NTFS + Linux

[JonTheBaller]

Do any distros come with native NTFS support? More specifically, is there a distro that can be installed directly onto an NTFS partition? Thanks!

 

[drag]

You can modify any distro to read off of a NTFS partition by compiling a custom kernel or activating the proper modules. But there is no way for Linux to properly WRITE to a ntfs partition. So it is treated kinda like a CD in terms of accessability.

So no there is no linux os that will run or install in NTFS.

However there are some very lovely FAT partition solutions like Zipslack.

 

[AndyHui]

Please read the AnandTech FAQ: Does Linux support NTFS?

 

[philippis]

A tricky way is install through network.

You can convert a windows machine to a NFS server. And then install linux onto the NFS disk following Root over nfs clients & server Howto

It works for any fs as long as NFS is supported.

 

[tart666]

Write support does exist, but the party line is that it's in "beta" mode. Read the list of caveats very carefully if you are going to enable it. You may lose all data on your NTFS partition at any time.

It is possible, though, and I have seen machines using it with no probs.

 

[Megatomic]

Originally posted by: AndyHui
Please read the AnandTech FAQ: Does Linux support NTFS?

That FAQ was last updated May 2002. There have been kernel updates since. Has there been any open source progress made to allow Linux to write to NTFS yet? And I mean such that a noob might be able to set it up...

 

[civad]

Xandros claims to have NTFS support by default.

Xandros

Edit:

I went through the Xandros website again. The only reference to NTFS was this:

"The only Linux desktop that installs out of the box alongside Windows XP with NTFS resizing capability (Deluxe only)"

Mea Culpa...

 

[Sunner]

NTFS write support is still very much experimental.
Not that I've asked them, but somehow I doubt Microsoft is helping the Linux kernel developers.

And I'd guess the support Xandros claims to have is read only, considdering the current nature of NTFS write support I doubt anyone would claim to support writing on their paper specs, it wouldn't take long before someone hosed their NTFS partition, get majorly PO'ed, and sue Xandros.

 

[civad]

I think even Mandrake 9.0 ( 2.4.19 that is the most recent kernel their 'official' release ships with) does not have NTFS write support.

 

[Tiger]

I think even Mandrake 9.0 ( 2.4.19 that is the most recent kernel their 'official' release ships with) does not have NTFS write support.

I think it's been in there since the 2.2.x kernels. You need to recompile the kernel to do it and there are warnings right and left that it's experimental and to do it at your own risk.

 

[civad]

I actually should have added the words "without recompiling the kernel" in my last post.

--->merely an afterthought, but an important one

 

[Nothinman]

NTFS write support is still very much experimental.
Not that I've asked them, but somehow I doubt Microsoft is helping the Linux kernel developers.

It's still at the point where they say "if you write to an NTFS partition it will corrupt it, no question about it. Please run this fix-up util followed by chkdsk to undo the damage". If anything MS is making it harder by changing the ondisk structures every release (pretty much every NT release since 4 SP4 has had an an NTFS format change).

I think even Mandrake 9.0 ( 2.4.19 that is the most recent kernel their 'official' release ships with) does not have NTFS write support.

And none will for quite some time, unless there's major breakthroughs in the reverse engineering process any time soon.

 

[AndyHui]

That FAQ was last updated May 2002

It is still applicable. The situation has not really changed in any way.