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OneDrive Has Stopped Working On Non-NTFS Drives (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the head-scratching dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: OneDrive users around the world have been upset to discover that with its latest update, Microsoft's cloud file syncing and storage system no longer works with anything other than disks formatted with the NTFS file system. Both older file systems, such as FAT32 and exFAT, and newer ones, such as ReFS, will now provoke an error message when OneDrive starts up. To continue to use the software, files will have to be stored on an NTFS volume. While FAT disks can be converted, ReFS volumes must be reformatted and wiped. This has left various OneDrive users unhappy. While NTFS is the default file system in Windows, people using SD cards to extend the storage on small laptops and tablets will typically use exFAT. Similarly, people using Storage Spaces to manage large, redundant storage volumes will often use ReFS. The new policy doesn't change anything for most Windows users, but those at the margins will feel hard done by. Microsoft said in a statement that it "discovered a warning message that should have existed was missing when a user attempted to store their OneDrive folder on a non-NTFS filesystem -- which was immediately remedied." According to Ars, Microsoft's position, apparently, is that OneDrive should always have warned about these usage scenarios and that it's only a bug or an oversight that allowed non-NTFS volumes to work.

13 of 130 comments (clear)

  1. Office Space by almitydave · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "We... fixed the glitch."

    --
    my, your, his/her/its, our, your, their
    I'm, you're, he's/she's/it's, we're, you're, they're
    1. Re:Office Space by rtb61 · · Score: 2

      Hey wait up, what about this https://itunes.apple.com/au/ap... taking into account this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... or this https://play.google.com/store/... taking into account this https://arstechnica.com/inform.... So basically just another way to fuck over prior to windows anal probe 10 users who did not default to NTFS because apparently M$ fucking lie onedrive works with a whole bunch of file systems, just not particular M$ file systems.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
  2. Backwards? by spaceman375 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Usually they declare a bug to be a feature so they don't have to fix it. This time they called a feature a bug & fixed it right away. Round and round we go!

    --
    On the one hand you take life too seriously, and on the other, you do not take playful existence seriously enough. Seth
    1. Re:Backwards? by jetkust · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It sounds like they are saying they forgot to properly fake the requirement that NTFS volumes must be used.

    2. Re:Backwards? by fustakrakich · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Can we fake the OneDrive into thinking NTFS volumes are being used? Or do we have to face an NTFS volume to the network and copy from that?

      --
      “He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
    3. Re:Backwards? by tdelaney · · Score: 3, Interesting

      It might be possible to have a small NTFS volume filled with junctions to directories on other volumes.

      Can't test this myself as I don't use OneDrive.

  3. New Name: by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    "ZeroDrive"

    --
    Table-ized A.I.
  4. Re:Can but won't let you? by JediJorgie · · Score: 2, Informative

    Quite a while ago OneDrive started using streams on objects for sync metadata. I assume that is a requirement for optimized syncing. To the best of my knowledge, streams are not available on Fat32 or exFat.

  5. Re:Can but won't let you? by JediJorgie · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Well, ignore my comment. The only stream I found in my OneDrive folder was on the root folder object.

  6. Meanwhile in rsync land . . . by msk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    . . . every file system under the sun is supported.

    But of course OneDrive can't use rsync, because it wasn't invented here.

    1. Re:Meanwhile in rsync land . . . by omnichad · · Score: 2

      Rsync is one-to-one. OneDrive is one-to-many - as is Dropbox and have conflict resolution strategies aimed at the end user. Rsync is great, but it also doesn't do all of it.

  7. What was that? by no-body · · Score: 2

    15 G, then 5 G and now - hrm......

    Are there humans at work - let's assume, then what is their frame of mind?

    Imagine, sitting in an office and then comes the work order to .... and you just do what is on that work order and swallow your thoughts about it down...
    or, don't even think about it further and do the job, because you have to make a buck and live.

    That's how all those popups, nagging ads and other crap comes to life - or that's how the system works, not necessarily for the benefit and enjoyment of the guy/gal at the end of the line.

    The mental consequences of constantly blocking out are not researched.

    Keep enjoying!
     

  8. Provably false by radarskiy · · Score: 2

    OneDrive is working just fine on HPS+ and APFS.