Sharing External HDD on AE - Can't Access

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Level 1

4 points

Sharing External HDD on AE - Can't Access

Long story short, I have a 4TB drive connected to my Airport Extreme and want to access it from a number of devices for media - FireTV Stick, XBox, WDTV Live, Popcorn Hour, etc.

The AE can see the drive with no issues. I can share it by configuring it as well. However, I cannot see the share on any other device - including my PCs (no Macs in my house - just PCs). I've tried \\IP and \\routername with no luck. The biggest issue is that I don't know what the share name is. It doesn't state that in the router config (only something like this is listed - WD 4TB External Harddrive). In effect, I can't put in \\IP\share or \\routername\share as I don't know what the share name is. Frustrating.

Here's a bigger question - if I don't have Macs in my house, does the drive NEED to be Fat32? Anything larger than 4GB won't work on that, and ALL my media is 6GB and larger. I would think I could use NTFS...but it's just not working.

Any assistance would be appreciated.

Posted on Jan 25, 2015 8:34 AM

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Answer 1

Japib

Level 4

2,843 points

Jan 25, 2015 8:46 AM in response to ayemack

exFat doesn't work, as stated by Apple: AirPort base stations: About USB disks - Apple Support

You'll be able to read and write HFS+ from windows with an additional software (see below), but not from "FireTV Stick, XBox, WDTV Live, Popcorn Hour."

there isn't a solution for your setup for 4GB+ files, other than getting an NAS router that supports exFAT or NFTS. Airport devices are made for Apple users mainly. sorry 😟

FAT32 (File Allocation Table)

Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
Maximum file size: 4GB.
Maximum volume size: 2TB
You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.

NTFS (Windows NT File System)

Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X
To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
- For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion)
- Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
Maximum file size: 16 TB
Maximum volume size: 256TB
You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.

HFS+ ((((MAC FORMAT))))(Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive)

Read/Write HFS+ from native Mac OS X
Required for Time Machine or Carbon Copy Cloner or SuperDuper! backups of Mac internal hard drive.
To Read HFS+ (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer
Maximum file size: 8EiB
Maximum volume size: 8EiB
You can use this format if you only use the drive with Mac OS X, or use it for backups of your Mac OS X internal drive, or if you only share it with one Windows PC (with MacDrive installed on the PC)

EXFAT (FAT64)

Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
Not all Windows versions support exFAT.
exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
Maximum file size: 16 EiB
Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.

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Answer 2

ayemack Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 27, 2015 8:26 AM in response to Japib

Thanks, japib. Not the answer I was hoping for, but an answer nonetheless. I ultimately got so sick and tired of Linksys branded routers failing that I elected to go another route - the Airport Extreme. I've been about 80% satisfied with it (the biggest issue, to me, was limited functionality and lack of browser interface), but inability to use this hard drive in the capacity that I would on another router (say, Netgear) is frustrating to say the least. Bottom line is works - and that was the issue I was having with Linksys (one after another after another).

Thanks for the info - definitely good value to have and read. I've subsequently formatted to NTFS and moved all data to it. I'll find another solution - possibly the NAS you suggested. Thanks!

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