Anyone frequently move sessions between xp and osx?

[McGas]

If so, what have you found to be the best way? I'm wondering how a flash drive would work. What format would it need to be? I'm planning on having an NTFS audio HDD for xp and HFS for osx but would like to find a more efficient way than burning DVDs. Thanks guys... and gals

[GunnyT]

McGas, my best friend and I transfer files back and forth, using thumb drives. He uses XP with M-Powered PT, and I'm using PTLE on a Mac.

The only issue (which is a very very minor one) is that a message pops up at the beginning, stating that the input device has changed, and if I want a report written (no is my answer). Everything opens up fine. Just make sure to save all of the audio files with your session. Good luck, and have fun.

[Rob0214]

Are both machines on the same network? If so, just create windows shares in both OSX and XP and transfer back and forth. I actually use this alot with a 3rd networked drive connected to a server so that I back up to that machine, then transfer back. So, I'd go OSX -> external share -> XP and vice versa. That way, I always have a spare backup should any of the drives go south.

I also have an external drive that has one NTFS partition and one OSX. I use MacFuse and ntfs-3g on the Mac side. Sort of slow though. Networked solution is what I generally use.

[McGas]

Great to hear a thumb drive will work. Do you know what format it is, or is that irrelevant? Thanks

[GunnyT]

I could be wrong, but I don't think the format matters on a thumb drive, because we aren't writing/recording/reading from the thumb drive....just copying files to them, then transferring those files to the HD we are writing/recording/reading from.

When I open up a project that I didn't create, I get a message that my I/O has changed, and if I want to make a report. I click no, and move on. All is well.

One of the coolest things about PT is it's compatibility between PT programs (LE, M-Powered, and HD).

Plug ins are another issue...I have plugs that my friend doesn't, and he has plugs that I don't have...that's another topic hehe

[audioboffin]

In order to be able to both read and write with Windows and OS X, the transfer drive should be formatted as FAT32.

[GunnyT]

That's not entirely true.

My OS X drives are formatted Mac OS Extended (Journaled)....just as Digi suggests.


This is from Digi:

FAT32 Volumes Not Supported for Recording with Pro Tools 7.4 and Higher for Windows
Pro Tools 7.3.x is the last version of Pro Tools that supports FAT32 for Recording.
Pro Tools 7.4 and higher for Windows XP and Windows Vista do not support FAT32 for recording, but will continue to support FAT32 formatted volumes for Playback and Transfer.


All that aside, we were talking about transferring files from thumb drives (especially now, being that thumb drives are up to 32 GB). The format is not an issue, due to only transferring files to and from them, not writing/reading/playback.