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Linux Which OS to share an NTFS drive with windows 7, android mobile, and iPad?

Discussion in 'Software' started by RickDawson, 29 Nov 2012.

  1. RickDawson

    RickDawson Minimodder

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    ok, so I've discovered FreeNAS won't do what I want with NTFS
    I'm looking for another OS to run.

    I have an embeded Mini-ITX system
    - 1gig VIA processor
    - 1gig memory
    - 1pci slot
    - 2 sata ports
    - several usb (4 on back iirc) and some usb headers
    - ethernet port

    I have put my smaller solid state drive in for the boot drive (as it is big enough for linux, but not windows. (32gig iirc) which uses one of the sata ports.
    The other sata port I want to put my 3tb drive in and share it (formatted NTFS and has content to keep).

    The bios will not allow (no option for it) boot from a usb hdd / ssd
    it can do floppy, zip, or cd-rom over usb, but not hdds.

    I want to share my 3tb drive (formatted with NTFS and got data to keep) with windows 7, android smartphone, and iPad 2?

    Which OS should I go for and how do I go about configuring it?
     
  2. GeorgeK

    GeorgeK Swinging the banhammer Super Moderator

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    Sorry if I'm missing something but what is it that you want to do that FreeNAS won't let you do? I don't use it (I use WHS2011 and OpenMediaVault on my 2 NAS boxes) but I would have thought that, configured properly, FreeNAS should do most things.
     
  3. RickDawson

    RickDawson Minimodder

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    FreeNAS is not wanting to read an ntfs drive directly and mount it.
    It wants to format it to something else, and I have data to keep on the drive.
    I need to have it read ntfs. Incase I need to directly connect to one of my windows machines again.
     
  4. GeorgeK

    GeorgeK Swinging the banhammer Super Moderator

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    Ah - I get you now... OpenMediaVault may allow you to do that but I'm not certain... Your system doesn't seem to meet the system requirements for WHS2011 (here)

    If you did go with something like FreeNAS and used UFS / ZFS and if you did need to access it from a Windows PC then you could run a virtual machine on the windows pc to access the drive...

    What about something like Ubuntu? That supports NTFS.
     
  5. lp rob1

    lp rob1 Modder

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    +1 for Ubuntu. Simple to set up, and does everything one could ask of it.
     
  6. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    Ubuntu has an NTFS driver, but its slow as sin.

    However ubuntu is still the better route to go with samba to share.


    EDIT

    If your boot is 32Gb then why not Win XP? (shudder please use a linux distro please)
     
  7. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    Ubuntu ntfs driver is awful but its a decent last resort.

    It will take all your sanity to put up with ntfs on Ubuntu as it takes a 7.2k drive into around the 1k you would think.

    I was lucky to break 2.5mb/sec on large files.
     
  8. RickDawson

    RickDawson Minimodder

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    ill try ubuntu.

    how can get to dos, as i want to try updating the bios from 1.07 to 1.14 as on via's website.
    the only way to do it is using a dos utility.

    how do i actually set it to flash the bios?
    ie are there any dos commands?

    files are on the downloads tab:
    http://www.viaembedded.com/en/products/boards/400/1/EPIA_CN.html

    want to try it, as it may have boot from usb hdd added.
     
  9. narwen

    narwen narwen

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    there's a pdf with the download
     
  10. RickDawson

    RickDawson Minimodder

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    Deciding on which to get. Server or desktop version of ubuntu.
    as long as files can be accessed through windows explorer and some way to access files on my android phone and iPad.

    I DJ using my windows laptop, and need to be able to browse to music and read it directly from the VIA computer.

    I have successfully tested this working between my media computer and my laptop using standard windows file browsing. (both running windows 7)
     
  11. Burnout21

    Burnout21 Mmmm biscuits

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    Desktop is easier to setup tbh and with samba installed Win7 will just think its windows server

    I would consider changing the file system of your data drive to ext3/4 or staying microsoft for the OS
     
  12. Buzzons

    Buzzons Minimodder

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    why not just put windows on it?
     
  13. CraigWatson

    CraigWatson Level Chuck Norris

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    Think the OP said that the boot SSD is only a 32GB drive, which would make it a push to get Windows on it and leave enough room for the traditional Windows bloat.

    To the OP:

    Do you have any spare storage that you can use to temporarily shift whatever is on the 3TB drive to? In an ideal situation, I would do exactly that, install Ubuntu on the SSD and format the 3TB with encrypted EXT4 (encryption recommended but optional). Then use Samba to share out your data.

    If you don't have another drive, you can do the swap piecemeal with partitioning by shrinking the current NTFS partiton and creating a new EXT4 partition. Then move the data to the new partition, and either readjust the sizes if you have more data or delete the NTFS and resize the EXT4 to the full drive.

    Either way, NTFS on Linux is do-able but as others have pointed out, slow.

    Edit: Another consideration is your CPU - you say it's a VIA chip, but is it x86? If not, Windows is definitely out and Linux may be an issue if you're running a non-standard chip.
     
  14. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

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    windows 8 x64 with office pro+ 2013 takes 20GB including a few nui apps
     
  15. Buzzons

    Buzzons Minimodder

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    yea but why would you install Office on a NAS - you'd put Server 2k8 R2 on it or Server 2012 essentials and only use a few GB.
     
  16. RichCreedy

    RichCreedy Hey What Who

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    my bad, should have quoted the two peeps who mentioned windows and how much space it takes
     
  17. law99

    law99 Custom User Title

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    I always found samba and shares at a decent speed to be a pain in the arse. You can turn off remote differential compression on the windows machine receiving the media, but getting gigabit to spring into action.... **** off basically. It was a while ago obviously, but the general consensus around the linux forums was "Yeah. It's been like that for ages." "Probably won't change." "Who needs a gigabit anyway?" and "Mine works fine"
     
    Last edited: 30 Nov 2012
  18. RickDawson

    RickDawson Minimodder

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    So ubuntu server it is then...

    Is there another file system format that will work with both windows and ubuntu at decent speeds?

    I don't mind changing from ntfs, but it still has to work directly with windows if the drive is taken out.
     
    Last edited: 30 Nov 2012
  19. Buzzons

    Buzzons Minimodder

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    just run windows on it and share the files with file services, simple, works, and is actually supported.
     
  20. faugusztin

    faugusztin I *am* the guy with two left hands

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    If you require Windows compatibility and FAT32 is not enough, then unfortunately you need Windows as server OS, probably Windows Home Server 2011 being the cheapest option (around 50 euros) if you don't have previous Windows you can upgrade on that PC.

    Windows supports only NTFS (not really usable with Linux), FAT16/32 (no files bigger than 4GB) and exFAT (only experimental Linux support available outside of the kernel due licencing).
     

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