Tuxera NTFS: http://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac/ ($35) I've been using it for years on a MP1,1 a MP4,1 and a MBP3,1 with XP or Win 7 in 32 or 64 bit modes without any problems on internal and external drives. I've used it with both Parallels and boot camp.

$35 seems cheap compared to trying to recover from all the problems folk are having after trying to do it using the proposed method that's free. How much is your time or data worth? If you want a free version, why not use NTFS-3G thats been pretty well tested?
 
Problem Mounting

I have done all this and im sure it works well, but my problem is that ntfs is not able to even mount so I can read only, in disk utility it says Mounting "My Passport" failed. when i try to manually mount it from disk utility. it used to be abe to read but now it does not anymore?
I dont want to download any programs to fix this because I have already tried that and it did not work.
screenshot20110619at110.png
 
Last edited:
applevx said:
iBlacky of the same forum posted a better method. Basically, it's running mount_ntfs with read/write option specified.

Here's how it's done in Terminal:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

sudo nano /sbin/mount_ntfs
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@"​
(press Enter, Ctrl-O, Enter, Ctrl-X in sequence)​

sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs​


Make sure to check that mount_ntfs is listed as -rwxr-xr-x and root wheel when you type ls -al /sbin/mount_ntfs and you're good to go.

P.S.
If it isn't working for you, it may be that the NTFS partition wasn't cleanly unmounted previously (e.g. not using safe eject in Windows). To check if this is the case, open Console in Utilities, and go to 'All Messages' instead of 'Console Messages'. Search for 'ntfs' and you may come across an error that displays like this:

NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk3s1, pid 435): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean. Mounting read-only. Mount in Windows.
​

You need to plug the disk into Windows-running system, and do a safe eject. Then the NTFS partition will mount in read/write mode.

Good luck!
Again thanks iBlacky :)
Click to expand...

This did not work for me on Lion 10.7.1

I could not mount drives at all after this. Drives would not show up on the desktop as usual. I undid it using
Code: 
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs
and at least I can get read access again now.

Anyone got native support working in Lion? Is this this still the correct method? Did I do it wrong?
 
So I was wondering how do I know if my mount_ntfs is back to normal?

I did ls -al /sbin/mount_ntfs and it still says -rwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel
 
any ideea how to mount specific ntfs volumes? i have windows on my machines hdd (which i don't want to mount) but i also have an external ntfs hdd which i want to mount.

I kinda new to mac :)
 
The /etc/fstab or mount_ntfs -o rw does not seems to work on my Lion 10.7.3

Anyone has try it on 10.7.3? Thanks
 
oliversl said:
The /etc/fstab or mount_ntfs -o rw does not seems to work on my Lion 10.7.3

Anyone has try it on 10.7.3? Thanks
Click to expand...
Don't try enabling it. It's not stable.

NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
 
Thanks, it seems my only option is to buy tuxera :(

Regards,
Oliver

GGJstudios said:
Don't try enabling it. It's not stable.

NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
    [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
Click to expand...
 
Help needed - can't see any usb drives now :(

Hi all - help very much appreciated as I can't see any usb drives on my iMac using SL any more.
Here's what happened:[apologies if its drawn out, thought I'd try to get all bases covered ]
About 2 years ago I successfully used the method quoted below to read and write to ntfs drive on my imac running Snow Leopard. Very recently I had cause to re install the operating system - I was having a problem with iMovie and the Apple tech instructed me to do so.
It was after the reinstall that I noticed that I could not write to ntfs, only read so I assumed that it had overwritten what I had previously done.
So I followed the procedure below only this time it didn't work - I could still only read but not write - so I tried again and re booted immediately after following the procedure, now I can't even read ntfs - in fact SL doesn't recognise any usb drive that I plug in.

I have a usb blu ray read/write drive that is fine.

If I boot into Parallels and plug in a usb I get the pop up asking which OS I want to associate it with, if I choose Win7 it works fine but if I choose SL it doesn't see it.
To clarify - Disc Utility in SL sees the drive but all options are greyed out and I can see no icon on the desktop.

I have used a seperate Windows laptop to try make sure they were removed correctly.

It is so frustrating and I'm hoping you guys/gals can help :)

Thanks in advance !

Netrix.



applevx said:
iBlacky of the same forum posted a better method. Basically, it's running mount_ntfs with read/write option specified.

Here's how it's done in Terminal:

sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

sudo nano /sbin/mount_ntfs
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@"​
(press Enter, Ctrl-O, Enter, Ctrl-X in sequence)​

sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs​


Make sure to check that mount_ntfs is listed as -rwxr-xr-x and root wheel when you type ls -al /sbin/mount_ntfs and you're good to go.

P.S.
If it isn't working for you, it may be that the NTFS partition wasn't cleanly unmounted previously (e.g. not using safe eject in Windows). To check if this is the case, open Console in Utilities, and go to 'All Messages' instead of 'Console Messages'. Search for 'ntfs' and you may come across an error that displays like this:

NTFS-fs error (device /dev/disk3s1, pid 435): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean. Mounting read-only. Mount in Windows.
​

You need to plug the disk into Windows-running system, and do a safe eject. Then the NTFS partition will mount in read/write mode.

Good luck!
Again thanks iBlacky :)
Click to expand...
 
I am on MBP, OS 10.6.8
I have tried all of these, and nothing worked, including NTFS Mounter and NTFS-3G with MacFuse (MacFuse is discontinued by the way). After reading through posts, I understood, that all of these Terminal methods are unstable, and it is better to use Paragon. So I restored everything back, according to the instructions:
1. sudo nano /etc/fstab and deleted the line added previously. (Maybe I can delete the file at all, it wasn't there when I first created it...?)
2. sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs to restore the mount_ntfs
3. installed and uninstalled NTFS Mounter
4. installed and uninstalled NTFS-3G and MacFuse
5. And then I installed Paragon. Now it works, but I just had a problem with the external HDD, that suddenly didn't mount and caused the whole system to crash. I wonder, did I really return everything back to normal? was this crash part of consequences of altering the system? Or was it maybe something with Paragon?
I restarted and it works now, but I really don't want to have an unstable OS...
Please just tell me if I should do anything else to clean the mess.
Thanks.
 
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