Unlock NTFS write support in SL (updated on 04/10/09)

@mormegilI didn't remove fstab.hd. Just saved as a new file called fstab.

k bud, will edit guide

OMG.. that is one hell of info..

So it's natively supported.. hm.. and they didn't tell us anything.. arg#

I didn't remove fstab.hd. Just saved as a new file called fstab.

Yeah that's one thought, it's a sensitive system file, you could always keep a backup!

i donno if this is weird or not, but right after my first boot into snow leopard (right after i installed it) i had ntfs read/write support w/o ntfs-3g and macfuse.. i only did the dsdt patch brefore..

Maybe there was a script that did that for you, one of those that create a dsdt maybe?

@BloodiatorMaybe there was a script that did that for you, one of those that create a dsdt maybe?

+1
this would be a brilliant idea!

i wish i knew how to create a script!

@rohizzle121+1 this would be a brilliant idea! i wish i knew how to create a script!

It's easy to create scripts

you just open a text file write the commands you want to run in sequence, save it, chmod it so it can be executable and that's it, just call it from terminal or from inside other scripts..

@BloodiatorIt's easy to create scripts you just open a text file write the commands you want to run in sequence, save it, chmod it so it can be executable and that's it, just call it from terminal or from inside other scripts..

how i would i like for instance get the UUID of the partition in question?

You can copy the # by running the Disk Utility on a pre-installed leo system (snow or leo) but you can also see it by running the installation disk of snow leo and then opening Disk Utility, there are some commands to invoke these infos from Terminal but i'm no so familiar with.. sorriez!

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i've managed to boot into 64bit SL, before, i've runned only at 32bit..made a mistake..

sometimes SL would crash, and if i would boot into win, sometimes folders would be broken and locked (even though i can use the files from within)
and in SL, those folders would be just plain empty in finder, and still i could use those files..

this time i booted in win, it did this thing to my whole NTFS partition...

jesus christ, ever since i made this change to fstab SL just crashes more often, and sometimes i get hanged at restart/shutdown…

edit:
right, well.. every time SL crashed or hanged at restart/shutdown(blue screen and loopy icon) I got a disk check at win boot
so, this time i've waited for win to do the disk check for this NTFS partition I had problem with. it went ok, and fixed the problem, but still i have this crashes..

In my experience, NTFS write support in SL is not reliable. I've used it, but I will keep it disabled by default as I don't often need to write to NTFS.

In Leopard, MacFuse + NTFS-3G was very reliable.

Any news about SL version of MacFuse & Ntfs-3G ?

If you use this method make sure you remove the drive/drives in question from the spotlight indexing, I've had some nasty freezing because of that.

Other than that works great.

I've installed paragons NTFS on mac osx, and.. even though it's said it has snow leopard support, it doesn't work at all.

without any app for NTFS support, i can only read NTFS partitions.

@vladrxpxI've installed paragons NTFS on mac osx, and.. even though it's said it has snow leopard support, it doesn't work at all. without any app for NTFS support, i can only read NTFS partitions.

Did you try this version?
paragon software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ntfs-sl-download.html
They say its compatible with SL.

I hope it works because I dont really trust Apple's NTFS, if its disabled by default there must be some reason. I also see some messages in the log complaining about one of my partitions mft having error that otherwise seems to be perfectly fine, not sure if its an error or they are being overly cautious.
Besides the current solution its not really good enough, you have edit fstab manually for each volume, to be really useful we would have to find a way to change the automount options for all ntfs to be read/write.

paragon beta version that is said to work can't even find ntfs drives
edit: paragon software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ntfs-sl-requirements.html here it says you need SL in 32bit mode. so i guess they dont have support for 64bit..

thank you bloodiator for the link, ntfsmounter works great but at 'get info' it shows that i have custom access? 20 seconds later, i was typing in safari, and firs safari crashed, i've had this loopy icon as a cursor.. then finder crashed on me too.. at that point, I had no choice but to restart. this also happened when i was using the fstab edit...

at this point, i think SL has no stable support for NTFS write whatsoever.. really bummed :C

Mine started crashing after a while to. I reinstalled and everything fine =D

How to enable built-in support for writing to NTFS, once and forever.

