firewire drive format?

[Ian Sidle]

> Message-id: <9443722 at newdasher.Dartmouth.EDU>
> Date: 29 Jan 2003 19:11:49 EST
> From: Alric.J.Lam at Dartmouth.EDU (Alric J. Lam)
> Subject: [P1] firewire drive format?
>
> Hello all,
>
>
> I would like to use my firewire hard drive to store files from both my 
> iBook at
> home and my PC at work.  Are there any advantages or disadvantages to 
> formatting
> with HFS+ as opposed to FAT32 or NTFS?  I've heard that OSX will read 
> PC
> formats, while Win XP needs extra software (like MacDrive 5) to read 
> mac
> formatted disks.  I would rather not pay for software at this time, so 
> I am
> leaning towards formatting it with a PC format, but I'd first like to 
> know if
> there are any problems that might occur on the Mac side if I do that.

Sorry for the late message. I can only really read the list digests on 
the weekends anymore..

HFS and HFS+ are macintosh formats, with support for resource 
forks,etc. HFS+ is quite efficient with disk space and supports large 
partitions and files. normal HFS has a limit of 2GB I believe. Mac's 
can read both fine. Windows can read HFS with third party software (to 
some extent). Linux can read/write HFS (but its experimental). No way 
for HFS+ on either.

FAT32 is the filesystem created for windows 95 (and above). Functional 
with all versions later then win95. Its not the best file system (in 
file efficiency) but it works.Mac's and windows (and linux) can all 
read/write this file system no problems. I believe mac os 7 and above 
can read it.

NTFS is a file system designed for Windows NT/2K/XP. Its a bit more 
efficient then FAT32 but not by much. The main reason is it adds real 
file system security on the files. Only Windows NT/2K/XP can read/write 
this filesystem reliably.Windows 95/98/ME can *not* use it. No way mac 
any version. Linux has read support (its experimental) and write 
support but its *very* dangerous [requires a special repair each time 
used].

You can do the dual partition setup someone suggested but with FAT32 
fine the way it is its kinda redundant. You could do it, but simply put 
- you can only get the windows stuff from a windows machine and the mac 
stuff from a mac. You can't see files from HFS that are on FAT32.

Resource Forks - With Mac OS X, they have *removed* resource forks from 
all binaries and data files. They are no longer needed. Its debatable 
if this is a good move or not. Thus it is perfectly safe to keep OSX 
Native (non-carbon) programs and files on FAT32. You won't be able to 
keep carbon or os9 (classic) programs on the drive however. If its just 
data files then there will be no problems.

So In conclusion, your best bet is to use FAT32.

thanks,
Ian Sidle