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    Need help with a MBP

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by another photoguy, May 10, 2014.

  1. another photoguy

    another photoguy Notebook Evangelist

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    I use a variety of computers... a Dell Latitude, an Imac, a circa 2011 MBP supplied by my employer, and a mid-2012 MBP which I bought refurbished from the Apple Outlet store.

    I’ve not used the newer MBP very much, and it was only yesterday that I discovered that I could not move folders from this Mac to most of my external drives and/or USB sticks (although I was able to get one stick to work). One of the drives I was attempting to use was a brand-new Seagate. I have had no such problems with the older MBP or the Imac. (I use mostly Seagate drives as these can apparently be used on either platform without formatting).

    Thoughts?
     
    another photoguy, May 10, 2014
    #1
  2. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    sounds like you are trying to copy files to an NTFS formatted drive in which OSX can read but not write to natively. Seagate or not most HDD's come formatted in NTFS. you should reformat it as exFAT or make sure your USB sticks are exFAT or FAT32 to copy files over.

    otherwise you can use a hack or third party software to enable NTFS writing.
     
    KCETech1, May 10, 2014
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  3. Yotsuba

    Yotsuba Notebook Evangelist

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    Most external hard drives are preformatted using the NTFS file system. Unless the packaging for the drive specifies that the drive is for Macintosh computers, you can expect it to be NTFS. exFAT and FAT32 support both reading and writing files, but FAT32 will not support files larger than 4GB (not sure about exFAT). If it is mandatory that the drives remain formatted using NTFS, software such as Paragon NTFS or Tuxera NTFS will allow both read and write functions on those drives.
     
    Yotsuba, May 12, 2014
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  4. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    exFAT will support files larger than 4 GB which is kind of the point of exFAT. KCETech1 and Datamonger are right in that most drives are now NTFS formatted. If I recall correctly, LaCie sells some of their externals unformatted with instructions for both mac and windows. That said, a lot of their drives are rather expensive.

    Anyways, this arstechnica article might interest you. It'll give a rundown on exFAT and other alternatives: Can Microsoft's exFAT file system bridge the gap between OSes? | Ars Technica
     
    tijo, May 12, 2014
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  5. DarthWayne

    DarthWayne Notebook Consultant

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    you dont need to format.

    Seagate on their website lets u install Paragon driver for free for NTFS usage and then u can use your External HDD normally like u would on a PC.


    Paragon is a paid software but for Seagate owners its Free if u install it from their official website.


    of course if the OP doesnt have much data then he can format to FAT32 as I was reading that NTFS is slower?? (hope someone can confirm)
     
    DarthWayne, May 12, 2014
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  6. KCETech1

    KCETech1 Notebook Prophet

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    Paragon driver seems to be glitchy as heck on OSX 10.9 I had to dump it entirely on a couple systems and go to Tuxera. however in reverse the Paragon HFS+ driver for windows is much better now.
    incorrect, FAT is slower. NTFS, EXT4 and ZFS are actually the two fastest file systems currently especially for large files and datasets, they will slow some if you have milions of small files
    https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/File_systems
     
    KCETech1, May 12, 2014
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