exFAT support

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hotdeal...@gmail.com

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Dec 16, 2013, 11:13:07 PM12/16/13
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Hi there,

I hooked up a SD card via USB adapter to my DNS-323 rev B1. It has exFAT filesystem but RC3 will not recognize it.

Is there a way to get exFAT working? I noticed that RC4 snapshot was newer 3.10.11 kernel and I read somewhere that it has exFAT build in??

Any comment or a possible fix?

Many thanks.

João Cardoso

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Dec 17, 2013, 9:02:42 AM12/17/13
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On Tuesday, December 17, 2013 4:13:07 AM UTC, hotdeal...@gmail.com wrote:
Hi there,

I hooked up a SD card via USB adapter to my DNS-323 rev B1. It has exFAT filesystem but RC3 will not recognize it.

Is there a way to get exFAT working? I noticed that RC4 snapshot was newer 3.10.11 kernel and I read somewhere that it has exFAT build in??

According to  Wikipedia, "exFAT is a Microsoft file system optimized for flash drives. It is proprietary and patent-pending." and thus is not likely to be included in the linux kernel.

However, there seems to exist fuse-based approches, http://code.google.com/p/exfat/
Please fill-in a package request at sourceforge.

João Cardoso

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Dec 18, 2013, 11:34:58 AM12/18/13
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Further readings from LWNWikipedia LinuxUser and Microsoft makes me think that to be on the safe side I won't do it, unless someone shows me the contrary:

As we all know, the GPL makes a simple pact between the coder and the user.
Anyone can take, modify, copy, share and redistribute the software and the 
code, but must pass on the same rights to subsequent users of the software, 
including any modifications to the code.
(...)
The drawback, in this instance, is that exFAT is owned by Microsoft, is a 
proprietary fileformat, and has patent issues. The exFAT driver code can only 
be deployed by manufacturers or distributions that have obtained a licence 
from Microsoft.

  
Sorry,
Joao

Hotdealforever

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Dec 18, 2013, 7:40:08 PM12/18/13
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Isn't this similar to the case of NTFS? Why do we have a package for NTFS then?
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João Cardoso

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Dec 18, 2013, 8:47:16 PM12/18/13
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On Thursday, December 19, 2013 12:40:08 AM UTC, Hotdealforever wrote:
Isn't this similar to the case of NTFS?

Don't know. But there is a NTFS driver (read-only) on the kernel.
 
Why do we have a package for NTFS then?

It's in the kernel, so I feel more secure as it has been already scrutinized by someone that knows about what he's talking about.
I don't, I'm not a lawyer, not even close, so I will not even discuss it.

Notice the end of the MS link:

Please note that open source or other publicly available implementations of exFAT do not include an IP license from Microsoft. For licensing information, please contact microsoft.com.

However, it looks like that even FAT is under a similar licencing program, but as it is so ubiquitous I'm not that concerned:

If you give me good references that it is safe to include and distribute it, I will be happy to do it.
I don't have the time, money or inclination for litigation or researching legal issues.

Joao

PS-It looks like Debian has it, so it must be safe: http://packages.debian.org/squeeze-backports/exfat-fuse

Ben Carr

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Dec 19, 2013, 11:01:32 AM12/19/13
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Samsung Open Sourced (GPL) their exFat driver:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTQzODQ
http://sfconservancy.org/news/2013/aug/16/exfat-samsung/

There is talk of getting it into mainline:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTQ2ODc

I can't find a pull that adds it to Linus's tree, but if it got merged
I think we are safe.
-Ben

João Cardoso

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Dec 19, 2013, 1:14:12 PM12/19/13
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Publishing the code does not seems to be a problem, its a copyright issue, but distributing or using binaries might be, it is a patent issue. I really don't know.
My concern is to distribute binaries. Companies might sign with MS and ship the binaries with their products, but I can't do that.

It might be different to have the code in the kernel or use a userland fuse implementation, as exFAT-fuse does, but from a patent perspective it looks identical for me.

Tuxera, for example, who holds the NTFS-3g fuse based that we (and most distributions use) use, has signed an IP with MS:

The fact that Debian distributes a binary relieved some concerns to me, as Debian has a proper policy on Free software and patents, but does that means that the onus is passed to the end user? In this case to you?

Just to have an idea of the mess involved, follow the KML from this point: http://lkml.indiana.edu/hypermail/linux/kernel/1309.3/01379.html

I will put this issue on hold for now.

[Added]: take a look on this article regarding FAT

Daniel Tavares

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Feb 28, 2014, 12:45:45 AM2/28/14
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Bummer. It would have been quite handy to have exFAT support. Either way, kudos on Alt-F João! I'm very thankful for you having put it together.

Antonio C Sanchez

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Mar 31, 2017, 8:48:45 PM3/31/17
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Hi Guys,

I know it's a while that this discussion ended (or never end at all).

I'm looking for the exFat module and I couldn't find it. Did you aware if Alt-f support this fs?

Thanks in advance!

Antonio C Sanchez

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Apr 29, 2017, 1:26:04 PM4/29/17
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I did mount exfat usb-drive using Entware-ng package "exfat-fuse" and now connecting by ssh I'm able to mount it.
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