USB flash FAT32 and usb external NTFS drive

[simulant]

Hi I wanted to move files between PC and Amiga as well as save backups of my system to my external 3TB hard drive.

I have a USB 3TB drive formatted to NTFS but when I plug it into the X5000 nothing shows on Workbench. Do I have to install something to get NTFS drives to mount or be recognised?

Same goes for FAT32 usb flash sticks?

I thought OS4.1 and a modern Amiga like the X5000 would support this sort of thing out of the box as it does with CD/DVDs?

Thanks for any help

[Roland]

Hi I wanted to move files between PC and Amiga as well as save backups of my system to my external 3TB hard drive.

I have a USB 3TB drive formatted to NTFS but when I plug it into the X5000 nothing shows on Workbench. Do I have to install something to get NTFS drives to mount or be recognised?

Same goes for FAT32 usb flash sticks?

NTFS and FAT32 are supported without any additional software. I use them regularly both on usb flash sticks and a sata disk, which have been formatted under Linux (using MSDOS Partition Table). If I remember right, on RDB (Amiga) formatted disks one of those filesystems do not work properly.

Have you checked e.g. via DOpus or Cli, whether your NTFS partition is visible there...? WB does not necessaarily show NTFS partitions even if they are mounted (and activated in "Workbench' prefs). In that case try to copy a Disk.info file from some AmigaOS partition to the NTFS one. That should make it visible on WB.

Is your USB 3TB drive a USB 3.0 one? As X5000 has only USB 2.0, some extrenal USB 3 drives do not work without a powered USB 3.0 hub (or an extrenal power supply). I tested some times ago a few external USB drives (much smaller than 3 TB, though), and some of them worked, but some of them did not show any partitions on WB.

If you open 'Mounter', does it see that drive?

[daveyw]

Also try opening Media Toolbox, look for usbdisk.device, click start and see if it is listed there?

Don't click on install unless you plan on wiping the drive and reformatting it with an Amiga filesystem.

I think they should still display a default icon even if no disk.info is present on the drive. But I'm not sure if def_icons are included out of the box?

[nbache]

I think they should still display a default icon even if no disk.info is present on the drive. But I'm not sure if def_icons are included out of the box?

They are. If the disk is seen, there will be an icon for it. And I believe there would be even if the DefIcons commodity were disabled.

Best regards,

Niels

[simulant]

Hey thanks for the help.

Media Toolbox seems to have done the trick for the USB stick and that now mounts and works fine.

For the 1TB WD external drive though I can't get it to show up or work... It is a usb 3 drive, but should it not still work at usb2 speed?

[Roland]

For the 1TB WD external drive though I can't get it to show up or work... It is a usb 3 drive, but should it not still work at usb2 speed?

It is not a matter of speed or the data transfer itself but power. The USB 2 standard has lower power value (same voltage but less amperes) than USB 3. Thus some USB 3 devices demand more power than a USB 2 port can provide. In some drives this problem is bypassed by a special cable which is connected to two USB 2 ports simultaniously.

[simulant]

For the 1TB WD external drive though I can't get it to show up or work... It is a usb 3 drive, but should it not still work at usb2 speed?

It is not a matter of speed or the data transfer itself but power. The USB 2 standard has lower power value (same voltage but less amperes) than USB 3. Thus some USB 3 devices demand more power than a USB 2 port can provide. In some drives this problem is bypassed by a special cable which is connected to two USB 2 ports simultaniously.

OK thanks, is there any kind of dual usb2 plugs to single usb3 plug adaptor/cable that I can buy so it can draw full power?

[nbache]

If you have a possibility to use an external power supply for your drive, it would be much safer.

The problem is that the USB (2?) standard specifies a maximum power rating for attached devices, which is followed rather closely on (some of?) the Amiga NG hardware, while PCs etc. usually don't care about standards and just allow higher power to be consumed.

So ultimately you could risk your USB ports, in case excessive power is drawn and the limitation circuits for some reason fail.

Best regards,

Niels

[simulant]

If you have a possibility to use an external power supply for your drive, it would be much safer.

The problem is that the USB (2?) standard specifies a maximum power rating for attached devices, which is followed rather closely on (some of?) the Amiga NG hardware, while PCs etc. usually don't care about standards and just allow higher power to be consumed.

So ultimately you could risk your USB ports, in case excessive power is drawn and the limitation circuits for some reason fail.

Best regards,

Niels

Well I've plugged it in via a powered hub as well as directly in to the X5000, neither seems to work. A popup does display on Workbench saying the drive has been inserted. But there is nothing there in diskmounter. or the toolbox. The external usb drive light comes on so it does seem to be on and powered ok, just perhaps not compatible with AmigaOS4?

Thanks for any help

[nbache]

After the popup, can you try hitting Ctrl-Alt-M and see if you get the massstorage GUI up? What does it show, if anything?

Best regards,

Niels