cMP bootcamp and windows 7 for gaming

[GuiPol]

Hello guys !
I'm experiencing something quite frustrating and wondering if anybody has a solution to that (well i already have one and it could be of some use to someone but i'm searching for a better solution) :

-On a mac pro 5, bootcamp has been used to install win 7 pro sp1 on a ssd on its own (NTFS drive). Drivers installed etc..
-HFS+ for windows by paragon installed too

=> when i want to start an exe file stored on a different hard drive formatted in HFS (i'm storing installed games and large apps on a big HDD in HFS+) i ALWAYS get an error message stating the link is unavailable (like if it was on a network that has been shut down, you see?).

Workaround = right clic on the exe and set run "as administrator"... But it STILL it's a pain in the a** and doesn't work 100%, let's say 90%.

Besides, loading (in games mostly) are quite slow but i'm guessing here it's the paragon driver that can't read HFS fast enough from the hard disc where the actual game is stored in HFS format..

Any input in that ?

 

[h9826790]

Hello guys !
I'm experiencing something quite frustrating and wondering if anybody has a solution to that (well i already have one and it could be of some use to someone but i'm searching for a better solution) :

-On a mac pro 5, bootcamp has been used to install win 7 pro sp1 on a ssd on its own (NTFS drive). Drivers installed etc..
-HFS+ for windows by paragon installed too

=> when i want to start an exe file stored on a different hard drive formatted in HFS (i'm storing installed games and large apps on a big HDD in HFS+) i ALWAYS get an error message stating the link is unavailable (like if it was on a network that has been shut down, you see?).

Workaround = right clic on the exe and set run "as administrator"... But it STILL it's a pain in the a** and doesn't work 100%, let's say 90%.

Besides, loading (in games mostly) are quite slow but i'm guessing here it's the paragon driver that can't read HFS fast enough from the hard disc where the actual game is stored in HFS format..

Any input in that ?

I believe that's somehow "normal".

If you really want to share use a partition (data only) between macOS and Windows. Format it to NTFS, then use Paragon NTFS in macOS to mount that partition may be a better solution.

 

[GuiPol]

ok ok copy that.. i'll better take the problem the other way around then.

 

[thornslack]

I would definitely not use hfs+ in the windows environment. You're relying on paragon to work while you store all of your data on a non native format for windows. In my experience paragon was finicky at best and occasionally corrupts data at worst. If you want to store stuff for windows on a spinner it should probably be ntfs.

 

[GuiPol]

yes i'll do that. I'll take another drive and format it in NTFS for windows storing purposes. Indeed it was not very smart to "heavily" rely on the performance of a single driver for file interpretation of different file format.. i thought it would be fast enough for loading games etc but apparently it's a huge bottleneck and gives errors indeed..

 

[ActionableMango]

=> when i want to start an exe file stored on a different hard drive formatted in HFS (i'm storing installed games and large apps on a big HDD in HFS+) i ALWAYS get an error message stating the link is unavailable (like if it was on a network that has been shut down, you see?).

I concur with others, this is a bad setup. There isn't an exact 1-to-1 match between HFS and NTFS features so installing a complicated Windows application expecting NTFS onto an HFS+ drive is asking for trouble.

I also wouldn't install a MacOS application in an NTFS partition using an HTFS driver.

These drivers are meant for sharing simple files in relative safety, not really application installs, and definitely not for using disk utilities.

Usually you would want to have partitions/drives set up and used like so:

1. NTFS: Windows OS and Windows applications, don't use MacOS here
2. HFS+: MacOS and Mac applications, don't use Windows here
3. NTFS or HFS+: File sharing, use either OS here with appropriate driver as needed

I used to use exFAT for #3, which was a complete disaster. Don't do that.

 

[h9826790]

May be I can share my setup. I have three SSD.

A MX500 2TB for MacOS only (HFS+)

A DGM 120GB for Windows only (NTFS)

And a 840 Evo 1TB as a dropbox between macOS and Windows. For Windows, this is also the default destination for MS store apps. Therefore, require NTFS for some softwares.

I use Tuxera NTFS to mount the 840 Evo in macOS. It works fine. I often drop >100GB data on to this NTFS formatted SSD in both OS, never experience any corruption or crash.

But I must emphasis, they are all pure data. Mainly very large video files. And I never use this drive for apps in macOS.

 

[GuiPol]

I concur with others, this is a bad setup. There isn't an exact 1-to-1 match between HFS and NTFS features so installing a complicated Windows application expecting NTFS onto an HFS+ drive is asking for trouble.

I also wouldn't install a MacOS application in an NTFS partition using an HTFS driver.

