NTFS RPMs for Fedora & RedHat

Linux-NTFS Project

Info

• News
• About
• Instructions
• Release Notes 2.4
• Release Notes 2.6
• Help
• Build Your Own
• Contact the Maintainer

Downloads

• Fedora 4
• Fedora 3
• Fedora 2
• Fedora 1
• RHEL 4
• RHEL 3
• RedHat 9
• RedHat 8
• RedHat 7
• Source Code
• Contrib

NTFS RPM Release Notes for Linux 2.4

Contents

1. Audience
2. Features
3. Limitations
4. Unsupported
5. Credits
6. Links
7. Contribute

Audience

These release notes are for people using one of these versions of Linux:

• Fedora Core release 1 (Yarrow)
• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 3 (Taroon)
• Red Hat Linux release 9 (Shrike)
• Red Hat Linux release 8.0 (Psyche)
• Red Hat Linux release 7.3 (Valhalla)

If you aren't certain which version you have, you can find out with this command:

    cat /etc/redhat-release
          

Features

• Mount NTFS Volumes
• Traverse directories
• Read ordinary files
• Read fragmented files
• Read sparse files
• Read compressed files

In short it does the minimum you would expect from a filesystem driver.

Limitations

Read only

Most importantly, this driver has NO WRITE SUPPORT. Although there is some write support in the NTFS driver is too dangerous for anyone to use it.

Old driver

The 2.4 Linux Kernel source code contains the old NTFS driver. The new, better, driver only exists in the 2.6 Linux Kernel.

Multi-Processor / SMP Unsafe

This version of the NTFS driver was written long before SMP processors, and pre-emptive kernels, became popular. The driver is not SMP safe. That said, it won't crash the minute you use it and even if it did crash, or hang, it will note damage your NTFS partition. The only reported problems have been when the driver was under a heavy load. If you need a stable, SMP-safe kernel, then you will have to use a 2.6 Linux Kernel.

4K Maximum Cluster Size

Due to a limitation of this NTFS driver, you cannot mount partitions which have a cluster size larger than 4096 bytes. The mount command will fail and an explanation will be written to the system log. If you have a larger cluster size you will have to use a 2.6 Linux Kernel

No Quota, ACLs, Alternate data streams

There is not support in the NTFS driver for Quotas, ACLs or Alternate data streams.

Unsupported

These NTFS RPMs are only for users of Fedora or RedHat kernels. Each kernel module is tailored for precisely one kernel - this is why the instructions are so important.

If you obtained your kernel from some other vendor, these RPMs will not work, they could even crash your machine. If you have such a kernel and you need NTFS support, you will have to ask your vendor for help.

Credits

This Linux NTFS driver would not exist without the hard work of:

• Albert Cahalan
• Anton Altaparmakov
• Damon Casale
• David Dillard
• Domagoj Pensa
• Joseph Malicki
• Martin von Löwis
• Matthew Fanto
• Olof Wolgast
• Rani Assaf
• Régis Duchesne
• Richard Russon
• Steve Dodd
• Werner Seiler

Links

Instructions

A simple guide, which shows you how to find the right NTFS RPM and how to install it.

Help

A list of common problems, and simple solutions, when downloading or installing the NTFS RPM.

FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)

Everything you ever needed to know about NTFS. e.g. How to mount an NTFS Volume; how to change the permissions; how to mount the volume automatically at boot time.

Build your own NTFS RPM

If you would like the fun and adventure of building your own NTFS RPMs, you can follow These Simple Instructions.

Compile your own kernel

There is also a more detailed guide to compiling your own kernel.

NTFSProgs - Tools to do neat things to an NTFS Volume

With these tools you can change the volume label, resize a volume, recover a deleted file and more, all from within Linux.

NTFSProgs - Manual Pages

The manual pages describe how to use all the tools.

Contribute

There are only a few of us working on this project, so progress it slow. We'd like to help everyone, but there simply isn't time. You could help the project in lots of ways and every bit of help would leave us more free time to work on the driver.

Help us write code

We need to write lots of code to get write support working. It's going to take us a long time. NTFS is a very complicated filesystem, but we have documented most of what we know.

Help us test

This is a very important job and not a simple one either. Testing a filesystem, or tools, needs careful thought.

Help manage us

Our group consists of two main programmers and a few helpers. We often get offers of help, but it takes more time to help them get started than we get back in return. We need someone to organise our resources.

Help us maintain the website

The website contains a lot of diverse information. It's not well organised and needs someone to

Help us write documentation

There is a world shortage of good documentation. When it does get written it's often by a programmer who cannot see things from a beginner's perspective.

Help us translate the documentation

Linux is being used by millions of people in so many different countries. By translating some of our documentation into your native language, you can make beginners feel more confident.

Make a donation

If you don't have the time, or skills, to contribute, consider making a financial difference to the lives of the NTFS developers. Anything from the cost of a beer, upwards, would make us happy and more productive. There is a link at the top of this page.

If you think you can help, please contact me.