NTFS file access problems (OS6)

(Apologies for this being a bit long/convoluted and Linux-technical)

I have been using my new RN-102 running OS 6.0.8. It has a RAID1 volume and an external USB drive with pre-existing data, that had been factory-formatted with a single NTFS partition. The access permissions and file/directory ownership on the NTFS partition thru the NAS are behaving strangely. Easiest way to sum up is that non-root NAS users generally cannot write to files on the NTFS. Documentation suggests this should not be a problem.

Here are some observations... looking for someone to tell me what I am doing wrong (other than using an NTFS partition :-) or if it is all as expected and I am just wishing for too much.

On the NAS:

• When connecting the drive, file and directory ownership start out as root:root. There is the option to change "Folder owner" and group in the UI (Share->Security) and I can enter any user/group IDs there and save, but this makes no difference, and seems eventually to change itself back to root:root. No matter what I do, when I attach the disk, every file and directory are root:root when viewed on the NAS.


• There are settings for default folder permissions, which I have set to Read/write all around, but file and directories always appear in 755 (644) mode (i.e. read-only for group and other)


• I have tried using the "Reset permission" button but it always fails with an alert "Failed to change permission and ownership of the share 'USB_HDD_1'."

All the above is consistent with the Paragon ntfs handling of file ownership - all files on a mounted ntfs volume appear to be owned by one uid/gid. I would have expected ReadyNAS to allow me to mount it as a different user, or effectively override the 755/644 permissions, but it seems not to be allowing that.

OK so then I attach this volume to a client (Mac OS X 10.8.4) as am authenticated (non-root) NAS user (call it NasUser), and in the context of a Mac OS user (call it MacUser).

Now, accessing from the Mac using AFP:

• MacUser can create directories but not files in the root of the filesystem. When MacUser creates a directory in the root, it is owned by NasUser on nas, even though all other files are still owned by root.


• MacUser cannot create files or directories inside a pre-existing folder on the NTFS other than the root. It gets a permission error. This is logical since all pre-existing files and folders are 755/644 mode and owned by root:root, so NasUser should not be able to create any files or directories under that circumstance.


• MacUser CAN create files or directories in directories it created in the fs root - since those are owned by NasUser. Anything created in such a directory is owned by NasUser

So bottom line, the only way for MacUser to be able to write to the ntfs is if it either is creating a directory in the ntfs root, or it is writing into a directory it created.

Then, accessing the same drive using SMB:

• MacUser can create files and directories in the ntfs root, and they are owned by NasUser on the NAS (on AFP, only could create directories)


• MacUser cannot create files or directories inside pre-existing directories (same as AFP)


• MacUser can create files and directories inside directories it created (since they are owned by NasUser)

And then to top it off, if I ssh on to the NAS, I can do "chown -R NasUser /media/USB_HDD_1" and all files and directories will change ownership to NasUser. After that, MacUser can write to anything on that filesystem. Similar for a "chmod -R" command to make all files/directories writable by all.

Then finally, if I unmount and re-connect the ntfs, everything reverts back to root:root ownership and 755/644 permission, no matter what it had been (not surprising) and no matter how the Security tab user/group and modes were set (a bit surprising). Things that were writable before are now not. I can do the chown -R or chmod -R and make it writable again but if I don't, everything I wrote before effectively becomes read-only.

So bottom line, there seems to be no way to just attach an NTFS disk and have it be writable by NAS users other than root.

Suggestions? Is this as expected?

Thanks for your patience!