These drivers are meant for sharing simple files in relative safety, not really application installs, and definitely not for using disk utilities.

Usually you would want to have partitions/drives set up and used like so:

1. NTFS: Windows OS and Windows applications, don't use MacOS here
2. HFS+: MacOS and Mac applications, don't use Windows here
3. NTFS or HFS+: File sharing, use either OS here with appropriate driver as needed

I used to use exFAT for #3, which was a complete disaster. Don't do that.

ok exfat is not a good idea. (never tried but now i never will)
Yes with a little hindsight now i can see it was not a good idea to install windows games on my storing partition in HFS. when windows tries to access HFS it's way too slow for games and there are ACL issues with EXE.. Truth is my windows SSD is small (120gb) and it was just for testing purpose only at first and i finally kept it.. But not enough space to install large apps and games..
[doublepost=1529370586][/doublepost]

May be I can share my setup. I have three SSD.

A MX500 2TB for MacOS only (HFS+)

A DGM 120GB for Windows only (NTFS)

And a 840 Evo 1TB as a dropbox between macOS and Windows. For Windows, this is also the default destination for MS store apps. Therefore, require NTFS for some softwares.

I use Tuxera NTFS to mount the 840 Evo in macOS. It works fine. I often drop >100GB data on to this NTFS formatted SSD in both OS, never experience any corruption or crash.

But I must emphasis, they are all pure data. Mainly very large video files. And I never use this drive for apps in macOS.

Yes indeed, it must changes things with realtime loading i guess *so games nearly stream the next graphics to refresh buffers* (well i can see how it lags for sur on my setup on racing games particularly).

*You are using tuxera driver under mac os ? Is it working with bootChamp ? Mine is completely ruining the mounting process .. only paragon driver works for me with bootchamp under HS.

 

[h9826790]

ok exfat is not a good idea. (never tried but now i never will)
Yes with a little hindsight now i can see it was not a good idea to install windows games on my storing partition in HFS. when windows tries to access HFS it's way too slow for games and there are ACL issues with EXE.. Truth is my windows SSD is small (120gb) and it was just for testing purpose only at first and i finally kept it.. But not enough space to install large apps and games..
[doublepost=1529370586][/doublepost]

Yes indeed, it must changes things with realtime loading i guess *so games nearly stream the next graphics to refresh buffers* (well i can see how it lags for sur on my setup on racing games particularly).

*You are using tuxera driver under mac os ? Is it working with bootChamp ? Mine is completely ruining the mounting process .. only paragon driver works for me with bootchamp under HS.

Oh, you just remind me, my steam games (BOTH macOS and Windows) are installed on the NTFS formatted 840 Evo. But since I only installed few games in macOS, and I usually play at Windows. I completely forget about that.

So, apart from as dropbox, games (in macOS) can also run fine from a NTFS formatted SSD via Tuxera NTFS.

AFAIK, none of those NTFS driver can work with BootChamp. However, since I only need to mount the 840 Evo (data only drive), but not the DGM (Windows 10 drive). Bootchamp is not affected.

The real limitation is not because you run the software / driver. But mount the Windows partition by that software. As long as don't mount it, Bootchamp will work.

 

[GuiPol]

Yes it makes sense.. i will format one of my drive to NTFS for games under bootcamp..
Oh by the way :

I dont think it's useful to start a new thread for that since it's the same area of expertise... (?) but i'm having a strange reaction from a newly installed windows 7 here on my mac pro 4 (flashed to 5).

I couldn't install windows 7 (neither bootcamp nor manual install would work) when the mac rebooted from the windows 7 DVD (which i know fro SURE works) it would eventually get stuck at a blinking cursor in the upper left corner on a black background (DOS style if you know what i mean).

I've read here that the only way to get this working was to unplug all HFS/APFS drives and put the SSD (ntfs formatted) in bay 1... i did it and to my surprise, it worked like a charm (the "why" remains a mystery but hey... i wont sweat it.)

But know that i've plugged back everyhting, when i boot to my windows 7 (with bootcamp driver package installed of course!) it cannot "see" any DRIVE except the one it is installed on !!! I've got another NTFS drive which is not seen either and the superdrive, the optical drive from which i've installed windows 7 in the frist place (!) is not seen either !!

As a "plus" the eject button from the keyboard does not work for superdrive (quite logical if it's not detected one might say..)

i did try a SMC reset and PRAM reset too..to no avail ! Any input on that "strange behavior" ?? All drives except the one it is installed on are not appearing anywhere ! And there are no red marks or warning signs on the device manager, everything seems to have been installed right !