rebecca! Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 I have Linux on my main hard drive, and I got a new hard drive I'd like to put Leopard on, preferably GPT instead of MBR. My question is, I'd like to create two partitions, the first one for OS X and the second will be ext4 or JFS, and will be used mainly in Linux but i'd like to be able to use this partition in OS X as well. It will be used for storage. My question is, will Linux be able to detect and mount the ext4 partition on the 2nd HD if that HD uses GPT and this uses MBR? I don't think it should matter as long as the GPT disk has a legacy pseudo-MBR block which I think Disk Utility creates.. ?? what if that's not the case (I don't have access to Disk Utility at the moment) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/179662-can-linux-mount-partitions-on-gpt-hard-disk/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
srs5694 Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Yes, Linux is GPT-aware. There's no need for a hybrid MBR in your setup, and in fact I strongly advise against creating one, since both the OSes you're using are GPT-aware, and hybrid MBRs are invitations to trouble. One caveat: You'll need support in Linux for GPT. If Linux isn't booting from the GPT disk, this just means a kernel with GPT support compiled in, which is pretty common these days. If Linux will be booting from the GPT disk, you'll also need a GPT-aware Linux boot loader. I wrote this piece with more details, in case you need them. I'm less certain about Mac OS X support for ext4 and JFS. I know there are OS X drivers for ext2/ext3, but I don't know how well they work with ext4 (or even how well they work with ext2 or ext3, for that matter). I have no idea if there are OS X drivers for JFS. I suggest you look into this issue before you create your filesystems. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/179662-can-linux-mount-partitions-on-gpt-hard-disk/#findComment-1232593 Share on other sites More sharing options...
geiman Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Might want to stick with ext3; in some recent articles published here in the US, I believe they have found ext3 to be a "faster" file system due to it requiring less traveling of the "file system tree" for each query it receives. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/179662-can-linux-mount-partitions-on-gpt-hard-disk/#findComment-1232734 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranguvar Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I call {censored} on the above (no offense, geiman) -- ext4 is a sight faster than ext3 in my own experience. There are ext2/3 drivers for OS X, but they are very unreliable from what I've heard. I don't know about other filesystems. Linux can write to HFS+ partitions, and can work fine with GPT as well, but it can only work with non-journaling HFS filesystems (you have a choice between journaling and not in Disk Utility). Journaling gives you faster data recovery and such in case of cutting power, for a slight speed loss, and is recommended if you can use it. Which OS will be your primary one? I use GNU/Linux for almost everything, so I use no-holds-barred ext4 and make do with the fact that Winblows and OS X can't talk to ext4. You, however, may want to go with ext3 if you intend the Mac to be used 50% of the time or more. The difference in speed I doubt you will notice. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/179662-can-linux-mount-partitions-on-gpt-hard-disk/#findComment-1233093 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts