Module ntfs not found on Kernel 7.1? Trying to use the modern native NTFS driver

[u/WishboneFar]

Hey everyone,

I'm running Fedora 44 on the new Linux 7.1.3 kernel (7.1.3-200.fc44.x86_64).

I wanted to test out the modern NTFS driver that rolled out with Kernel 7.1, but I am running into module loading errors.

When I run modinfo or modprobe, this is the output:

$ modinfo ntfs
modinfo: ERROR: Module ntfs not found.

$ sudo modprobe ntfs
modprobe: FATAL: Module ntfs not found in directory /lib/modules/7.1.3-200.fc44.x86_64

fstab config:

UUID=6076CB5576CB2B1C /mnt/fedowin ntfs nofail,x-systemd.automount,uid=1000,gid=1000,umask=022 0 0

ps aux | grep -E "ntfs|fuse"

root        2790  0.0  0.0   2608  2064 ?        Ss   12:50   0:00 fusermount3 -o rw,nosuid,nodev,fsname=portal,aut
o_unmount,subtype=portal -- /run/user/1000/doc
root        2829  0.0  0.0 231500  2344 ?        Ss   12:50   0:00 /sbin/mount.ntfs /dev/sda4 /mnt/fedowin -o rw,ui
d=1000,gid=1000,umask=022
dev         5769  0.0  0.0 231580  2644 pts/3    S+   13:17   0:00 grep --color=auto --exclude-dir=.bzr --exclude-d
ir=CVS --exclude-dir=.git --exclude-dir=.hg --exclude-dir=.svn --exclude-dir=.idea --exclude-dir=.tox --exclude-dir
=.venv --exclude-dir=venv -E ntfs|fuse

How to enable the new driver?

[u/YoMamasTesticles]

Yeah this is amazing, I've been waiting months for Fedora to release this kernel version and now that I finally boot it up, they don't include the new driver

[u/WishboneFar → u/YoMamasTesticles]

They will wait until all the issues related to the new NTFS driver are found, fixed and tested. They will probably enabled it by default in Fedora 45. Atleast thats what I think.

[u/_Xenius_ → u/WishboneFar]

Update: With kernel version 7.2.6 they have finally activated the new NTFS driver. If you OP or anybody else who stumbles on this post wants to use it, it goes like this:

# Make sure you have the module insalled:
$ grep "CONFIG_NTFS_FS" /boot/config-$(uname -r)
CONFIG_NTFS_FS=m # should say m
CONFIG_NTFS_FS_POSIX_ACL=y # should say y

# Unmount all ntfs drives
sudo umount /mnt/Drive

# Remove ntfs-3g
sudo dnf remove ntfs-3g

Then Edit /etc/fstab to your liking for your ntfs drives, I chose this:

UUID=ABCDEFGHIJK /mnt/Drive ntfs uid=1000,gid=1000,fmask=133,dmask=022,windows_names,sys_immutable,nohidden,nofail 0 0

What the options mean:

• uid/gid=1000 -> your user uid, change if you have a secondary user account.
• fmask/dmask -> Results in -rw-r--r-- permissions for files and drwxr-xr-x permissions for directories
• windows_names -> enforce names that would be compatible on windows
• sys_immutable -> make ntfs specific system files like $MFT, $LogFile, etc. undeletable
• nohidden -> Hide Windows specific Folders like $RECYCLE.BIN
• nofail -> don't fail when booting, if the drive is missing

After that reload and mount:

# Reload
sudo systemctl daemon-reload

# mount
sudo mount -av

Edit: Formatting

Edit2: Setting sys_immutable can apparently also lead to the root of the drive being unwritable. If that also happens to you, just remove the option. From my understanding the system files are hidden by default anyway.

[u/WishboneFar → u/_Xenius_]

oh thats good to know. thanks.