[Novalug] [Dclug] NTFS on Linux?

Maxwell Spangler max09@maxwellspangler.com
Sat May 9 02:01:30 EDT 2009


On Wed, 2009-05-06 at 01:58 -0400, Maxwell Spangler wrote:
> I've just purchased a pair of external 500G drives and would like to use
> both to make large sets of data available between Linux/Fedora10 and
> WindowsXP.
> 
> I'd like to know where NTFS support stands on Linux in real world
> conditions.  Can anyone who has been using NTFS on Linux in similar
> situations provide any comments about their experiences?

I took an external 500G drive that had been formatted as NTFS and
mounted it on my Linux laptop.  I copied a fair number of mp3 files to
the NTFS drive with only minor problems related to characters in
filenames.  I moved that external drive to a Windows XP laptop and was
able to access those files.

I then ran Apple iTunes for Windows and used the "Add Folder" command to
import mp3s into iTunes.  Instead of loading all 1000, it loaded 100 and
stopped.  I tried again.  I tried again, again again.

Turns out I had a folder called "B.P.A." and for some reason some
Windows programs can't handle directories or filenames that end with a
period.  Changed the name to BPA and it loaded this directory fine.

I ran my test again eager to see my results.  It failed again in the
same manner.  Some clever problem solving and googling showed that not
only do some Windows programs not like folders or filenames that end in
periods but empty spaces are not kosher as well.  I had one called
"Alphaville " (note the space within the quotes if you can't easily see
it, its' there.)

For those of you that work with Microsoft this may sound typical: It is
legal on an NTFS system to make a folder or file with a name that ends
in a space or period.  But while that is acceptable to the filesystem,
some Windows apps may not find it acceptable.

It's this kind of technical gotchas that:

1) made me ask about NTFS experiences from other LUG users before I
tried it myself

2) Makes me dislike Microsoft for being a web of legacy software with
gotchas like this

3) Makes me uncomfortable giving hard deadlines for big projects
occasionally knowing that this is the type of thing that you can't plan
for when spec'ing out a project.

I hope others find this posting useful and that someone else will find
it as a google result for their own problem solving!

-- 
Maxwell Spangler




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