Reading PC-formatted hard drives using your Mac is easy enough. Just plug in the drive, then access the files you need to use. But writing to that drive? Well, that's a little more complicated. This is due to the fact that NTFS, the file system utilized by Windows PCs, has limited support on Mac. While you can read files from these drives just fine, if you need to write to a PC-formatted hard drive, you'll need some third-party software to get the job done.
Mar 15, 2012 Hi Dear All I have upgrade 10.6.8 -10.7 lion. B4 it can read/write my Ext HD well, after i update to os x lion it can only read. How it make os x lion can rw on NTFS? Please anyone help me to fix it. Thanks/ Regard iLorimac. 1.5 TB SATA (3.0 Gbps link, NCQ) 7200 rpm hard drive (Seagate) 500 GB USB 2.0 hard drive (LaCie brand w/ Samsung 7200 rpm drive inside) 16 GB USB 2.0 flash drive (Kingston DataTraveler 2.0) Operation: Copy 1000 mp3s to NTFS drive using Finder Device Tuxera NTFS NTFS-3G (cached) NTFS-3G (uncached) 07:00:00 (approx.). If you’re experiencing problems with mounting the volume, try the following: Make sure Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Tuxera is enabled within Preferences. Reboot your Mac, then try mounting again. Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Tuxera might not mount nor recognize an NTFS volume. Reinstall Microsoft.
Here are the tools you can use to work with NTFS-formatted drives on your Mac.
Microsoft NTFS for Mac
What many consider to be the go-to for writing to NTFS drives on a Mac, Microsoft NTFS comes from developer Paragon Software. It gives you complete control over how your Mac interacts with NTFS-formatted drives, letting you edit, copy, and delete files from them as though your machine had native support. The app also lets you choose how NTFS drives mount when attached to your Mac. You can choose to mount in read-only mode if you don't want to accidentally modify files but you still need access to them, or you can even choose not to mount automatically.
Microsoft NTFS for Mac is available directly from Paragon Software for $19.95 after a 10-day free trial.
Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Like Microsoft NTFS, Tuxera's app lets you edit, copy, and delete files on NTFS drive on your Mac. Tuxera NTFS uses smart caching technology to speed up transfers, maintaining a sustained speed as files are moved between your external drive and your Mac. It also features failsafe technology designed to protect against unexpected power loss or an unexpected unplugging of your drive, both of which could cause data loss or even damage the drive. Tuxera also includes support for NTFS extended attributes and works with virtualization software like Parallels and VMware Fusion.
Tuxera NTFS is available from Tuxera for $31 after a 15-day free trial.
Other tools
While Paragon and Tuxera provide paid tools that integrate themselves with your Mac and do all of the necessary setup during the installation process, there are free tools that you can install, but they take some work. Fuse for macOS, for instance, requires that you use the Terminal. You'll also need to install NTFS-3G, which allows you to manually mount and write to NTFS drives. The problem is that installing NTFS-3G is a major security risk by the project's own admission, as the mount tool runs with root permissions, leaving your system exposed to possible attack. This method can't really be recommended, but it is possible.
Questions?
If you've got any questions about working with NTFS drives on your Mac, let us know in the comments.
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I'm in a huge panic right now because my external HD won't mount! It's a 2TB WD Elements that's about 4'ish years old. It was working fine this morning but just now when I tried mounting it, it was seriously lagging and I thought it was a problem with my laptop so I restarted my system. After rebooting my MBP, my external drive just wouldn't mount at all and I got this error message: Tuxera NTFS could not mount /dev/disk2s1
at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following
problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at pread(3, 0x102180000, 524288, 3220701184);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to calculate free MFT records: Input/output
error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.
I tried mounting it on Windows but I can't access it AT ALL, I see it as a HD but there's no indication of its size etc and I even got the message error saying it needs reformatting (!!!) suggesting it's practically a blank! I don't know what to do and am near tears now.at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following
problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at pread(3, 0x102180000, 524288, 3220701184);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to calculate free MFT records: Input/output
error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.
Please help! I have a lot of important files and data which I can't afford to lose in this HD and I really would like to recover it if possible!! Thanks!
EDIT: Gah! HELP! I tried mounting it again after a failed attempt at repairing the disk ala DiskUtility and I got these TWO error messages
Tuxera Not Mounting Ntfs Drive For Iphone
Tuxera NTFS could not mount /dev/disk1s1
at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at: pread(3, 0x100303400, 65536,
3221226496);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to read of MFT, mft=1 count 1 br=-1: Input/
output error
Failed to open inode$MFTMirr: Input/output error
Failed to load $MFTMirr: Input/output error
Failed to mount '/dev/rdisk1s1': Input/output error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.
at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at: pread(3, 0x100303400, 65536,
3221226496);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to read of MFT, mft=1 count 1 br=-1: Input/
output error
Failed to open inode$MFTMirr: Input/output error
Failed to load $MFTMirr: Input/output error
Failed to mount '/dev/rdisk1s1': Input/output error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.
Tuxera Not Mounting Ntfs Drive For Pc
Tuxera NTFS could not mount /dev/disk1s1
at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at pread(3, 0x102200000,
524288, 3220701184);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to calculate free MFT records: Input/output
error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.
at /Volumes/FRANCOIS because the following problem occured:
Aligned I/O enabled.
CBCIO enabled.
WARNING: ReadFully - I/O error while reading from
file (5: 'Input/output error')
WARNING: failed at pread(3, 0x102200000,
524288, 3220701184);
WARNING: bytesRead=0
ntfs_attr_pread_i: ntfs_pread failed: Input/output
error
Failed to calculate free MFT records: Input/output
error
NTFS is either inconsistent, or there is a hardware fault, or it's a
SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware. In the first case run
chkdsk /f on Windows
then reboot into Windows twice. The usage of the /f
parameter is very important! If the device is a SoftRAID/FakeRAID then
first activate
it and mount a different device under the /dev/
mapper/ directory, (e.g.
/dev/mapper/nvidia_eahaabcc1). Please see the
'dmraid' documentation
for more details.