Update to Ventura changed format of an external HD

J

joelouis

New member
Hello. I recently update my iMac OS to Ventura.
I have two Seagate external HDs. Yesterday I couldn't work with one of them because it was like Read Only.
I went to Get Info and I noticed that the format had changed from Mac OS Extended (Journaled) to Windows NT File System (NTFS).
Any ideas?. Thanks
JL
 
Hi,
As far as I know NTFS is only supported as read-only on MacOS, by default.
You can get third party software to allow read/write access, though.

Since you just upgraded to Ventura, is there any possibility your drive was always NTFS and you were using such software, maybe Paragon for example.
If that was the case, and the software isn't compatible with Ventura, that would result in reverting to read-only.
 
Thanks so much pals
Then, what I have to do is buck up the HD, then reformat it. In that case, is it better backup to the Mac HD, or to iCloud?
I started to buck up to the Mac HD. Then reformat the external HD using APFS.
Am I right? Any suggestion? (I'm afraid of losing something in the process) Thanks again
 
Last edited:
No worries.
Were you previously using some third party NTFS read/write software?
If you were, the solution could be as simple as checking if there are updates available for that.
If you weren't then my educated guess is wrong and something strange has gone on.

Do these drives ever see a windows computer, or are they exclusively used on Apple computers?


If you have no need or reason for the drive to be NTFS then I'd go with your plan.
Back up all the data to some other drive, or cloud, format the drive as MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, whatever you prefer, then move all your stuff back on to it.

Whether local drive or cloud (for backup) doesn't really matter much, as long as the job gets done.
Personally I'd rather go local but, of course, that relies on you having another drive on hand with enough space to hold a backup.
 
For sure I've never used Windows. Everything I work with is Apple/Mac. I've even never share my stuff.
It is so rare to me. I've been thinking about a hacker. o_O
Ok, could I back up just copying directly from drive to drive? (I just did it from the ext drive to a new folder in my Mac). Or iit is better to do it with time machine or similar. In this case do I have to repeat the copy I did?
Last, any suggestion about a good new drive for Pro Tools?
Thanks again .
 
Time Machine is a very useful utility but for a case like this simply copying the contents of your 'old' drive to a new one is probably simpler.

"It is so rare to me. I've been thinking about a hacker. o_O"
The reason I keep mentioning third party software is that if something, or someone, had reformatted your drive as NTFS there'd be no data on it now.
The fact that the data is still there suggests the drive was always NTFS,
and since MacOS can't natively write to NTFS that suggests to me that you've got some third party software for NTFS writing.


Are you sure you don't have some software like ntfs-3g, mounty, paragon, or sysgeeker, which has stopped working for whatever reason?


"Ok, could I back up just copying directly from drive to drive? (I just did it from the ext drive to a new folder in my Mac)."

Yes, absolutely. If there's enough room to do so then that's fine.

Move the entire contents of the drive either into a new folder on your mac, or on another drive,
then I'd recommend ejecting the source drive then double checking the contents of your newly made backup,
just to make sure everything is present and correct.

I can't stress that enough - Please be 100% certain that your backup is complete and taking up the amount of space that it should.
Double-check the size of the folder you've backed everything up to, to confirm it's the same as the used-space of your source drive.

If you're happy that everything's good, you can then format that problem-drive for MacOS, then put all your stuff back on it.


"Last, any suggestion about a good new drive for Pro Tools?"
I'm not really sure, to be honest.
You need a new one for a specific reason?
 
Steenamaroo said:
Time Machine is a very useful utility but for a case like this simply copying the contents of your 'old' drive to a new one is probably simpler.

"It is so rare to me. I've been thinking about a hacker. o_O"
The reason I keep mentioning third party software is that if something, or someone, had reformatted your drive as NTFS there'd be no data on it now.
The fact that the data is still there suggests the drive was always NTFS,
and since MacOS can't natively write to NTFS that suggests to me that you've got some third party software for NTFS writing.


Are you sure you don't have some software like ntfs-3g, mounty, paragon, or sysgeeker, which has stopped working for whatever reason?


"Ok, could I back up just copying directly from drive to drive? (I just did it from the ext drive to a new folder in my Mac)."

Yes, absolutely. If there's enough room to do so then that's fine.

Move the entire contents of the drive either into a new folder on your mac, or on another drive,
then I'd recommend ejecting the source drive then double checking the contents of your newly made backup,
just to make sure everything is present and correct.

I can't stress that enough - Please be 100% certain that your backup is complete and taking up the amount of space that it should.
Double-check the size of the folder you've backed everything up to, to confirm it's the same as the used-space of your source drive.

If you're happy that everything's good, you can then format that problem-drive for MacOS, then put all your stuff back on it.


"Last, any suggestion about a good new drive for Pro Tools?"
I'm not really sure, to be honest.
You need a new one for a specific reason?
Click to expand...
I've never had that type of software
A new drive for improving my work with Pro Tools. Faster.
 
It shall remain a mystery, then. :ROFLMAO:

Specifics probably depends on your model of mac but I've always just had a 2.5" SSD and a USB3 adapter.
You can, of course, get one in a caddy ready to go but I'd buy direct from reputable manufacturers only if you're going that way.
The market's overrun with fakes and false claims.

Alternatively you can just keep your currently-active PT sessions on the mac...That's as fast as is gets (assuming internal SSD), then back them up to your external drives periodically.
When you finish a session for good, just permanently move it to the external. (y)
 
Steenamaroo said:
It shall remain a mystery, then. :ROFLMAO:

Specifics probably depends on your model of mac but I've always just had a 2.5" SSD and a USB3 adapter.
You can, of course, get one in a caddy ready to go but I'd buy direct from reputable manufacturers only if you're going that way.
The market's overrun with fakes and false claims.

Alternatively you can just keep your currently-active PT sessions on the mac...That's as fast as is gets (assuming internal SSD), then back them up to your external drives periodically.
When you finish a session for good, just permanently move it to the external. (y)
Click to expand...
Thanks so much, I'll get one of those.
 
Steenamaroo said:
"It is so rare to me. I've been thinking about a hacker. o_O"
The reason I keep mentioning third party software is that if something, or someone, had reformatted your drive as NTFS there'd be no data on it now.
The fact that the data is still there suggests the drive was always NTFS,
and since MacOS can't natively write to NTFS that suggests to me that you've got some third party software for NTFS writing.


Are you sure you don't have some software like ntfs-3g, mounty, paragon, or sysgeeker, which has stopped working for whatever reason?
Click to expand...

You're entirely correct. There is no way that you can convert a drive from one format to another without wiping all data. There had to be some type of software patch working in the background, unknown to the OP.
 
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