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When I try to mount this drive on my mac using an external HD enclosure, it will only mount "read only". Dmesg says this:

NTFS-fs warning (device /dev/disk1s4, pid 23830): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): $LogFile is not clean.  Will not be able to remount read-write.  Mount in Windows.
NTFS-fs warning (device /dev/disk1s4, pid 23830): ntfs_system_inodes_get(): Windows is hibernated.  Will not be able to remount read-write.  Run chkdsk.

I've tried checking and adding permissions, I've tried sudo /sbin/mount -t ntfs -fw /dev/disk1s4 mntpnt, it doesn't seem to matter.

I've also tried

sudo /sbin/mount -o remount,rw /dev/disk1s4 mntpnt

Darwin thinks I'm too dumb to know what I'm doing.

In windows 8, apparently every shutdown is a "hibernate" until you log in and change the "fastboot" settings. But the whole reason I'm trying to mount the drive on my Mac is because I cannot log in. Very frustrating!

In linux systems, mount has the option to -o remove_hiberfile, but Darwin knows not of any such thing.

  • Should I just live-boot from linux or is there a way to circumvent this ridiculous read-only restriction on my Macbook?

  • Is there a different tool I can use?

Thanks in advance! :-)

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3 Answers 3

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You should try to mount the partition with ntfs-3g along with the remove_hiberfile option as stated in the manual.

However, keep in mind that it will delete your hibernation file and you won't be able to recover your Windows session later. If you want to mount the partition without deleting the hibernation file you have to perform a read-only mount.

Examples:

# mount read/write deleting the hibernation file
ntfs-3g -o remove_hiberfile /dev/disk1s4 /path/to/mountpoint
# mount read/only without deleting the hibernation file
ntfs-3g -o ro /dev/disk1s4 /path/to/mountpoint

Remember to run the commands as root (with sudo, for example). You may also need to unmount the partition if it is already mounted (you can do that with umount /dev/disk1s4. It works with ntfs-3g too).

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  • The version of mount on Mac os x 10.8.5 does not support ntfs-3g nor does it support the "remove_hiberfile". Is there a way to do this on mac? Is there a different version of mount I can port install?
    – James M. Lay
    Jan 30, 2014 at 1:10
  • You can try to follow this instructions to install ntfs-3g. (unfortunately I don't own a Mac so I can't test it)
    – Robertof
    Jan 30, 2014 at 22:24
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The only apparent solution: install ntfs-3g.

This link will take you to a page with great, concise installation instructions. It was kindly provided by Robertof.

After the brief installation, use the following command:

mount -t ntfs-3g -o remove_hiberfile /dev/disk1s4 mount_point

Some notes:

Don't forget to "eject" the windows disk first! You can use diskutil unmount /dev/disk1s4. Also, to make sure you're mounting the appropriate partition, mac is a little different from Linux systems. Instead of fdisk -l you will use diskutil list.

Thank you guys for the previous answer attempts! I hope this is useful to someone.

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This is by design. Windows doesn't close all data while doing a hibernation or the standard Windows 8 shutdown which is a combination of logoff + hibernation. Mounting a hibernated Windows partition will cause data losses! So Linux and OSX now warns you.

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  • I understand that windows does this now to decrease load times, but that mount warns you is one thing. That it restricts it entirely is rubbish. If I knew that data loss was not going to be an issue, how would I circumvent this restriction and mount with write access?
    – James M. Lay
    Jan 30, 2014 at 1:09
  • disable the new fastStartup of Win8 and you're fine.
    – magicandre1981
    Jan 30, 2014 at 5:09
  • From the question:"...the whole reason I'm trying to mount the drive on my Mac is because I cannot log in"
    – James M. Lay
    Jan 30, 2014 at 6:04

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