11-15-2009, 11:12 AM

Hey guys, is there a comand to mount/unmount external hard drives?

11-15-2009, 11:17 AM

Use the finder and mount it from there ...

11-15-2009, 11:23 AM

I am trying to use my external hard disk, but for some reason the macbook is opening it as "read only"... any suggestions??

11-15-2009, 11:31 AM

Is the hdd formatted in NTFS ?

11-15-2009, 11:32 AM

yes it is. Is this a problem?

11-15-2009, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by adoul90

yes it is. Is this a problem?

Yes ... that is the issue.

The only way around it is the reformat it in HFS+ (mac format) or fat32 which has a 4GB file size limit or to access the drive over the network. You could do this by plugging it into a PC on the network and share it. This way you could read and write to it in NTFS.

11-15-2009, 11:40 AM

Originally Posted by yamawho

Yes ... that is the issue.

The only way around it is the reformat it in HFS+ (mac format) or fat32 which has a 4GB file size limit or to access the drive over the network. You could do this by plugging it into a PC on the network and share it. This way you could read and write to it in NTFS.

So i either have to format it and use only 4GB out of the 250 or i should use it over a network? can't it be used directly on mac?

11-15-2009, 11:44 AM

Originally Posted by adoul90

So i either have to format it and use only 4GB out of the 250 or i should use it over a network? can't it be used directly on mac?

Yes in HFS+ but then you will not be able to use it on a PC.
Fat32 is the only format they both can read and write to ...

Maybe you should just get another external hdd ...

11-15-2009, 11:47 AM

Originally Posted by adoul90

So i either have to format it and use only 4GB out of the 250 ...

No, that is not correct. FAT32 has a "file" size limit of 4GB, not a "partition" size limit of 4GB. This means individual files that are over 4GB in size cannot be stored on it. This would primarily relate to movie files, iso and dmg files for most users.

11-15-2009, 11:49 AM

Originally Posted by bobtomay

No, that is not correct. FAT32 has a "file" size limit of 4GB, not a "partition" size limit of 4GB. This means individual files that are over 4GB in size cannot be stored on it. This would primarily relate to movie files.

I misunderstood sorry ... yes file size limit, not the limit on the size of the hdd.

11-15-2009, 11:52 AM

So there is no way whatsoever to write to an NTFS drive on the mac OSX??

11-15-2009, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by adoul90

So there is no way whatsoever to write to an NTFS drive on the mac OSX??

Yes you need to purchase software, the name escapes me for the moment.

Here's one ... there are others as well.

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/

11-16-2009, 09:40 AM

Hello, I am very new to a mac (three days) & have tried to mount my external hard drive as per the postings above but my iMac it refuses to mount it & the suggested remedies i.e. First Aid are not available because it is not mounted Any suggestions? Many thanks......Regards..

Further to the above, I have answered my own question, it's in the wrong format......sorry to be a nuisance...regards......