Opening files from an external HD on a MAC

[Trappe]

I am considering buying a MAC. I do occasionally use a mac at work and I regularly transfer files from the PC to the mac using the CF card etc.

At home I have three external HD's which store most of my photos. These were used on the PC. What will happen if I try and open up the files stored on the HD's when I plug them into the Mac?



http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=203233&highlight=mac+external

 

[godaz]

it depends on the format of the drive, it would need to be MS-DOS (FAT32) to work with OSX and Windows

 

[neil_g]

it depends on the format of the drive, it would need to be MS-DOS (FAT32) to work with OSX and Windows

actually OSX can read NTFS, if just cannot write back without an app.

 

[Musicman]

it depends on the format of the drive, it would need to be MS-DOS (FAT32) to work with OSX and Windows

FWIW, there's a 4GB file size limit on FAT32, which won't affect your photographs, but it might if you try to put video on the disk.

 

[godaz]

actually OSX can read NTFS, if just cannot write back without an app.

I was speaking in terms of Full functionality.

FAT is always the best way to go in terms of windows/OSX compatibility

 

[JasonRS]

actually OSX can read NTFS, if just cannot write back without an app.

Yes it can.

Native read/write support since 10.6, just needs enabling.

First, uninstall NTFS-3G, Paragon or whatever else if you're using an app.

Then

1. In Terminal, type diskutil info /Volumes/volume_name, where volume_name is the name of the NTFS volume. From the output, copy the Volume UUID value to the clipboard.
2. Back up /etc/fstab if you have it; it shouldn't be there in a default install.
3. Type sudo nano /etc/fstab.
4. In the editor, type UUID=, then paste the UUID number you copied from the clipboard. Type a Space, then type none ntfs rw. The final line should look like this: UUID=123-456-789 none ntfs rw, where 123-456-789 is the UUID you copied in the first step.
5. Repeat the above steps for any other NTFS drives/partitions you have.
6. Save the file and quit nano (Control-X, Y, Enter), then restart your system.

After rebooting, NTFS partitions should natively have read and write support. This works with both 32- and 64-bit kernels.

Job done...

Or, just found that there's an app to do it for you

Clicky Here

 

[neil_g]

Yes it can.

Native read/write support since 10.6, just needs enabling.

First, uninstall NTFS-3G, Paragon or whatever else if you're using an app.

Then

1. In Terminal, type diskutil info /Volumes/volume_name, where volume_name is the name of the NTFS volume. From the output, copy the Volume UUID value to the clipboard.
2. Back up /etc/fstab if you have it; it shouldn't be there in a default install.
3. Type sudo nano /etc/fstab.
4. In the editor, type UUID=, then paste the UUID number you copied from the clipboard. Type a Space, then type none ntfs rw. The final line should look like this: UUID=123-456-789 none ntfs rw, where 123-456-789 is the UUID you copied in the first step.
5. Repeat the above steps for any other NTFS drives/partitions you have.
6. Save the file and quit nano (Control-X, Y, Enter), then restart your system.

After rebooting, NTFS partitions should natively have read and write support. This works with both 32- and 64-bit kernels.

Job done...

Or, just found that there's an app to do it for you

Clicky Here

i was unaware of that thanks for the info

 

[JasonRS]

i was unaware of that thanks for the info

It's been posted about on here at least twice before

 

[Trappe]

Many thanks for the info. Hopefully the transition will not end up in tears ;-)

 

[neil_g]

It's been posted about on here at least twice before

 

[Grendel]

I'll second neil's

Very useful bit of info and I'd never seen it either

 

[rogermbyrne]

I had a pain shifting files between Mac & Win computers before I set them up with shared drives, http://www.dropbox.com/ is also an easy way to sync files between computers, free 2 Gb account.