This HowTo will allow you to install the latest ntfs-3g, and so it will require you to install non official packages from a non official repository

Introduction

Support for reading and writing to NTFS partitions under Linux has always been a problem; most existing projects are experimental and often buggy. However, a new project called ntfs-3g is capable of unlimited file creation and deletion. Note that although many people have had success using this driver and the driver is now stable, however, the driver might not have been back-ported to your Ubuntu release. Make sure you are using the stable version and not a beta or release candidate, and in case you do not know or cannot find out, make sure you back up all valuable data before using it!

Based off givre's guide, which can be found [http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=217009 in the Ubuntu Forums].

Installation

1. First you will need to add one of the following [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu#head-155b53308911d4d3869b3650856a41550f57f891 repositories]:

For Ubuntu 6.06 LTS (a.k.a. Dapper Drake):

deb http://givre.cabspace.com/ubuntu/ dapper main main-all 

deb http://ntfs-3g.sitesweetsite.info/ubuntu/ dapper main main-all 

deb http://flomertens.keo.in/ubuntu/ dapper main main-all 

For Ubuntu 6.10 (a.k.a. Edgy Eft):

deb http://givre.cabspace.com/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all 

deb http://ntfs-3g.sitesweetsite.info/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all 

deb http://flomertens.keo.in/ubuntu/ edgy main main-all 

For Ubuntu Feisty Fawn:

All necessary packages (ntfs-3g and ntfs-config) are in the universe repository. No extra repositories are required. You can go directly to the next chapter about Configuration. The driver is the stable version 1.0 (even though the comment on the package is not yet updated and still state that this is a beta software)

The main channel contains the ntfs-3g package and an up to date fuse package.

The main-all channel contains modified and unofficial version of pmount and hal (only for dapper) to have a better integration of ntfs-3g in the desktop, and to be able to use ntfs-3g with external device. It also provide a configuration tool : ntfs-config. If you want to configure your system manually and don't need integration in gnome or kde, you can disable this channel.

Packages are authenticated with a gpg key. To use it, you should execute one of the following command :

wget http://flomertens.keo.in/ubuntu/givre_key.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -
#   or
wget http://givre.cabspace.com/ubuntu/givre_key.asc -O- | sudo apt-key add -

Be sure to reload the package configuration and update your system before continuing.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

If you use Ubuntu 6.06, it is advised to reboot now, so the hal changes can take effect.

Configuration

Now you have the choice between an automatic configuration via [http://givre.cabspace.com/ntfs-config ntfs-config] or a manual configuration.

The automatic way

[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto#head-9a2bcc5a697205e980d6b8b3cac02f799e1bd5f0 Install] the ntfs-config package which is in the repository.

sudo apt-get install ntfs-config

Now it is all easy. Just launch ntfs-config from the menu (it should be under in Applications->System Tools) or via the terminal :

gksu ntfs-config

If your NTFS partitions are not yet configured, it will ask you to choose a name that will be use as mount point. Just put the name you want. Then just enable write support for internal and/or external device, and that is all.

The manual way

[https://help.ubuntu.com/community/SynapticHowto#head-9a2bcc5a697205e980d6b8b3cac02f799e1bd5f0 Install] the ntfs-3g package for drivers and other tools.

sudo apt-get install ntfs-3g

Find the name of your NTFS drive. In a terminal, type:

sudo fdisk -l | grep NTFS | awk '{print $1}'

The name of the drive (or partition) should be something like /dev/hdxn or /dev/sdxn, where x is an alphabetical letter (ranges from a to z) and n is a number (e.g. /dev/hda1).

You will now need to edit your partition list, namely /etc/fstab. Make sure to save a backup first, and then open it:

sudo cp /etc/fstab /etc/fstab.orig
gksu gedit /etc/fstab

After entering your password, find the line that matches the drive name you just found and change it to the following. Or add a new line like the following, if you cannot find it:

<your partition> /media/<mount point> ntfs-3g defaults,locale=en_US.utf8 0 0

Replace <your partition> by the name of the drive or partition you have identified earlier. And replace <mount point> with the location you would like the drive to be mounted, such as Windows or Documents. You will also need to make this directory, by running:

sudo mkdir -p /media/<mount point>

Note: you can change your locale option (for example locale=fr_FR.utf8). Execute 'locale -a' in a terminal to know which ones are supported.

Now remount all your drive

sudo umount <your partition>
sudo mount -a

or simply reboot.

If you have a problem

If you want to revert to your previous configuration :

sudo mv /etc/fstab.orig /etc/fstab
sudo umount /media/<mount point>

and uninstall the ntfs-3g package.

Notes

• If you compiled your own kernel, you probably will not have fuse installed. You can get the source with

sudo apt-get install fuse-source

and have a look at /usr/share/doc/fuse-source/README.Debian for instructions on how to compile it.

Known Issues

The present limitations of this driver are:

• access to encrypted files
• writing compressed files
• change file ownership and access right

News

8 March 2007:

• Ubuntu Feisty Fawn includes ntfs-3g in version 1.0 in the universe repository.

21 February 2007:

• ntfs-3g is now stable and in version 1.0.

08 February 2007:

• ntfs-3g is now in RC1

21 January 2007:

• Update to the latest ntfs-3g 0.20070118-BETA, and the latest fuse 2.6.1 in the main repository.

For the full ChangeLog, have a look here : http://ntfs-3g.org/releases.html

22 september 2006: New upstream release: ntfs-3g-20070920-BETA

• fix: file creation at disk-full may lead to i/o errors
• fix: statistic of inodes and free inodes was incorrect (df -i)
• fix: the 'umask' option wasn't always parsed as an octal number
• fix: "too long filename" handling wasn't posix compliant
• fix: mount failed if $MFTMirr had unused garbage at the file end

10 September 2006: New upstream release: ntfs-3g-20070910-BETA

• fix: rename was always denied if the target file or directory existed

• fix: renaming like 'foo' -> 'FOO' was denied in the WIN32 namespace

• fix: fuse kernel module is automatically loaded, no need for config
• fix: verbose mount error messages with hints for solutions
• fix: compilation failed with gcc 2.96
• change: top request: full read-write access to everybody by default
• change: file lookups are always case-sensitive

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