Mount Apple APFS partition

taric · 2018-01-11 14:48:16

EDIT: I would like to mount my OSx partition on linux. I originally thought it was HFS formatted, but the comments helped me figure out it was actually APFS.

- - - -

I have an external hard disk formatted on MAC as HFS / HFS+:

Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x88a1e58d

Device     Boot Start        End    Sectors  Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1  *        2 3907029167 3907029166  1.8T af HFS / HFS+

I tried mounting it using:

sudo mount -t htfplus /dev/sdb1 /mnt

I also did:

sudo hdparm -r0 /dev/sdb1

The hard disk is mounted and I can read and copy for it, but, I can't write to it:

/mnt 
❯ touch a
touch: cannot touch 'a': Read-only file system

I tried installing nautilus and thunar, but neither of them 'saw' the exteral hard disk.
Anything I found online was not really helpful. Any clue?

Last edited by taric (2018-01-13 16:08:12)

Trilby · 2018-01-11 14:50:19

https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/hfsprogs/ ?

seth · 2018-01-11 20:50:32

https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Ma … Partitions

taric · 2018-01-13 14:43:07

The link by Trilby did not work, but after looking into the link shared by seth, I followed the instructions and realized that my partition is actually Apple_APFS.
Is this the same like HFS/ HFS+ or does it require another kind of tretement?
If so, how to actually mount APFS?

Slithery · 2018-01-13 14:51:17

APFS is a new filesystem and I believe no-one has written a rw linux driver for it yet.

I could be mistaken though as all the research I've done tells me you can't even mount ro without paying for...
https://backstage.paragon-software.com/ … pfs-linux/
which seems to go against your first post.

https://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page= … -Announced

You may want to edit the thread title as the current one is no longer accurate.

Last edited by Slithery (2018-01-13 14:55:37)

taric · 2018-01-13 16:09:47

I updated the post title, and added an EDIT to explain what is going on.

So, we ain't got an OSS way to read APFS? But, if i'm not mistaken, that's how all new macs are formatted, right?

Slithery · 2018-01-13 16:35:30

taric wrote:

But, if i'm not mistaken, that's how all new macs are formatted, right?

Correct

I've just found this, it is still calling itself experimental though...
https://github.com/sgan81/apfs-fuse

What puzzles me is in your first post you say that you managed to mount ro without having to install any extra software.

Last edited by Slithery (2018-01-13 16:38:27)

taric · 2018-01-13 17:02:41

Ah yes, that is because I had originally mounted a hard disk formatted by mac. I thought that it, and my mac partitions were both HFS+.
Then, I tried using the links shared above to get my actual macbook partition to mount (not the original hard drive), and I realized that I was dealing with 2 different partitions!

So, the external HDD I used before I make this post was indeed HFS+, but my goal was to mount a mac partition (The HDD was meant to be a test!). Only after that did I realize that there are in reality 2 different partition types at play!

That link u shared is experimental, and it does not support writing.

Arch Linux

#1 2018-01-11 14:48:16

Mount Apple APFS partition

#2 2018-01-11 14:50:19

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#3 2018-01-11 20:50:32

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#4 2018-01-13 14:43:07

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#5 2018-01-13 14:51:17

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#6 2018-01-13 16:09:47

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#7 2018-01-13 16:35:30

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

#8 2018-01-13 17:02:41

Re: Mount Apple APFS partition

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