Universal HDD format to use

[aalexandrebeta]

Hi guys,

Sorry to bother you again, but I was woundering how and witch format and partition type you recommand to be able to use the same USB HDD to operate on Windows, Mac, Linux and NG routers.

Thanks in advance!

Cheers!

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@aalexandrebeta wrote:

Hi guys,

Sorry to bother you again, but I was woundering how and witch format and partition type you recommand to be able to use the same USB HDD to operate on Windows, Mac, Linux and NG routers.

Well, there is no perfect answer for this combination.  

-NTFS is read only on the Mac

-HFS can't be read on windows

-OSX and windows can't read ext

That leaves FAT32 perhaps. But the file size max of 2GB is a showstopper for HD movies or other larger files (for instance PC image backups).

If you have this particular combination, I suggest trying paragon on either the Windows or Mac (possibly both) to bridge the gap.

[StephenB · Accepted solution]

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@aalexandrebeta wrote:

Hi guys,

Sorry to bother you again, but I was woundering how and witch format and partition type you recommand to be able to use the same USB HDD to operate on Windows, Mac, Linux and NG routers.

Well, there is no perfect answer for this combination.  

-NTFS is read only on the Mac

-HFS can't be read on windows

-OSX and windows can't read ext

That leaves FAT32 perhaps. But the file size max of 2GB is a showstopper for HD movies or other larger files (for instance PC image backups).

If you have this particular combination, I suggest trying paragon on either the Windows or Mac (possibly both) to bridge the gap.

[William10a]

If ready shear had version of a format that it could decode to match the computer system you could have three different os's on your computers and still read and write the hard drive.

[aalexandrebeta]

"If ready shear had version" Can you send me the link on that program?

Linux is the best sstem where you can do all of the above!

[William10a]

I wish netgear would do it. It sounds like the best solve for so many attached hard drives issues have.

[StephenB]

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@William10a wrote:

I wish netgear would do it. It sounds like the best solve for so many attached hard drives issues have.

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I'm rather confused on exactly that the "it" is that you want Netgear to do.

In my opinion, they should add exFAT to the supported formats - it is read/write in both Windows and OSX.