I'm using an M3 silicon macbook running macOS 14.4 Sonoma. I want to write files to an external USB hard drive formatted with an ext4 filesystem. ### Related questions - [This 2020 answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/29914/261876) links to a solution that uses VirtualBox. But, VirtualBox doesn't work on 14.4; Also, in the comments users report that the linked VirtualBox setup instructions did not even work on earlier version. Comments also warn not to use the "Paragon" paid solution as this may result in data loss. - [This 2022 answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/49242/261876) ultimately links to [macfuse](https://osxfuse.github.io/) , which gives your read but not write acess to ext4 drives. - I can corroborate [this question](https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/429275/mount-ext4-on-m1-or-m1pro-or-m1max) , which notes that configuring QEMU by hand to reach the ext4 drive via a VM is… tricky. It's [answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/449025/261876) seems to say use macfuse, but I have only been able to get read-only mounts this way. - [The 2022 answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/429275/mount-ext4-on-m1-or-m1pro-or-m1max?rq=1) to a similar question on the M1 platform has ext4fuse as a solution, but this only gives read access. - A decade ago, [this answer](https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/81066/261876) says ext4fuse via homebrew (again the read-only solution for M3 in 2024). This (https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/263770/261876) answer confirms that ext4fuse does not have write support. - Inspired by [This 2017 question](https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/128060/changing-10-6-8-from-mounting-ext4-as-read-only-to-read-write-with-osxfuse-fus?rq=1) I decided to put aside my concerns of data loss and try pairing the -o rw+ command line mount option with [ext4fuse](https://github.com/gerard/ext4fuse) . But, as documented, ext4fuse does not support this option yet. ### Where I've gotten so far: 0. [These steps](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/mounting-ext4-linux-usb-drive-on-macos-2024) worked for read-only access, for me. 1. (Mac/osx/ext4)fuse-based solutions no longer work for M3 macs, and there's no stable solution on the horizon. Building something from scratch with unstable ext4 write support isn't in the cards, as I can't afford data loss. 2. I opted to try to mount via a Linux virtual machine. I spent a day failing to manually get a linux VM running via QEMU (installed via homebrew). I gave up up and loaded up a [Debian 12 VM via the UTM app](https://mac.getutm.app/gallery/debian-12) . This is where I'm stuck. So, on an M3 mac I can't use (mac)fuse, or VM solutions that rely on VirtualBox. I can't find an up-to-date walkthrough doing this manually with qemu, but I can run UTM prebuilt Debian images. ### Further research - I'm not sure what's going on in [this thread](https://github.com/utmapp/UTM/issues/3169) , but maybe it's not possible to see USB devices in Linux VMs on M3 macs? The thread mentions terms I don't see in my own UTM interface so maybe it is outdated. - [This page](https://docs.getutm.app/guest-support/sharing/usb/) says *"Only jailbroken or exploit-based installs of UTM support USB sharing. UTM SE does not support USB sharing."* This implies I will not be able to see my ext4 USB drive from the Debian VM? But, it's not clear to me that I need this. The USB drive is evidently accessible, as ext4fuse can mount it read-only. Surely there is some way to mount it RW on the Debian VM without trying to get a jailbroken UTM install working? - [This page](https://github.com/utmapp/UTM/issues/3975) seems to indicate USB sharing options used to be available in the UTM configuration dialog. These are absent in mine, presumably for reasons noted above. ### Puzzling through - Returning to the comments section for the [read-only macfuse tutorial](https://www.jeffgeerling.com/blog/2024/mounting-ext4-linux-usb-drive-on-macos-2024) , there is a small ray of hope in that some users report UTM Linux VMs being able to detect USB drives on *M2 macs*. But, this is not working for me presently. - diskutil list (I pulled diskutil from hombrew IIRC) confirms the drive *is* available as a device in macOS, at /dev/disk4on my system. So I have a device I can access, no rooting the macbook required. I just need to get this device file into /dev/ in the UTM Debian VM, but *how*? I believe the next step is figuring out how to get /dev/disk4 on macOS mounted within the Debian VM in UTM. But, I'm at a loss as to how to do this. If it's not possible in UTM, then perhaps I need a more hand-holding walkthrough for getting a VM working in qemu directly?

Since I have osxfuse installed it would be nice if I could use it. There are a lot of (heavily) outdated articles here, saying that it is not possible . Is this still the case?

