# Solved: How to read/write NTFS partition on RHEL4



## pkdcet (Oct 20, 2009)

Hi all,
I have got RHEL4 and Windows XP on my dual boot system. I can detect my pen drive on linux as it is in FAT32 format. But I am not able to detect my Windows partitions which are in NTFS file format. I would appreciate tell me the direct commands and also the direct links to the rpms or any other stuff and also the commands to execute them as I am a newbie to Linux...especially administrative stuff...
Thanks in advance,
pkdcet


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## saikee (Jun 11, 2004)

I think it is every Linux user's God given right to be able to read a NTFS partition nowadays.

Say the Windoze partition is sda1 (if in doubt list the partitions by command "fdisk -l" as a Xp partition will be Type 7). You can see its content in a root terminal by


```
mkdir /mnt/sda1
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
 ls /mnt/sda1
```
I also think a modern Linux would have been shipped with software at the factory to write on a NTFS partition. The software is ntfs-3g. IT has been part of the standard kernel in nearly all the Linux I come across in recent years. It should accessible via the RHEL4 Package Manager but I can't vouch for it as I don't use paid version of Linux. I did use the Package Manager of older versions of Fedora to get it.

We must be talking about kernels older than 2.4 that cannot read a NTFS partition.


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## pkdcet (Oct 20, 2009)

I am using Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS (2.6.9-42.0.2.EL)...
So I think it meets ur requirement of kernel 2.4 or above... 
But when I run the command...

```
mount /dev/sda1 /mnt/sda1
```
I get the error

```
mount: fs type ntfs not supported by kernel.
```
I know with recent free distributions like Ubuntu/Fedora we need not do anything to mount NTFS. But I have to run some tools which are compatible only with RHEL4. Hence I have no other way. I have run out of my RHEl subscription since a year. Package manager doesn't show ntfs-3g...Where can I fing this module which will be compatible for my version of RHEL4?
Thanks,
pkdcet


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## saikee (Jun 11, 2004)

The last time I had to get the ntfs-3g myself was with Fedora 5 and 6 with simple command

```
yum -y install ntfs-3g
```
It worked OK for me but when I tried on Fedora 4 an error message returned saying it isn't available in FC4 repository. Thus your RHEL4 may have a reason not to support it. 2.6.9 kernel is pretty old. You may have a problem of getting other supporting programmes if the kernel does not support ntfs read write..

I would cut the loss and install an extra new Linux, say Fedora (current Version 12 !) or CentOS 5.4 which still uses one the oldest kernel at 2.6.18 around. These are modern Red Hat. The modern Fedora runs at lightning speed comparing with the old versions. Your Red Hat must be about 4 to 5 years behind.


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## pkdcet (Oct 20, 2009)

Ya I know with lstest versions it waorks fine and is pretty simple.
I have also got ubuntu 9.1 on my laptop. But unfortunately, some of the tools do not run on ubuntu...so I have to stick to RHEL 4. Isn't there any other way around to detect the Windows partitions in that?


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## The Headacher (Mar 17, 2008)

Try installing the ntfs-3g drivers from source. Instructions and drivers can be found here: 
http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-download/


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## pkdcet (Oct 20, 2009)

Hey..I downloaded the ntfs-3g module from the following link and tried to compile.
http://tuxera.com/opensource/ntfs-3g-2009.11.14.tgz
Page: http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-download/

./configure; make ran fine...But there seems to be some errors during "make install". I have attached the log files for each phase while compiling ntfs-3g module.

Please suggest me what should I do to successfully mount NTFS partitions for read/write un RHEL4.

Actually I hav's still not working.e tried to follow all the instructions on the page below; but it doesn't seem to work.
http://www.linuxconfig.org/How_to_mount_partition_with_ntfs_file_system_and_read_write_access

Thanks in advance,
pkdcet


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## pkdcet (Oct 20, 2009)

Finally, I got the appropriate rpms for my stsyem from the links below.:up:

http://packages.sw.be/fuse-ntfs-3g/ (fuse-2.7.0-1.el4.rf.i386.rpm)
http://packages.sw.be/fuse (fuse-ntfs-3g-1.1030-1.el4.rf.i386.rpm)
After installing them I can both read and write into the ntfs partitions.
They got automatically mounted once I added the appropriate drives into the /etc/fstab.



```
/dev/sda1 /mnt/windowsC ntfs-3g defaults 0 0
```


.
.
Actually I got the solution from another forum.
Thanks,
-pkdcet


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