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**claydoh** · Jun 06, 2024, 05:03 AM

You may need to use a Windows machine to run a proper chkdsk on the drive. ntfsfix does not do much more that clearing the 'dirty' status, iirc, and not much else. There really aren't any good tools for fixing ntfs filesystems, as far as I know.

Being a Linux-only system, you may want to consider migrating the drive to a Linux friendly one that can be repaired easier.

**oshunluvr** · Jun 06, 2024, 08:27 AM

My first thought is why are you using arguably the worst file system out there when there are so many better ones to choose from? Left over from windows and just didn't reformat it?

Regardless, IMO trying to fix it is a waste of time. Mount it, backup any files you want to save, and reformat it using literally any file system except NTFS.

**Nicklas** · Jun 06, 2024, 01:57 PM

I geuss imma change the file system then, what would be the best one to use?

**spiderman** · Jun 06, 2024, 03:10 PM

I'd use ext4 just to be compatible with Kubuntu. I have moved all my data over to 0.5 TB of SSD's and going from NTFS to ext4 (vice versa) you will have errors with naming of the files. You will have to be patient and just rename them. Sometimes the system transfering (like dolphin or krusader) might offer you a naming option when the error pops up, which I usually pick so I don't go nuts. So I move all my stuff to SSDs and then I heard that spinning hard discs are more reliable over the long haul. Plus they are cheap now. If I had done it on a spinner I'd feel better about keeping the data preserved. Those are just my tho'ts. Take care.

**jlittle** · Jun 06, 2024, 04:11 PM

Reformatting the drive is called "New Partition Table". This is good for clearing out the messy Windows partitions, but of course, all data are lost, be very sure where you are doing it.

There's a lot of btrfs fans here at kubuntuforums.net. btrfs enables a lot of functions that traditional file systems don't have, but you have to learn a bit. If it's not a OS drive, and you don't need it to be readable by other OSs, just make the whole drive one btrfs.

**jglen490** · Jun 06, 2024, 05:28 PM

ext4 is good and stable. There are several btrfs believers - not me. But, either way with either file system you'll be in MUCH better shape.

I use fat32 on a USB if I need to transfer files to or from somewhere, since both Linux and Windows understand it. There's not much use for NTFS as an intermediary. Of course for an ESP, fat32 is a necessary thing.

**Nicklas** · Jun 07, 2024, 02:24 AM

Ok thanks, im gonna use ext4

**claydoh** · Jun 07, 2024, 03:46 AM

Originally posted by jglen490 View Post

There are several btrfs believers

Lol, more than several

A system rollback of one's @root and/or @home to any previous state, including the original install, taking only a few seconds plus a normal reboot is usually all it takes to become ~~a cult member~~ fan, even if one never uses all the other fancy parts of it.
But for non-OS drives, it might not be needed as much, though it doesn't hurt anything.

**oshunluvr** · Jun 07, 2024, 05:28 AM

The ancient EXT4 by default "reserves" (hides) 5% of drive space for system use.This "need" is left over from the 1990s when EXT4 was more current. If you decide to use EXT4 you can free up this space after formatting with: sudo tune2fs -m 0 /dev/sdb1 Obviously, replace sdb1 with whatever partition you put EXT4 on.

BTRFS is a significantly advanced modern file system with many built-in advanced features such as:

Containerizing data sets (groups of file and folders) into subvolumes.
- This allows separating data such as the installation from home obviating the need for multiple partitions and allowing all subvolumes to share free space.
Subvolume snapshots.
Built-in backup and file system transport (moving to another partition or drive) capability.
Built-in support for multiple devices (more than one drive or partition combined into a single file system)..
Devices can be added or removed (space providing of course) at will
Built-in RAID support of many different (almost all) levels.
All of the above functionality can be accessed while the file system is mounted and in use.

Choosing BTRFS is not a question of "belief", rather it's choosing a file system that's advanced, featured, and modern vs. one that's outdated and un-featured.

If you're sharing file systems with a Windows install, ExFAT is a good choice for portable devices and is also usable on a fixed drive partition if you dual boot with Windows. I prefer ExFAT for portable devices because EXT4 requires manual permission modifications before a non-root user can access the file system. It was really not intended to be used on portable devices and BTRFS isn't really well suited for them either.

The are many other file systems but most are for special or specific use-cases. For example, some distros use XFS by default for home or storage file system because it is generally better at large file support and has multi-device support.

**jglen490** · Jun 07, 2024, 06:21 AM

Like I said, "some" believers

I will admit that recovery is a bit easier, but what claydoh described is not a backup solution. On the other hand, other than actual hardware failure, I've never experienced a need to recover my OS.

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