---
name: "ntfs-3g.probe"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "ntfs-3g"
version: "2026.9.28-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/ntfs-3g.probe"
---

# ntfs-3g.probe(8)

Probe an NTFS volume mountability

## NAME

ntfs-3g.probe - Probe an NTFS volume mountability

## SYNOPSIS

**ntfs-3g.probe** *\<--readonly\|--readwrite\>* *volume*\

## DESCRIPTION

The **ntfs-3g.probe** utility tests a volume if it's NTFS mountable  read-only or read-write, and exits with a status value accordingly.  The *volume* can be a block device or image file.

## OPTIONS

Below is a summary of the options that **ntfs-3g.probe** accepts.

- **-r, --readonly**

  Test if the volume can be mounted read-only.

- **-w, --readwrite**

  Test if the volume can be mounted read-write.

- **-h, --help**

  Display help and exit.

## EXAMPLE

Test if /dev/sda1 can be mounted read-write:

**ntfs-3g.probe --readwrite /dev/sda1**

## EXIT CODES

The exit codes are as follows:

- 0

  Volume is mountable.

- 11

  Syntax error, command line parsing failed.

- 12

  The volume doesn't have a valid NTFS.

- 13

  Inconsistent NTFS, hardware or device driver fault, or unsetup  SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware.

- 14

  The NTFS partition is hibernated.

- 15

  The volume was not cleanly unmounted.

- 16

  The volume is already exclusively opened and in use by a kernel driver or software.

- 17

  Unsetup SoftRAID/FakeRAID hardware.

- 18

  Unknown reason.

- 19

  Not enough privilege to mount.

- 20

  Out of memory.

- 21

  Unclassified FUSE error.

## KNOWN ISSUES

Please see

https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/wiki/NTFS-3G-FAQ

for common questions and known issues. If you think you have found an undocumented problem in the latest release of the software then please post an ntfs-3g issue describing it in detail so that the development team can be aware of the issue and take care of it:

https://github.com/tuxera/ntfs-3g/issues

## AUTHORS

**ntfs-3g.probe** was written by Szabolcs Szakacsits.

## THANKS

Alon Bar-Lev has integrated the utility into the NTFS-3G build process and  tested it with Erik Larsson before the public release.

## SEE ALSO

[**ntfs-3g**(8)](/ntfs-3g/8.md)