Port Linux-NTFS to PC-BSD!

[Charles]

Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes anyway :P

http://www.linux-ntfs.org

The goals of the Linux-NTFS project are to develop reliable and full feature access to NTFS by the Linux kernel driver, and by a user space filesystem (ntfsmount), and to provide a wide collection of NTFS utilities (ntfsprogs) and a developer's library (libntfs) for other GPLed programs. We have achieved already a lot, with high quality results.

[pcbsdusr]

won't we have license issues here?

[TerryP]

When I can use NTFS for my BSD partition I'll be happy.

[1000k]

Given that the new ntfs-3g driver works in user-space with Fuse, and that Fuse is ported to FreeBSD, does it mean that it wouldn't be too difficult to have this driver working on our favourite OS ?

[DragnLord]

I would wait until they stop using "experimental", and start using "stable" to describe the driver... but that's my opinion.

[1000k]

Oh yes, that's a wise thing to do :) I'm just wondering if it can run on FreeBSD...

[pcbsdusr]

Of course if someone wants to make a PBI and marks it as experimental...

I wouldn't mind testing :D

[TerryP]

I don't care enough about my windows installation to do more backup then personal files (mostly on PC-BSD laptop now) and store my games CD-Keys on a floppy disk I can read from the FreeBSD box here.

But I wouldn't want to scrable the partition with an expirmental support for rw to NTFS.

I like NTFS, but I don't like XP :)

I think if some one was to test it they should format an NTFS partition from Windows and test it on that, not on the partition with their windows system folder.

[Charles]

I thought it wasn't experimental anymore...

[dracheflieger]

I thought it wasn't experimental anymore...

It's not. As to what the author says:

Hello,

As part of the Linux-NTFS project, I'm happy to announce my contribution
to ntfsmount and libntfs which resulted ntfs-3g, a read-write ntfs driver,
capable for unlimited file creation and deletion.

The driver was successfully tested very exhaustively for a longer period of
time by many ways and methods, creating and destroying millions of files and
directories on newly created images, and on over 40 real, very diverse NTFS
images collected over the last four years.

The README file is copied below which includes more general, performance and
quality information with answers and future plans.

Please make a backup of your NTFS volume by ntfsclone and try to reproducible
break ntfs-3g, if you can. If you are able to do so then please let us know,
preferable providing your NTFS metadata image, if it couln't be reproduced by
other ways.

The driver can be downloaded from

http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntf ... 4-BETA.tgz (http://mlf.linux.rulez.org/mlf/ezaz/ntfs-3g-20070714-BETA.tgz)

Please note that I'm leaving for an over 5,000 km long Far North and Arctic
Ocean advanture on Sunday morning (European time) and won't be able to read
and answer emails for almost a month (no, I'm not escaping, I plan to come
back alive ;). Originally I planned to fix all the minor issues listed below
but no more time left for me and I think it's better to release now, in case
I would get lost somewhere on the road ;) Well, actually I hope that most
issues will be resolved when I'm back!

Happy testing, problem reporting and coding,

Szaka

Caveats can be found here:
http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?thread_id=23836054&forum_id=2697

Maybe this means nothing but this is a section in the /boot/defaults/loader.conf file. Notice about half way down.
################################################## ############
### Filesystem and related modules #########################
################################################## ############

# Filesystems

cd9660_load="NO" # ISO 9660 filesystem
coda_load="NO" # CODA filesystem
fdescfs_load="NO" # Filedescriptors filesystem
linprocfs_load="YES" # Linux compatibility process filesystem
msdosfs_load="NO" # FAT-12/16/32
nfsclient_load="NO" # NFS client
nfsserver_load="NO" # NFS server
ntfs_load="NO" # NTFS
nullfs_load="NO" # Null filesystem
portalfs_load="NO" # Portal filesystem
procfs_load="NO" # Process filesystem
#umapfs_load="NO" # User-id map filesystem
unionfs_load="NO" # Union filesystem

I think that alot of these things are already here, built in to the kernel. Kind of like when I first found out that the Atheros module was built, you just had to load it and modify the /boot/defaults/loader.conf file and tell it to load at boot time. I like to poke and prod through system files and see whats up. There may even be points where I break my system but I will re-install with more knowlege. I say be adventurous with a second PC and then apply the knowlege to your main PC. Anyway, I thought you should see that section in the file.
:D

[TerryP]

I say be adventurous with a second PC and then apply the knowlege to your main PC.

if
Desktop = Current/Testing
Laptop = Stable/Tested

== Joy when things just work where it matters.

[g0lem]

the filesystems in loader.conf are loaded dynamically with mount command. if you have, say, an ntfs partition that's being mounted automaticaly during the startup through fstab, then if you want to "kldload ntfs" it will say "already exists". it was dynamically loaded. but it is r/o...
i'd be very happy if this is going to be a succesfully ported port 8)
i wish all the good-luck to those guys. :)

[antik]

the filesystems in loader.conf are loaded dynamically with mount command. if you have, say, an ntfs partition that's being mounted automaticaly during the startup through fstab, then if you want to "kldload ntfs" it will say "already exists". it was dynamically loaded. but it is r/o...
i'd be very happy if this is going to be a succesfully ported port 8)
i wish all the good-luck to those guys. :)

Actually modules in /boot/loader.conf are loaded BEFORE even kernel is loaded into memory but modules are dynamically loaded IF they are not in any config file- kernel decides, if it need this module or not.

[g0lem]

ah well, that's just the non-lazy explanation ;)
i still wish all the best to the guys doing that :lol: