NTFS Concerns with FC2

[Mike McCarty]

I have a multi-boot machine and need to share some files
between the Linux and Windows XP OSs. To date, I've been
either writing to floppy or burning a CD and rebooting, then
reading in. I'd like to just copy files between some shared
device, like my Windows XP partition.

I've heard that there is no problem mounting an NTFS volume
and reading it using Fedora Core 2, but that there are perhaps
problems *writing* to such a volume from FC2. Since the
direction I mostly need to go is FC2->WXP, this is of some
concern to me.

Can anyone answer this question for me? And where do I go
to research this without bothering people here? New to FCx
and don't know how to do the search at redhat.com yet.

Mike

[Adam Antoniak]

Mike McCarty wrote:
> I have a multi-boot machine and need to share some files
> between the Linux and Windows XP OSs. To date, I've been
> either writing to floppy or burning a CD and rebooting, then
> reading in. I'd like to just copy files between some shared
> device, like my Windows XP partition.
>
> I've heard that there is no problem mounting an NTFS volume
> and reading it using Fedora Core 2, but that there are perhaps
> problems *writing* to such a volume from FC2. Since the
> direction I mostly need to go is FC2->WXP, this is of some
> concern to me.
>
> Can anyone answer this question for me? And where do I go
> to research this without bothering people here? New to FCx
> and don't know how to do the search at redhat.com yet.
>
> Mike

First of all you must make sure your kernel supporst ntfs filesystem. 
You can download appropriate rpm package here: 
http://linux-ntfs.sourceforge.net/
Than you need to reconfigure your fstab.conf file (/etc/fstab.conf)
I just added: /dev/hda1      /mnt/ntfs   ntfs    defaults,umask=0 0 0
Should work as long as your ntfs partition is hda1. Otherwise make sure 
you point to the correct partition.

ADAM

[Matt Morgan]

On 7/1/05, Mike McCarty  wrote:
> I have a multi-boot machine and need to share some files
> between the Linux and Windows XP OSs. To date, I've been
> either writing to floppy or burning a CD and rebooting, then
> reading in. I'd like to just copy files between some shared
> device, like my Windows XP partition.
>
> I've heard that there is no problem mounting an NTFS volume
> and reading it using Fedora Core 2, but that there are perhaps
> problems *writing* to such a volume from FC2. Since the
> direction I mostly need to go is FC2->WXP, this is of some
> concern to me.

You are correct. The other problem is that you have to install a new
linux-ntfs RPM with every FC kernel update, which can be annoying:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/linux-ntfs/

One common way to get around it is to set up a FAT partition on a
drive, or part of a drive, for a transfer area. Linux has no trouble
reading/writing FAT.
> Can anyone answer this question for me? And where do I go
> to research this without bothering people here? New to FCx
> and don't know how to do the search at redhat.com yet.

Most people find the archive at

http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/?l=fedora-list&r=1&w=2

to be more easily searchable. Other great sources are fedorafaq.org
and fedoraforum.org.

Good luck,
Matt

[Gordon Messmer]

Mike McCarty wrote:
> I've heard that there is no problem mounting an NTFS volume
> and reading it using Fedora Core 2, but that there are perhaps
> problems *writing* to such a volume from FC2. Since the
> direction I mostly need to go is FC2->WXP, this is of some
> concern to me.

If that's the direction you need to go, then don't worry about NTFS 
support in Linux.  Use this instead:

http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm

[Mike McCarty]

Gordon Messmer wrote:
> Mike McCarty wrote:
> > I've heard that there is no problem mounting an NTFS volume
> > and reading it using Fedora Core 2, but that there are perhaps
> > problems *writing* to such a volume from FC2. Since the
> > direction I mostly need to go is FC2->WXP, this is of some
> > concern to me.
>
> If that's the direction you need to go, then don't worry about NTFS 
> support in Linux.  Use this instead:
>
> http://uranus.it.swin.edu.au/~jn/linux/explore2fs.htm

Hmm. First look seems good. But when I plug in my USB drive
formatted by Linux, Windows XP wants to start formatting it.
That's where my files are.

Thanks for the reply!

Mike

[Gordon Messmer]

Mike McCarty wrote:
> >
>
> Hmm. First look seems good. But when I plug in my USB drive
> formatted by Linux, Windows XP wants to start formatting it.
> That's where my files are.

Windows will always ask about removable media, but as long as you say 
'no', you should be able to use explore2fs to access its files.

[Mike McCarty]

Gordon Messmer wrote:
> Mike McCarty wrote:
> > >
> >
> > Hmm. First look seems good. But when I plug in my USB drive
> > formatted by Linux, Windows XP wants to start formatting it.
> > That's where my files are.
>
> Windows will always ask about removable media, but as long as you say 
> 'no', you should be able to use explore2fs to access its files.

Thanks. I accidentally booted with the USB cable plugged in,
and pulled it as quickly as I could. MicroSoft products
have a habit of making presumptions about what the user wants
when they encounter unusual circumstances, and being difficult
to convince that the user was doing something other than
presumed.

I remember one time when it took me about 2 hours to convince
Word that I really, really wasn't trying to make an enumerated
list just because a few lines in a row happened to begin
with numbers.

So I'm kinda careful about that sort of thing. Especially since
I'm trying to pay the rent with this computer.

Mike