Category Archives: Mac

UDF (a FAT32 replacement) Part 3

I tested UDF and exFAT over a fairly wide range of non-computer devices, and none of the devices could read or write to it. If you need something that will work with non-computers, stick to FAT32. If you just need interoperability between computers (but don’t need to boot from the drive), switch over to UDF.

I UDF and exFAT did not work with:

I plan on testing UDF and exFAT with a few phones and will update this post when I do.

UDF (a FAT32 replacement) Part 2

Comparison of cross platform filesystems for flash memory and/or external hard drives.

The Universal Disk Format (UDF) is maintained by Optical Storage Technology Association while FAT32 and exFAT are maintained by Microsoft.

FAT32’s primary limitation is its 4GB file size limit. Microsoft also recommends limiting Volumes formatted in FAT32 to be limited to 32 GB, although many implementations support larger volumes.

Microsoft created exFAT to get around the limitations of FAT32 relating to file and volume size limitations.

Overall, exFAT and UDF appear to be very comparable. They both support Unicode filenames and long filenames.
UDF supports a journaling and ECC (Error Correction Codes). The MacOS format utility provides an option for specifying the number of blocks to use for ECC. I assumed that this option was some type of ratio, but when I changed the number from 1 to 2, my formatted drive had exactly one block less space available. UDF “journaling” features are designed around optical media, so it is unclear if flash and hard drive implementations of UDF use the Logical Volume Integrity Descriptors.

Overall, FAT32 has the best compatibility. It is supported by nearly every device from phones, to cameras, to picture frames.

If you are only concerned with accessing your data from a computer, UDF is probably the file system to pick since Linux’s support for exFAT is not 100%.

Next I’m going to explore the compatibility of UDF and exFAT in other devices.

References

  1. UDF Spec – http://www.osta.org/specs/pdf/udf260.pdf
  2. FAT32 Spec – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/hardware/gg463080.aspx
  3. exFAT Spec – unable to find
  4. exFAT description – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/955704
  5. exFAT description – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExFAT

UDF (a FAT32 Replacement) Part 1

I’m always hearing about how FAT32 is a poor choice for a filesystem, but it’s also the universal filesystem that Mac, Windows, and Linux can all natively read and write. A few quick searches turned up the Universal Disk Format (UDF). It started off life as ISO 9660 (CD File Format), which we know pretty much all operating systems can read. As UDF has gone through a few versions, support for read/write block devices was added. I have verified that MacOS Mountain Lion, Windows 7, and Ubuntu 12.10 can all read and write to a UDF formatted flash drive. For reference I used a Toshiba 8GB Flash Drive.

To format a flash drive as UDF using MacOS:

  1. Plug the drive in
  2. Open Disk Utility
  3. Select the mounted partition of the flash drive, and click “Unmount”
    DiskUtility-Unmount
  4. Select the physical disk and click “Info”. This will tell you which device the disk is currently identified as. In this case, it is disk2.
    DiskUtility-Info
  5. Open Terminal with an Administrator account
  6. Type sudo newfs_udf /dev/<disk_from_step_4> (e.g. sudo newfs_udf /dev/disk2)
  7. You’re done.

The defaults for newfs_udf should be left alone, as the program picks the appropriate values for your drive. The one value you might want to edit is the -ecc-in-blks (Error correction code size). I will follow up on ECC in the comparison of file systems.

Coming next, a comparison of UDF, exFAT, and FAT32.

Logitech N305 on a Mac

I love my Logitech VX Nano mouse for it’s size, weight, battery life, tracking, and scrolling. I wanted to unobtrusively add a number pad into my computing setup, but figured I’d only use it occasionally. I’d decided to “upgrade” to a Logitech Anywhere MX and a Logitech N305 since I could use them with a single Unifying Receiver. The only problem is I’m trying to use these with a Mac…

The Logitech Anywhere MX works great. I love the convenience of the on/off slider and tracking on glass is neat, but the extra weight and reduced battery life make it about equal to the VX Nano in my opinion.

I ran into a number of problems with the Logitech N305. The product page says it only works with Windows, but I figured “Hey it’s a keyboard, of course it will work.” Well, I was wrong. Logitech Control Center for Mac doesn’t know about the N305. Ok, I pulled my Unifying Receiver, plugged it into a Windows 7 box with Logitech Control Center, and paired my N305 with the receiver. With the receiver back in my Mac, it was time to see if there was any key mapping issues. Everything looked good typing a bit in TextWrangler, and everything look good. Then I tried to do some accounting in Excel and that’s when the problems started.

For some reason the N305 seems to send a backspace after a pause in typing. If I typed “1”, a “1” would appear and then disappear. If I typed “12”, I would get “12” and then “1”. Typing “12“, would get “12” and I would be editing the next cell. I avoided using the number pad with Excel for a while, but that’s the primary use for a number pad, so I broke down and installed KeyRemap. To install, I had to change my installer permissions. You do have to restart after installing KeyRemap.

Once I restarted, getting everything working was as easy as clicking the new square, key icon in my menu bar, selecting “Open KeyRemap4MacBook Preferences…”, searching for “N305” and checking the “Logitech N305 hack”. Now everything works as expected on my N305 numberpad.

Installing Unsigned Software on a Mac

I’ve been starting to find more useful software that isn’t necessarily produced by a big software company or installed though the Mac App Store. I was a little surprised when I first received the following dialog:
Unsigned_Installer

It’s nice that Apple is adding restrictions that will help prevent the accidental installation of potentially untrusted software, but how do I install this software when I’m sure I want to install software that’s not signed.

It’s actually pretty simple. Open “System Preferences” and select the “Security & Privacy” Preferences. Select the “General” tab and click the lock to allow changes (you’re not doing your daily computing with an Administrator account). Authenticate with an admin account.

You should see the following:
Allowed_Installers

Under “Allow applications downloaded from:”, select “Anywhere”. MacOS will warn you with the following message:
Allow_Anywhere_Installation

Click “Allow from anywhere” and install your “untrusted” software. Make sure you change your settings back to “Mac App Store and identified developers” or if you want to be really secure set it to “Mac App Store” only. Then whenever you download software to install, you’ll have to consciously change this setting.