bmw4life

Hey guys i have a mac and a pc... my problem is i have a external hd, which i formatted with my pc, and now, i seem to have a problem uploading a 500mb file from my mac to my external hd. It says it cannot transfer because "external hd" cannot be modded. It has some e60 pics and stuff and i could use the help knowing how to transfer it. thanks.

znod

I am assuming that the drive is formatted FAT32. Otherwise, forget the transfer. As I recall, a Mac can see an NTFS formatted drive, but will not be able to modify it. You might need to put the files on your PC and reformat the drive FAT32. If what I have said doesn't seem to ring ture, given your circumstances, then please let me know. Also, I am assuming that your Mac and PC are not on a network--in which case the issue might easily be resolved by enabling sharing of the external. Finally, if you really get desparate, then you could use a flash drive to transfer the files to the Mac.

ImolaRedM

How did you format it? NTFS or FAT32. OSX may/will have problems writing to NTFS but if you reformat it with FAT32 you should be able to use the drive on both Windows PC and the Mac.

EDIT: Znod beat me.

Another thought... how big are the files? Why not burn it to a CD/DVD?

bmw4life

ahhhhhhh!!! it is formatted with the ntfs layout on the external hd. it is only being able to be read, not write. hmm i do have an external dvd burner but i do not think its compatible, should i try and hook it up to see if i get lucky? its a lg dvd burner?

bmw4life

i do have a netgear storage router and i tried that method but said the same saying it cannot be modded

znod

Why not give it a try? But, personally, I would want to get the external re-formatted FAT32 so that is it more useful to you. Another option is to format on the Mac, HFS (journaled), and use a program on the PC, such as MacDrive, that will let the PC read/write the HFS formatted drive. Using MacDrive it also sometimes is possible to put a Mac into Firewire target disk mode and Make the transfer that way--depending on this, that, and the other. Note that if you format FAT32, then you will not be able to transfer files larger than 4 GB.

ImolaRedM

If you have Toast the LG DVD drive should work on the Mac. If not you can try making a disk image and burning it but I don't think the native OSX DVD burning software will work unless you have 10.4.6 or later. I take it this is an older Mac without a SuperDrive?

bmw4life

yep, i have a 16x externa,l super multi dvd cd writer gsa-2166d where can i get toast? or would it work with this model

Simple1

Znod has already given most of the answers I would also have given you. But are you sure you turned on Windows Sharing in system preferences on your mac under the sharing tab? if you turned on sharing on the drive on your PC you should be able to see that drive & transfer files to it (bare in mind that with SMB it might take up to 10 minutes before you see the actual computer in the network browser of the finder). As znod said to make your life easier just format the drive as FAT32 so that it wouldn't matter what computer you connect the drive to, it will just work. Flash drives (Limited in HD size) & DVD burning(same as Flash Drives and I hate keeping junk of DVD I'll never use again) should be your last options if you are looking for longterm comfort.

znod

I am confused; why wouldn't he just make a data disk on so on (CD or DVD) using the PC? Shouldn't the SuperDrive be able to read and OS X, or whatever, save the files to the Mac?