Link to FAT32 share so both Mac & PC can write to XML

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Link to FAT32 share so both Mac & PC can write to XML

Hello Everyone,

This is my first post here so i hope i've posted in the correct area.

I am a graphic designer and music producer and as such, i use both OSX Yosemite and Windows 7 in my workflow.

Is it possible to setup a FAT partition that holds all my music and iTunes library/ XML files that can be referenced by iTunes regardless of which OS i'm currently booted into?

Can anybody foresee a problem with this kind of setup?

And lastly, is there any way to create a new partition on an SSD drive with OSX already installed on it, that will not affect the existing installation? I'd like to partition my current SSD in half and have one side as HFS+ and the other FAT32 to host the aforementioned setup.

Many thanks in advanced.

Mal

null-OTHER, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Oct 4, 2015 7:13 AM

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Answer 1

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Limnos

Level 10

411,193 points

Oct 4, 2015 9:55 AM in response to Mal_Kol

Welcome to the ASC forums. 🙂

A simple response is yes you can, but I am not familiar enough with the details to provide them all.

You might find it suggested you use ExFAT instead of FAT because FAT has file size limitations. However, those are 4GB for FAT32 so you won't normally encounter that with regular iTunes files. If you use FAT you will have to use a Windows based tool to do any directory repairs.

On partitioning, you may be better off posting in the OSX forum for your version. I use an older version where on the fly partitioning was impossible. Newer versions apparently let you do this with limitations (and I don't know exactly what those are) but is is still strongly recommended you back up first. If you do this as your livelihood you will undoubtedly already be backing up or be risking loosing your business overnight. 😉

SSD drives are fast but if you have a choice they are not the best for frequent re-writes of large files. Lifespan is apparently based on number of write cycles and if you are editing you are doing a lot of that to large portions of the drive. Of course with modern computers you don't really have much choice, but I went with a conventional HDD for the data drive in my MacBook '08.

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Answer 2

Mal_Kol Author

Level 1

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Oct 4, 2015 10:05 AM in response to Limnos

Hi Limnos, thanks for the welcome.

You make a VERY good point regarding the SSD lifespan... Not sure why i never thought of that to be honest. And you may have indirectly solved my problem. I have a spare mechanical HDD laying around so i may just use that, introduce it into my setup, then that negates the need for me to do the partition.

I do wonder however, if there would be a noticeable performance drop when reverting back to a standard drive over my SSD. I'm using Native Instruments' MASCHINE which is why i thought to have the music on the SSD in the first place, so i can load samples and tracks in quicker while performing live.

Regarding ExFAT, how does one actually partition in ExFAT? I cannot see the option in Windows7 anywhere?

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