HFSProgs Utility

hfsprogs offers tools for Apple's HFS and HFS+ filesystems, such as mkfs.hfsplus for formatting and fsck.hfsplus for checking, aiding Mac-Linux file exchange.

This guide will go over the numerous tools this software suite has to offer, basic and advanced filesystem and recovery options.

Information

hfsprogs is one of the preinstalled packages for our r/Techsupport Rescue Media. If you are using this live image, you can skip the installation section.

How to install hfsprogs

Refer below for installation instructions if you are not using our live image or want to install it on your own system.
Installing hfsprogs

Debian / Ubuntu / Linux Mint:
Terminal window
sudo apt update && sudo apt install hfsprogs
Fedora / RHEL / CentOS / AlmaLinux:
Terminal window
sudo dnf install hfsprogs
Arch / Manjaro / CachyOS: Install from AUR or similar AUR helper.
Terminal window
yay -Syu hfsprogs

Tools

The rest of the guide will be going over the different methods and tools available. Note, it is best to have a basic understanding of what stuff like /dev/sdb and /dev/sdb1 represent. A guide to understanding it can be found here.

Basic Repair Operations

Check and Repair HFS+ (fsck.hfsplus)

Basic check:

# Unmount first
sudo umount /dev/sdb2

# Check filesystem
sudo fsck.hfsplus /dev/sdb2

# Force check
sudo fsck.hfsplus -f /dev/sdb2

Automatic repair:

# Answer yes to all repairs
sudo fsck.hfsplus -y /dev/sdb2

# Verbose output
sudo fsck.hfsplus -yfv /dev/sdb2

Advanced repair:

# Rebuild catalog B-tree
sudo fsck.hfsplus -r /dev/sdb2

# Force rebuild of entire filesystem structures
sudo fsck.hfsplus -yf /dev/sdb2

Mount HFS+ Filesystems

Read-write mount:

# Standard mount
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/mac
sudo mount -t hfsplus /dev/sdb2 /mnt/mac

# Force mount (ignore journal)
sudo mount -t hfsplus -o force,rw /dev/sdb2 /mnt/mac

Read-only mount (safe):

# Mount read-only to prevent changes
sudo mount -t hfsplus -o ro /dev/sdb2 /mnt/mac

Advanced Operations

Disable Journaling (for better Linux support)

# Disable HFS+ journal (makes Linux access easier)
sudo mount -t hfsplus -o force /dev/sdb2 /mnt/mac
sudo umount /mnt/mac
sudo hfsplus /dev/sdb2

# Inside hfsplus tool:
> attribute B /dev/sdb2
# Look for kHFSVolumeJournaledBit and unset it

Create HFS+ Filesystem

# Format as HFS+
sudo mkfs.hfsplus -v "MacDrive" /dev/sdb2

# With case-sensitive option
sudo mkfs.hfsplus -v "MacDrive" -s /dev/sdb2