I have the following version of ntfs-3g installed on my debian system:

ntfs-3g 1.2531 integrated FUSE 27 - Third Generation NTFS Driver

I have the following fstab entry for an external usb disk:

/dev/sdc1 /mnt/usbdisk ntfs-3g rw,nls=utf8 0 0

During boot, a "mount -a" command is executed in rc.local, which mounts my usb disk, but I can't see the filenames with foreign characters. The mount command isn't taking the nls=utf8 option during boot. So, I login as root and do a "umount /dev/sdc1" and "mount -a", and now I can see my filenames with foreign characters!!

Why doesn't the "mount -a" command in rc.local recognize the nls=utf8 option?

Hi,


That is a very old version. Not supported any more.


Because this option never existed (is it described in your ntfs-3g manual ?). Anyway, utf8 has always been the default encoding, and there were encoding bugs in early versions.

So, your best option is to upgrade to a recent version.

Regards

Jean-Pierre

I see. I just did an "apt-get install ntfs-3g" and I received the old version. Perhaps that old version is the one supported on my release of debian, which is called "lenny".

I'm not a very experienced with linux. What is the best way for me to get the new version of ntfs-3g?

Hi,


You can download the latest stable version ntfs-3g-2010.5.22 from
http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g-download/

Download it in a development directory, uncompress, then compile and install as indicated in http://www.tuxera.com/community/ntfs-3g ... stallation
You will need to have the usual development tools installed (gcc, make, etc.)

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Okay, thanks. My system isn't setup to compile any software right now, so I'll need to install those programs. Not sure what I exactly need besides gcc and make. The ntfs-3g download page also mentions I need the libc-dev libraries, but I'm not sure exactly what that means. So, can I just do:
apt-get install gcc
apt-get install make
apt-get install libc-dev

Am I missing anything?

BTW, I solved my issue with mounting my ntfs disk with utf8 support from rc.local. Turns out the locale variables weren't set correctly for things executing from rc.local...

Hi,


Your list contains the most obvious items, it is difficult to tell whether something is missing without making a try.

Anyway, if your configuration is not set up for development, I suggest you first try a ready-to-install package. Several of them are available on http://ftp.debian.org/debian/pool/main/n/ntfs-3g/ You apparently need a couple of packages matching your computer architecture. For a common PC, it would be :

Which you would install by :


This is not guaranteed for success, they may require other non-installed packages, but that is an easy try.

Good news. What did you have to do ?

Regards

Jean-Pierre

I’m using the new guruplug hardware, which is based on an ARM processor from Marvell (http://www.globalscaletechnologies.com/ ... tails.aspx). Not a very common architecture for general purpose computing – more commonly used as embedded CPUs for low power devices such as mobile phones, calculators and computer peripherals. I checked the website you mentioned, and the only package available for my architecture is version 1.2531, which is the old version I already installed. So, my only avenue to get a new version of the ntfs-3g software is to compile it from source.

I also checked the gcc package and it appears that apt-get has dependences that will automatically install other packages like make, man pages, libraries, etc.. So, setting up a development environment may not be that difficult. My only concern is that this computer’s total storage is 512 MB, and I only have about 250 MB free. If I decide to install a dev environment, I think I should first look into relocating my /usr to a MicroSD card.

Question: If I compile and install the new version of ntfs-3g, should I first remove the old version from my system?

To mount my disk with utf8 support from rc.local, I had to define the LANG environment variable at the top of the rc.local script: export LANG=en_US.UTF-8. It seems the locale environment variables are keyed to use the value of LANG by default, and since LANG wasn’t set in rc.local, the locale variables had incorrect settings.

For now, everything seems to be working with the old ntfs-3g driver. I can see all my files with foreign characters without issue. Thanks again for your help!

Hi,


This will install most of what you need, but you have to make a try to know what could be missing.

This could indeed be an obstacle.

Compiling is generally done in a specific directory with no impact elsewhere, and you can test the result without installing, hence with no effect on any system file. Installing will overwrite the existing version, and you can install the old version again to overwrite the new one. Existing mounted ntfs partitions still use the old version until they are unmounted, and mounted again to use the new one.

Good to know, thanks.

This version had been extensively and successfully tested before it was released, nevertheless problems have been found since, so upgrading is recommended.

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Hi,

I should have added that a bug specific to ARM processors has been reported. Only in the latest version ntfs-3g-2010.7.23-RC is it fixed. For older versions, you should apply the patch which was posted in viewtopic.php?f=3&t=7914

Regards

Jean-Pierre

Thanks. I've decided to install the development tools so I can compile the latest versions of the software I want to use. Seems like most of the packages for the ARM platform have very old versions of the software I want to use....

I will certainly make sure to install this patch when I build the new version of ntfs-3g. Thanks again for all your help - you provide excellent support!