I just noticed a big problem with Arch and NTFS hard drives i think!

trusktr · 2011-04-03 17:49:45

First, in Windows, capitalization doesn't matter (case-insensitive), so "/somefolder" is the same as "/SomeFolder".... Windows will only allow you to make one folder, with any capitalization that you want. In other words, you can not have both "/somefolder" and "/someFolder" in the same location, since they are the same thing to Windows.

But if you write to an NTFS filesystem with Linux, Linux assumes case-sensitivity. So in Linux I can have both folders in the same location. This is a problem because now I will have multiple folders when Windows expects only one. Windows will get confused and you might run into problems.

An option is to change a value in the Windows registry (posting details after I find them) so that windows treats NTFS filesystems as case-sensitive.

But what I'm thinking is this: perhaps the NTFS drivers in Linux (e.g. ntfs-3g) should be case-insensitive with an option to change that in settings. That way there will be, by default, no conflicts with Windows, since Windows is not meant to be modified like Linux. Then a user like me could decide to make both Windows and ntfs-3g case-sensitive if needed. I don't know if this would be a feature of the ntfs-3g driver, or of the file browser, but it'd be a good safeguard to avoid accidental problems in Windows.

falconindy · 2011-04-03 17:53:58

From ntfs3g's man page...

   Windows Filename Compatibility
       NTFS supports several filename namespaces: DOS, Win32 and POSIX. While the ntfs-3g driver handles all of them, it always creates new  files
       in  the POSIX namespace for maximum portability and interoperability reasons.  This means that filenames are case sensitive and all charac‐
       ters are allowed except '/' and '\0'. This is perfectly legal on Windows, though  some  application  may  get  confused.  The  option  win‐
       dows_names may be used to apply Windows restrictions to new file names.

skunktrader · 2011-04-03 17:54:46

Did you try using the windows_names option?

man ntfs-3g wrote:

windows_names
This option prevents files, directories and extended attributes
to be created with a name not allowed by windows, either
because it contains some not allowed character (which are the
nine characters " * / : < > ? \ | and those whose code is less
than 0x20) or because the last character is a space or a dot.
Existing such files can still be read (and renamed).

Edit: too slow again

Last edited by skunktrader (2011-04-03 17:55:11)

jasonwryan · 2011-04-03 18:13:08

Reading the man page would be a good safeguard for accidentally creating posts with sensationalist titles!

Closing

Arch Linux

#1 2011-04-03 17:49:45

I just noticed a big problem with Arch and NTFS hard drives i think!

#2 2011-04-03 17:53:58

Re: I just noticed a big problem with Arch and NTFS hard drives i think!

#3 2011-04-03 17:54:46

Re: I just noticed a big problem with Arch and NTFS hard drives i think!

#4 2011-04-03 18:13:08

Re: I just noticed a big problem with Arch and NTFS hard drives i think!

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