I see a lot of questions asking how to mount and access ext4 file systems, which can be solved with the brew packages: macFUSE, ext4FUSE. ### The Question: Is there a way to format an external disk to ext4? I can't find any brew packages, so am I just going to have to get a linux vm?

model: macbook pro (2016) 3.5G Intel 1TB SSD Ventura 13.5 Attempt 1) Resized a 120GB partition for Ubuntu. Big mistake, lost all data. Attempt 2) Reinstalled Ventura 13.5, partitioned 120GB for EXT4 but selected msdos. This worked. Sort of. Ubuntu installer when in manual mode sees the nvme slices, but they are incorrect and very small. Going to terminal and running cfdisk, I saw the correct 120GB, deleted, readded, ran mkfs.ext4, but the Ubuntu installer still sees the wrong nvme slices and wrong sizes (120GB might be 15GB on nvme0n1p2 instead of p3, etc..) Ugh. I know one way to make it work. But I think I have to blow up the SSD GUID table again :\ Is this a known problem? It seems like others can install Linux, I'd just rather dual boot.

I'm creating a small script for my java Application to run. However, there is no way that I can find to format a USB to ext4. How do I do this from the command line? I'm on macOS Ventura and want a simple way to do this. I tried using ext4fuse, but unfortunately, It doesn't work because apple disabled kernel extensions. Thanks

I know this question has been asked many times. Everyone finds their own solution. I used to mount Ext4 via FUSE. But with the move to Big Sur I had to mount Ext4 using VirtualBox. But VirtualBox refuses to work with M1. I tried to do the same operation with QEMU. But I couldn't find anywhere guidance on how to integrate the disk connected to QEMU into Big Sur system. I would like to have the flash drive mounted automatically as soon as it is connected. What is the easiest way to connect Ext4 to Macbook Air M1? Do I need to upgrade to a Macbook Pro M1Pro or M1Max? Maybe Apple has included support for the Ext4 driver in the Pro versions?

I am going to connect a hard drive to my router and let the router share the drive through SMB. The purpose is to backup my computers using Time Machine. I realise that if I ever need to restore a large amount of data or have some issues with the drive, I might want to be able to connect it directly to one of my Macs. I am at loss about what filesystem I should use in such a situation. Fat32 - doesn't support volumes larger than 2 TB exFat - not (?) supported by DD-WRT (at least not out of the box) Ext4 - very weak support in macos NTFS - weak support in macos APFS/HFS+ - weak or no support in DD-WRT What are my options?

I want to copy some files of my old encrypted SSD with ubuntu. I installed ext4fuse and done sudo ext4fuse /dev/disk3s1 /Volumes/Linux, although I don't know if it is the right partition number (where can I see them in Disk Utility?). **How do I open then the disk in Finder?** Possibly in the "devices" section. I navigated to /Volumes and didn't see Linux (or whatever it is). MacBook-Pro:Volumes mbp$ ls Linux Linux2 MacintoshHD MacBook-Pro:Volumes mbp$ ls -la ls: Linux: No such file or directory ls: Linux2: No such file or directory total 8 drwxr-xr-x@ 5 root wheel 170 Jul 4 15:38 . drwxr-xr-x 29 root wheel 1054 Jun 22 05:43 .. lrwxr-xr-x 1 root wheel 1 Jun 22 06:01 MacintoshHD -> /

I have installed FUSE for OS X. During installation I ticked the "compatibility layer" option. I have rebooted after installation. I have an external HDD with one NTFS partition and two Ext4 partitions. Operating systems are installed on the partitions. I am only able to mount the NTFS partition. The Ext4 partitions appear in Disk Utility, but nothing happens when I try to mount them. What can I do to access them?

System: El-Capitan 10.11.5, Macbook Air 2013-Mid, SSD 128 GB. I would like do a new partition in my SSD. Install Ubuntu on it side-by-side with OS X. I have documents which I would like to use by both systems. Proposal 1 with SSD --- - OSX in OSX Extended. - Linux in ext4. - Use fuse if need files of Linux in OSX. Not sure how well this works. I am unsure how you can create a symlink from Linux-ext4 to OSX-extended through fuse. Proposal 2 with SSD + big HD in memory card slot --- - OS X in OSX Extended. - Linux in ext4. - Big HD in ntfs. Both systems should be able to read it. However, possible conflicts with Linux permissions. How well will symlinks work to 2nd HD from OSX and Linux? Can both systems use ntfs format? Is there any better format which both systems (Linux and OSX) can use? --- How can you initiate ext4 for OS X's Linux partition and use it with OS X?