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NTFS for Mac OSX

This is not new to the mac users. By default, Mac OSX can only read NTFS but cannot write due to Microsoft issue. As far as I know, no other platform can write in NTFS except its own platform (Windows) :roll:

Anyway, currently there have two solutions. Both of them are under 3rd party softwares/applications and still consider under beta stage as well. First is NTFS-3g, which is firstly developed for Linux platform, since it is open-source, so some guy ported for Mac platform. Second is Paragon NTFS for Mac, which is developed by the company of Paragon Software and it is not free.

I have not test/use Paragon NTFS before, but according to the source, there have plenty of good comments, such as great performance. It cost about USD29.95. Personally, I think it is a waste to fork out that much of amount, unless you are doing some business or running a company. For personal usage, NTFS-3g is good enough.

In this entry, I will talking how to use NTFS-3g to enable write/read NTFS drive in 3 simple steps. Currently the performance of writing is getting better. In the Linux platform, NTFS-3g has been under stable version and the latest ubuntu (Gutsy Gibbon) is pre-loaded with NTFS-3g driver.

  • First of all, go get the latest macfuse. Download according to your Mac OSX version (Tiger or Leopard). Then install macfuse like any other installation wizard.

  • Secondly, go get pre-compiled ntfs-3g. and then install it as well. Download either the Stable or Ublio version. Ublio version has a better performance but it is currently unstable. I’ve used Ublio version. So far so good, I have not encounter any problem.

  • Thirdly, reboot your system and now you should be able to write/read NTFS drive.

If it won’t auto-mount your NTFS drive, you have to manually mount yourself by typing few commandline in terminal. But first remember to check whether your NTFS drive is “clean” by rebooting to your windows XP or Vista via bootcamp or whatever. Full scan your NTFS drive and fix any error. Now boot to your Mac OSX, it should be able to auto-mount. If fail to auto-mount, then you have to type few lines of commandline in terminal.

  • Open terminal application under Applications>Utility folder

  • type cd ../../.. to go to the root of your mac OSX.

  • type sudo mkdir Volumes/windows to make an empty folder(windows) under Volumes folder. It should prompt you for your system administration password.

  • type sudo ntfs-3g /dev/diskX /Volumes/windows -ovolname=”windows”

  • Change X of diskX accordingly to diskutil. If you are using bootcamp, by default it should be disk1. disk0 is your mac osx partition. You can also change “windows” to whatever you want. The name will display when it mount the NTFS drive.

  • That’s it. It should be able to mount your NTFS drive.

If you have any problem, send me an email :wink:


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