How can I mount an HFS+ Drobo volume in Windows 7?

Question

I have a 2nd Gen (FW800) Drobo connected to my computer, which boots both Lion, and Windows 7. The Drobo has HFS+ volumes as I use OSX predominantly.

I've installed Windows 7, the Unibrain FW driver, and the Bootcamp HFS driver. Windows recognizes other HFS volumes on local disks, and recognises the Drobo LUNS in the Device center, but it won't let me get to the actual volumes to browse them.

HSExplorer does let me mount the device, so I know it exists, and can be accessed. Windows just doesn't seem to see the volumes as drives.

What do I need to do to get them recognised?

Solution

There are other products for accessing HFS+ under Windows, although most are commercial :

jhfsplus (free, based on MacDrive)
Paragon HFS+ for Windows ($19.95, 10-day trial)
MacDrive ($49.99, 5-day trial)

You could at least use the trial of Paragon to see if it improves the detection of HFS+ volumes, as Paragon makes good products.

Comments

[Alex]

Tried jhfsplus, and paragon - neither work.

[Alex]

These are multi-terrabyte volumes, with some pretty large files on them. I'm not really ready to dump all that on FAT32, and don't have the spare drives to do copy the data to while I reformat.

[Alex]

To be clear, I'm looking to get the drives up and visible in Windows, or a definitive answer that it can't be done. Reformatting isn't an option

[harrymc]

Then the only suggestion I can think of, is to update your Drobo to the latest firmware and software versions, and if the problem persists reformat the disk using this latest version.

[billc.cn]

Make sure you check your disk for errors under OS X before you mount the disks under Windows. Some Windows drivers can only read cleanly unmounted HFS volumes.

[Alex]

I tried the Bootcamp driver first, and switched to the standard FW driver, as well, same result. Great to hear that it works for you though. As long as I know I can do it, I'll press on. Yes, I have the latest firmware, etc.