LinuxQuestions.org
Review your favorite Linux distribution.
Go Back   LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie
User Name
Password
Linux - Newbie This Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question? If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!

Notices


Reply
  Search this Thread
Old 10-01-2004, 09:43 AM   #1
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Rep: Reputation: 30
Possible to write to WinXP NTFS partition ?


I am running Mandrake Linux 10.0.

It' s really good, it automatically mount my WinXP partition. However, I could only read the files there, but not possible to write files to the WinXP parition(NTFS).

What should I do in order to make write possible ?

Thank you !
 
Old 10-01-2004, 09:59 AM   #2
secesh
Senior Member
 
Registered: Sep 2004
Location: Savannah, GA
Distribution: Ubuntu, Gentoo, Mythbuntu, ClarkConnect
Posts: 1,154

Rep: Reputation: 47
kernel 2.6 has a more stable ntfs write support.

Though i highly suggest a backup system when writing to NTFS from Linux.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 10:36 AM   #3
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
First, you have to mount (or remount in your case) the Windows partition in read-write mode. The easiest way to do this is to check your /etc/fstab file and look at the options listed for the Windows partition. It'll look like this:

Code:
/dev/hda1 /mnt/windows ntfs umask=0,nls=iso8859-1,ro 0 0
You need to change the 'ro' to 'rw' and then reboot.

Second, you also need Write support for NTFS enabled in the kernel. I doubt the default Mandrake kernel has write support enabled, so you'd have to build your own and install it.

Last edited by dsegel; 10-01-2004 at 10:38 AM.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 11:51 AM   #4
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Quote:

Second, you also need Write support for NTFS enabled in the kernel. I doubt the default Mandrake kernel has write support enabled, so you'd have to build your own and install it. [/B]
Thank you !

Can you tell me in detail how to make the Write support for NTFS enabled in the kernel ? How to build my own and install it ?
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:07 PM   #5
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Building your own kernel is a complex, but ultimately fairly simple task. The first step is to get a copy of the sources you need. You could start with the basic/default kernel sources, but it would probably be easier if you used the Mandrake sources instead.

So first figure out which kernel you are running now with the 'uname -a' command. You're looking for a number like '2.6.7' or '2.6.5-158'. Then figure out how to download the mandrake kernel sources for that version or a later version. Once you've done that report back and I can help with setting the options and building a new kernel. I don't use Mandrake though, so it would take me some time to figure out where to get the Mandrake kernel sources.

Maybe somebody else can chime in on that part.

Edit: maybe you just need to run 'urpmi kernel-sources'

Last edited by dsegel; 10-01-2004 at 12:12 PM.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:24 PM   #6
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
2.6.3-7mdk


What 's my next step ?
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:27 PM   #7
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Did you download the kernel sources? If not, that's your next step.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:36 PM   #8
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
I don't know where to download the kernel source. Can you help ?

Thanks !:

Last edited by wlaw; 10-01-2004 at 12:37 PM.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:49 PM   #9
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Try this:

1. Log into your system

2. Start a Konsole session

3. At the prompt, type 'su' and enter the root password.

4. At the new root prompt, type 'rpmdrake'

5. In RPMDRAKE, type 'kernel-source' into the Search box and click on Search. You should see a list of source packages on the left side, including kernel-source-2.6.3-16mdk. Click the box next to that one and click the 'Install' button. It should download and install the kernel sources. If it seems to work, let me know.

The source package is big, so give it a while to download.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:57 PM   #10
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Quote:
Originally posted by dsegel
Try this:


The source package is big, so give it a while to download.
I only have a model dial-up connection. What's the approximate file size ?
 
Old 10-01-2004, 12:57 PM   #11
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Probably around 20-25MB.

Edit: I was wrong - it's about 42MB.

Last edited by dsegel; 10-01-2004 at 01:01 PM.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 01:02 PM   #12
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
I'll download the kernel at my office, which is broadband connection.

I'll let you know after I download it !

By the way, is it unsafe to upgrade to an updated kernel ?

or is it unstable to write to WinXP NTFS partition ? If not, why they build a kernel that supports writing to NTFS ?

Many thanks !
 
Old 10-01-2004, 01:07 PM   #13
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Wait - this may not be worth it for you after all. Before you go any further, you should know this, from the mandrake sources config file:

Quote:
This enables the partial, but safe, write support in the NTFS driver.

The only supported operation is overwriting existing files, without changing the file length. No file or directory creation, deletion or renaming is possible. Note only non-resident files can be written to so you may find that some very small files (<500 bytes or so) cannot be written to.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 01:09 PM   #14
dsegel
Member
 
Registered: Aug 2004
Location: Davis, California
Distribution: Gentoo, always Gentoo.
Posts: 159

Rep: Reputation: 30
Depending on what you need to do, creating a special share partition with FAT format may work better for sharing files between the two OS's.
 
Old 10-01-2004, 01:15 PM   #15
wlaw
Member
 
Registered: Jun 2004
Location: HK
Distribution: Ubuntu
Posts: 245

Original Poster
Rep: Reputation: 30
Quote:
Originally posted by dsegel
Wait - this may not be worth it for you after all. Before you go any further, you should know this, from the mandrake sources config file:

Note only non-resident files can be written to so you may find that some very small files (<500 bytes or so) cannot be written to.
What is non-resident files ? Can you give me an example ?
 
  


Reply


Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off



Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
How to mount winxp NTFS partition UltraSoul Solaris / OpenSolaris 4 06-13-2007 09:53 AM
Mandrake 10.1 and WinXP NTFS Partition Mr. Kinky Mandriva 7 10-15-2004 09:14 AM
even in windows cannot write to ntfs partition cdkeyleo Fedora 5 09-25-2004 09:40 AM
Is it possible to write to a ntfs partition? robert_G Linux - Newbie 2 10-30-2003 12:11 PM
Mounting NTFS partition so I can write on it Belize Slackware 9 10-01-2003 08:41 PM

LinuxQuestions.org > Forums > Linux Forums > Linux - Newbie

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 01:24 AM.

Main Menu
Advertisement
My LQ
Write for LQ
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute content, let us know.
Main Menu
Syndicate
RSS1  Latest Threads
RSS1  LQ News
Twitter: @linuxquestions
Open Source Consulting | Domain Registration