Arch Linux

Oxzir

Member

Registered: 2021-08-21

Posts: 3

[SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

Hi!
I just finished installing Arch yesterday and I was trying to add my second drive to the system (the booted-one was a SSD, that was is a HDD)
apparently to open it I just have to mount it ; for that I need to install the ntfs-3G packages as I saw on this page [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/NTFS-3G]
but instead of doing that, (without losing my data), I saw there is a possibility to change the file type, to not be 'depending' on Microsoft ntfs partition here [https://unix.stackexchange.com/question … formatting]

Is there any benefice of changing that type (ntfs to ext4 would be the best i guess ?), and on the same way deleting the 'Microsoft Reserved' partition in it ?

Thanks in advance for the responses & advices

Last edited by Oxzir (2021-08-22 12:02:51)

ectospasm

Member

Registered: 2015-08-28

Posts: 303

Re: [SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

That really depends on what you want to do with this HDD.  Do you want to use it as an empty disk?  Changing the filesystem (NTFS and ext4 are both "filesystems" which dictate how files, directories, and metadata are organized) will make the previous data on this HDD UNREADABLE.  Changing the "type" in this way is called "formatting" the drive, which will essentially LOSE ALL DATA on the HDD.  It sounds like this HDD was formatted by a Windows machine previously (NTFS is the native filesystem for Microsoft Windows).

If you want to keep the data on it, do NOT format it with mkfs.ext4!  Using the ntfs-3g package is the way to go.  If you don't want to keep the data on this disk, reformatting it will give it a new purpose on your shiny new Arch Linux installation.

EDIT:  If you're not concerned with keeping the data on this disk, you can delete and rewrite/overwrite the partition table, which will remove all references to the Windows recovery partition.  You can do this with fdisk, gdisk, parted, or any other partitioning tool you desire.  If you want to keep the data, possibly returning to Windows on it sometime in the future, you don't want to do ANY of this.

But it all depends on what you want to do with this HDD.

Last edited by ectospasm (2021-08-22 03:04:18)

Oxzir

Member

Registered: 2021-08-21

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

Thank you for the answer and avoiding me from those errors :)
I totally didn't thought about the fact that changing the type would make my files unreadable, but I would had to expect this ^^
I really want to keep this data, but as I will not go back to Windows (other than maybe with a VM), I will install ntfs-3g to save my data on an external drive, then reformat it to a 'Linux proper way' I would say!

One other thing, when I will reformat it, the type as default will be 'Linux file system', do I need to change that to another type ?

Last edited by Oxzir (2021-08-22 10:29:01)

Raynman

Member

Registered: 2011-10-22

Posts: 1,539

Re: [SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

One other thing, when I will reformat it, the type as default will be 'Linux file system', do I need to change that to another type ?

No, that's fine. (You can use more specific types with GPT partitioning for some partitions like Linux home, root, /usr, LVM.)

That is only a type identifier in the partition table. That's why the Stack Exchange answer says "This won’t touch the contents of the partition". You use one of the mkfs.* tools to create the filesystem structure on the partition.

Last edited by Raynman (2021-08-22 10:46:10)

Oxzir

Member

Registered: 2021-08-21

Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

Alright then I will let it be as the default type
Thank you both again!

seth

Member

From: Won't reply 2 private help req

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 77,344

Re: [SOLVED] mount HDD (ntfs) or change partition type ?

Using the ntfs-3g package is the way to go

"For now" ;-)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/paragon-n … nto-linux/

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