is there a way to protect an exFat partition files to be overwritten ?

[supergaia]

Hi
I have an external hard disk , and i have created an exFat partition and a folder called audio with only audio files , mp3 and aac
I created this partition exFAT just because I want to share with windows

in windows it 's pretty easy , i can select all of them and set them read only , but i don't know if macos (ituens or Swinsian or other applications) will respect it

is there a way to avoid mac application to overwrite my audio files from Itunes or Swinsian ?
thanks

 

[bogdanw]

You can’t use macOS permissions to block writing on exFat, but you can use an app like Disk Arbitrator to mount the drive as read-only, thus preventing any modification to your audio folder.

Disk Arbitrator https://github.com/aburgh/Disk-Arbitrator

macos - chmod'ing file on exFAT https://superuser.com/questions/468291/chmoding-file-on-exfat
Change permissions for files, folders or disks on Mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1203/mac

 

[supergaia]

You can’t use macOS permissions to block writing on exFat, but you can use an app like Disk Arbitrator to mount the drive as read-only, thus preventing any modification to your audio folder.

Disk Arbitrator https://github.com/aburgh/Disk-Arbitrator

macos - chmod'ing file on exFAT https://superuser.com/questions/468291/chmoding-file-on-exfat
Change permissions for files, folders or disks on Mac https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/mchlp1203/mac

Hi
so only disk arbitrator can help me to mount a drive read only , can't it?
and disk arbitrator could avoid and block "chmod'ing file on exFAT" , just because i had changed the permissions for bunc of files ,but it does work so great under macos
thanks

 

[bogdanw]

You can remount a drive as read-only from Terminal, but I think the better and safer option for you is Disk Arbitrator.

The “chmod'ing file on exFAT” link explains in more detail why you can’t use macOS to restrict access to exFAT: “exFAT, as an extension of FAT, is not capable of storing discretionary access control metadata.”

 

[ChrisA]

Hi
so only disk arbitrator can help me to mount a drive read only

Finder can make the disk "read only" you don't need any third party app.

But exfat files can't be assigned permissions. The partition type comes froom the pre-Window DOS era, long before home PCs had the concept of file permission.

Many times the physical device, like an SD card has a mexhanical slider that will lock the device. That is the best way to prevent wriites.
There is not good reason, other then SD cards that have to g into cameras, to use exfat on a Mac. If you must exchange data with Windows then use NTFS if you are totally in the Mac ecosystem, APFS works best, even on small removable devices. If this is camera data on an SD card, use the plastic slider lock.

 

[supergaia]

Finder can make the disk "read only" you don't need any third party app.

But exfat files can't be assigned permissions. The partition type comes froom the pre-Window DOS era, long before home PCs had the concept of file permission.

Many times the physical device, like an SD card has a mexhanical slider that will lock the device. That is the best way to prevent wriites.
There is not good reason, other then SD cards that have to g into cameras, to use exfat on a Mac. If you must exchange data with Windows then use NTFS if you are totally in the Mac ecosystem, APFS works best, even on small removable devices. If this is camera data on an SD card, use the plastic slider lock.

hi
yes but it's pretty fast exfat
Disk Arbitrator should do its job , read only , macos could overwrite any files , right?
thanks

 

[ChrisA]

hi
yes but it's pretty fast exfat
Disk Arbitrator should do its job , read only , macos could overwrite any files , right?
thanks

exfat should be your absolute last choice for a file system. Use it only if you have no other option. I'd say only use for an SD card that has to go in a camera. I can't think of any other valid use-case for exfat.

On the other hand, use APFS any time it is possible to do so.

Why use a 3rd party app to do something that is easy from the terminal or Finder?

 

[bogdanw]

exfat should be your absolute last choice for a file system. Use it only if you have no other option. I'd say only use for an SD card that has to go in a camera. I can't think of any other valid use-case for exfat.

On the other hand, use APFS any time it is possible to do so.

Why use a 3rd party app to do something that is easy from the terminal or Finder?

Read carefully the first post.