1. Open terminal and type this command
sudo mv /sbin/mount_ntfs /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig

2. Then open file mount_ntfs with nano editor by typing this command
sudo nano /sbin/mount_ntfs

3. Now enter these 2 lines of text
#!/bin/sh
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@"

4. Press Control + X then Y and Enter for Exit and Save!

5. Type these 2 commands
sudo chown root:wheel /sbin/mount_ntfs
sudo chmod 755 /sbin/mount_ntfs

Congratz! Now, any NTFS disk connected to your Mac is writable.

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slic, your hacking skills seem to amaze me every time i see your post on any issue.

thnx for solving this!

I'll report if there is any problem on this matter.

this edit seems to work well right now.
i just hope it wont crash again..since im using 64bit SL.

This NTFS built in read and write capability is impressive. However, I want to modify this fstab command some more so I can force my HFS+ journaled USB to be read only, but I can't seem to get it to work. Here is what I did in terminal.

cd /etc
sudo nano /etc/fstab
UUID=2FD74A3F-090E-33B5-825A-4B1E9B96A24D none hfs ro,auto 0 0
ctrl+O
ctrl+X
reboot machine.

Did anyone try this? If you did and were successful, please tell me what you put for your fstab file.

How come that you have UUID for your NTFS partitions/drives in Disk Utility? Mine doesn't have that information. I only get UUID from my Mac OS partition. I currently have Macfuse and NTFS-3G installed which is so damned slow! I'm willing to try the helpful post but I can't even start without a UUID.

Name : Windows 7
Type : Volume

Disk Identifier : disk1s1
Mount Point : /Volumes/Windows 7
File System : Windows NT Filesystem (NTFS-3G)
Connection Bus : SATA
Device Tree : IODeviceTree:/PCI0@0/IDE1@1F,2/SECD@1
Writable : Yes
Capacity : 214.96 GB (214,958,080,000 Bytes)
Free Space : 185.22 GB (185,219,973,120 Bytes)
Used : 29.74 GB (29,738,102,784 Bytes)
Number of Files : 108,884
Number of Folders : 0
Owners Enabled : No
Can Turn Owners Off : No
Can Be Formatted : Yes
Bootable : No
Supports Journaling : No
Journaled : No
Disk Number : 1
Partition Number : 1

EDIT: NEVERMIND, I just needed to uninstall Macfuse + NTFS-3G to make the UUID to show up.

@SLIC: Pretty neat trick. It is working right now. I'm on SL 64-bit. I hope it is stable. Look stable thought.

ok, so i had some time to test this out.

turns out i have this delayed restart and sometimes shutdown crashes, where i get the blue screen and the black loopy icon (maybe whenever im saving files to NTFS part.). at this point, i can only force restart or shutdown by pressing the button.

at windows boot, i get the disk check, again

maybe this fix works only for real macintosh. i have no freaking idea why it wont work fully on 64bit SL...

I've tried that workaround but had some problems too, slow shutdown (sometimes it wouldn't shutdown at all) copied a small file and then couldn't open it. So I'm back to paragon, it seems a bit slow but it works just fine.

did you get paragon to work in 64bit? or are you using 32bit?
ntfs3g works in 32bit mode too, in fact, ntfs r&w support works well in 32bit mode without an added app.

we are most concerned about the 64bit

I'm on AMD so no 64bits for me, at least for now.

This topic has been a major boon! Thanks a lot. Now I don't have to keep copying files from my NTFS drives!
Well done.

its official now, this new edit does no fixing whatsoever. SL still crashes on me..

i went and deleted the edit inside of sbin/mount_ntfs and repaired permissions, now i dont have read support..

does somebody know how to restore to original settings?

You can restore your original mount_ntfs (A) or you can delete that "w" inside the new file (B).

A-  sudo rm /sbin/mount_ntfs
      sudo mv  /sbin/mount_ntfs.orig /sbin/mount_ntfs

B- sudo nano /sbin/mount_ntfs

Replace this line:
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o rw "$@"
With this one:
/sbin/mount_ntfs.orig -o r "$@"

Then exit nano, save, repair permissions and reboot.

Just a guess, I don't know if it's gonna work.

Thanks for this guide! Works perfectly for me! After MacFuse failed to work that are really good news

So what's the difference between the original method and slic's?