How To Add Ntfs Support
 

I have just installed Debian and I need to access the windows partitions.

I installed "ntfsprogs" and its dependencies, but it still doesn't recognize NTFS, therefore I have no mount options. Do I need to recompile the kernel??? If so, how? Debian includes the Synaptic Package Manager, would simply reinstalling the kernel be enough????

If I'm wrong, then How do I enable NTFS Support in Debian???

AFAIK you should be able to mount an ntfs partition even without ntfsprogs.
See if ntfs support is in the kernel: gunzip < /proc/config.gz |grep NTFS
or: grep NTFS /usr/src/linux/.config
or: grep NTFS /boot/config-some_version
If it says CONFIG_NTFS_FS=m it's a module and can be loaded with: modprobe ntfs
for a more permanent loading use modconf.
How are you trying to mount anyway?

a bit off topic here but did you know there's zgrep?

zgrep whatever zipped.file.gz

also zless, zmore. zcat, zdiff and zcmp

All part of the gzip packages. Neat, eh?

I haven't tried to mount anything yet, cause I can't find any NTFS support installed in the kernel to begin with :S, just tried to look for support using grep and still can't find it. As far as I have figured out I dont have support for NTFS installed in the kernel. I used cat /proc/filesystems and it lists all the fs supported and NTFS isn't on there :S

What happens if I re-install my kernel using synaptic??? Do I screw it up??

Did you try modprobe ntfs? If it comes back with module not found your kernel lacks ntfs support. Then (and only then) you will have to get a new kernel. Either build it yourself or use the pre-built kernel images that are available through apt (or synaptic). As far as I know all pre-built kernels come with the ntfs module.

Yes I tried modprobe ntfs and nothing happend, I'm guessing that might mean that when I installed the system it came pre-compiled...so what should I do next to try to mount one of the partitions?

sounds like a great plan

Yes, great idea. The thing is, how??

mount -t ntfs /dev/hdXn /mount/point

The -t ntfs might not even be necessary. Maybe it's determined automagically. /dev/hdXn needs to be adjusted to suit your needs (hda1: first partition on primary master,....).

Might be worth putting an entry in /etc/fstab if you constantly mount this device. see man fstab and man mount

Heh, that is neat. Now that you mentioned it, I do remember it but habits die hard. Will probably change this one though, so thanks.

Thx I got it working, still dont see anything anywhere that says the kernel has ntfs support, but I still got it thought.

Hi,

I'm running into some problems as well. I did a cat /proc/filesystems and ntfs was listed. I also did a modprobe ntfs with no errors.

My problem arises when I try to do the actual mounting. If I do mount /dev/hda1 mount/windows it says that mount point mount/windows does not exist.

If i just try mount /dev/hda1 can't find /dev/hda1 in /etc/fstab or /etc/mtab.

I'm very new, especially to Debian, so I appologize if I'm just missing something. Any help would be great.

Thanks,
Matt

It's usually /mnt/windows and not mount/windows , observe the missing / as well.
If the dir doesn't exist: mkdir /mnt/windows

Man, I feel dumb now. I got 'er to mount now, but how do I set permissions so that all users can access it, but not write? Currently only the owner (root) can access the drive.

Edit: I found notice I could use mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/window -o
and then enter either uid, gid, umask but I'm not sure what I'd put there.

Thanks,
Matt