Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

mac57 · 2006-09-03 03:27:44

I have both a Mac and a Linux box (Arch 0.7.1 and SuSE 9.3) at home. I would like to transfer files back and forth between them using an external hard drive. I have found that under SuSE I can read and write external drives formatted by Mac OS X by loading a kernel module called hfsplus. However, this module doesn't seem to be included in Arch.

Is there some other way to support the Mac OS X file system under Arch? Frankly I would like to delete SuSE from my system, but since it is the bridge I have between Mac OS X and Arch, I am forced to keep it.

BTW, I do know that both Mac OS X and Arch share FAT32 as a commonly supported file system, but FAT32 is pretty much as good as useless, in that all of the file r,w,x permissions and ownership are not supported on FAT32. Hence, transferring files between Mac OS X and Arch via FAT32 trashes a lot of important information. Many programs rely on the permissions of their data files to be correct or else they don't work as expected.

So, I am posting this to see if there is any other way to support Mac OS X's HFS+ file system. Alternately, is there a way to submit a formal request to have the module built and made available? Thanks!

luca · 2006-09-03 05:51:55

Hi mac57,
which kernel do you have? In my Arch there is a module hfsplus.ko
My kernel is kernel26-2.6.17.11-1
Try to load the module with

modprobe hfsplus

mac57 · 2006-09-04 00:39:25

Thanks. I have kernel 2.6.15-ARCH, the standard one that came with the 0.7.1 (Noodle) release. When I attempt a modprobe of hfsplus, I get the expected FATAL: Module hfsplus not found.

Further to this, when I search for module/package hfsplus on the Arch home page, it doesn't find anything. Ditto for AUR. Where did you get yours? Perhaps I could pick it up and try it out?

jnengland77 · 2006-09-04 02:03:32

You must update your kernel is all, and hfsplus will be available to you. To update just pacman -Sy kernel26. After the update try modprobe hfsplus again.

~jnengland77

syamajala · 2006-09-04 02:03:37

did a little digging and it seems that in the 2.6.15 arch kernel hfs wasn't compiled in at all.
http://cvs.archlinux.org/cgi-bin/viewcv … cvs-markup

it was compiled as a module from 2.6.16 on. so if you just upgrade your kernel it should work.

mac57 · 2006-09-04 19:14:27

Thanks guys, this sounds promising. Now, how much pain am I going to cause myself by upgrading the kernel? Should I expect bunches of other things to break all of a sudden? For example, I now have to update a pile of device drivers as well.... ?

Does anyone have experience with this upgrade? Did it go smoothly? I'm just a bit cautious - EVERY time I have messed with anything related to the kernel I have ended up trashing my machine!

Thanks for indulging me.

Lone_Wolf · 2006-09-04 20:05:31

A lot will depend on what you need to update beside the kernel .

Is your pc using Udev, Xorg7 , mkinitrd / mkinitcpio ?
(and that's just the basic stuff .... )

Mefju · 2006-09-04 21:42:06

mac57 wrote:

Hence, transferring files between Mac OS X and Arch via FAT32 trashes a lot of important information.

You could use a well known tar program for that. It will keep all information of your files untouched.

mac57 · 2006-09-05 01:01:29

Thank you mefju. Now that is an excellent idea... and no messing with kernels either...

Arch Linux

#1 2006-09-03 03:27:44

Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#2 2006-09-03 05:51:55

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#3 2006-09-04 00:39:25

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#4 2006-09-04 02:03:32

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#5 2006-09-04 02:03:37

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#6 2006-09-04 19:14:27

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#7 2006-09-04 20:05:31

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#8 2006-09-04 21:42:06

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

#9 2006-09-05 01:01:29

Re: Support for Mac OS X Formatted External Drives?

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