I want to be able to mount my windows disk. To do this I know I have to install NTFS support (which is read-only as far as I can tell from other threads). The problem is, I don't which package will give me this option.
The distro I'm installing is Red Hat 7.2 (actually I've already installed it, but I'm planning to reinstall, because apparently the standard options don't include ntfs support [I checked this with "cat /proc/filesystems" -> ntfs wasn't in there])

So can anyone tell wgich package to include ????

You need to recompile your kernel. NTFS is not supported as a default in redhat 7.2. In the Filesystems section while recompiling your kernel, you will see NTFS support and NTFS write support. Once our kernel will be recompiled, mount will contain support to mount NTFS partitions.

You will be able to mount it with something like
mount -t ntfs /dev/hda1 /mnt/win32

You might want to use uid, gid and umask options to give the mount nice permissions.

Hope this helps.

Eric Pare - paree@lexum.umontreal.ca

How do I recompile my kernel. I'm a newbie to this sort of stuff and don't know this.
Thx for helping me out here

Okay well recompiling a kernel is somewhat of a task.

I found your request for NTFS support since a had myself problems.
When my NTFS WindowsXP partitions are mounted in Linux Red
Hat 7.2, the system completely freezes after browsing a while.

I searched a lot and read many man pages. I beleive NTFS support
is not pretty good, maybe especially because of *winxp* NTFS.

Therefore, I formatted my NTFS partition that I wanted to mount
in FAT32 instead. The kernel supports as a default FAT32 partitions
for mounting. I can at last listen to my mp3s...

I you still want to recompile your kernel, I'd recommend
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/l...om-kernel.html

Hope this helps!

===========================
Eric - paree@lexum.umontreal.ca
University of Montreal

Thanks again for your help paree.
Do you know for sure it is a common problem with Red Hat 7.2 or is it just your system ? Because if what you say is true, I think I'd better look for other options to read files from my windows disk (from cd or 3,5-inch disk for example)

Its not distro based as none of this is specific to RedHat or Mandrake or whatever. This is a kernel level problem. A lot of the work being done on getting the Linux kernel to be able to mount an NTFS system is getting done by guesswork and blind luck. MS doesn't exactly publish a how-to on this sort of thing.

RH 7.2 shipped with kernel 2.4.9 If I remember right. We're now up to 2.4.18 with a number of NTFS support bugfixes in the changelog. You could download and compile the source for 2.4.18 from www.kernel.org if you like, and don't worry about doinking up your system. If you follow the how-to's correctly you can boot either to the default kernel or to the newer one when you're done. There are also newer kernels available from RedHat in RPM format, but if you want a kernel done right, its best to compile it yourself.

Cheers,

Finegan

and if you still wanna give give it a try on your existing kernel without recompiling the whole kernel. Insmod the module
insmod <modulename> and do lsmod if it's there

and what exactly is the function of these commands and which module gives NTFS support ?
I'm a total newbie on these things so please be patient with me

I talked with a couple of competant friends I have and they
all told me that mounting NTFS was a boring game. I'd had
that I have the latest kernel on my computer and was able to
mount ntfs - it just crashed after browsing a while in folders.

I don't beleive mounting NTFS is a good idea at this time

================================
Eric Pare - paree@lexum.umontreal.ca
University of Montreal

Ok, i suggest searching for tutorials on kernel compiling if you want. Otherwise i will be glad to guide you through the process if you contact me via ICQ or AIM.

Btw, NTFS read support works flawlessly for me always.

Thanks for your offer, but I'm first going to find out if NTFS support is stable yet. I don't need it that badly nayway.

The only thing that isn't completly stable as of now is NTFS Write support, but thats coming in later kernel releases.

I object. We are 4 here that formatted in FAT32 after having
trouble mounting ntfs partitions. The only thing I have ever been
able to do with no problem at all is mouting via samba any share.

Since no one seems to be able to tell why we can't mount NTFS
(ro), I currently consider there is a bug. Therefore if someone can
tell me wrong here, go ahead : I'll be pleased!

I am running :
amd 1600+
512m ram ddr
a7m266 board
7200rpm w.digital hdd


================================
Eric Pare - paree@lexum.umontreal.ca
University of Montreal

Its not a bug, its a feature!

Its possible to get NTFS mount support, its just a headache. Up until the realease of Win 2000, and arguably only since Win XP, has there been an issue about mount NTFS. Before 2k there was only a small number of people running dual boot boxen that needed to mount NTFS partitions under Linux. Also, the standards on how NTFS actually works have never really been public, so quite a bit of the work being done is raw-reading data off of the devices and guessing at how the file system works.

FAT was a standard that has been evolved on by MS every few years, starting way back in the DOS-3 days with FAT14. Linux hackers have had 10+ years to fiddle with FAT, which is also apparently a much easier FS to figure out.

If you want to get NTFS read-only without much in the way of bugs, try snagging the newest kernel, 2.4.18 from www.kernel.org and compiling that one. There have been about 3-4 NTFS bugfixes and additions since October (2.4.10 era-ish) [XP came out on the 25th], all mainly due to the fact that XP comes with what might be a slightly different version of NTFS than what has been shipping with NT and 2k. RH 7.2's shipping kernel is rather old now, and they left out a pre-compiled ntfs module on this past release, and I think 7.1 too, to keep people from trashing their partitions and blaming RH.

Distros that aren't as worried about their own butt, and oddly enough all I can think of is Slackware, has ntfs as a default pre-compiled module. I used it once to move 2.5Gb of data off of a trashed Win2k installation on a laptop.

Cheers,

Finegan