What file systems can Snow Leopard read?

Question

I just got a MacBook Pro for my parents, and I need to get their files from a Linux desktop machine that most likely has either reiserfs or ext3 file systems.

I would like to know if Snow Leopard can read these files if I put the HDD in an external HDD case??

Thanks

Answer 1

It might be easier to connect the machines on a network and use rsync, nfs or ftp to copy data, no extra software would be needed.

If you want to do this you will need MacFuse which allows OS X to read other file systems. A tutorial for ext3 is on this blog.

Answer 2

If you are planning on doing this a lot, there are commecial packages too:

http://www.paragon-software.com/home/extfs-mac/

There is a free alternatives also though through MacFuse/FUSE:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/fuse-ext2/files/

Answer 3

Mac OS X can read (but not necessarily write):

• HFS+ (Mac OS X default format, in plain, journaled, case-sensitive, or journaled/case-sensitive varieties)
• NTFS (but not write, by default)
• FAT (32 and 64 as seen in Christian Correa's comment)

I would expect it can read but I haven't tested it:

• HFS (the older Mac OS file system [Hierarchical File System])
• UFS (Unix File System; older versions of OS X could format and be installed on UFS partitions)

I know for a fact that OS X will not read:

• ReiserFS
• ext* (any of the various versions of the ext Linux file system)
• just about anything else

Check out the Mac OS X column at the incredibly complete Wikipedia article comparing file systems.

Answer 4

Disk Utility can format a new hard drive using the following formats:

• Mac OS X format
• Mac OS X format (Journaled)
• FAT32 (MS-DOS)
• FAT64, also known as exFAT

I believe those would be the same file systems that the operating system can read.