This 2024 thread describes a version-specific bug, not a permanent ZimaOS limitation. Staff said ZimaOS 1.2.3 had write problems with NTFS USB devices and planned a fix for 1.2.4. The original poster reformatted the drive to exFAT and regained read/write access.
Current Linux NTFS Support Is Read-Write
The Linux kernel Linux NTFS3 support describes NTFS3 as a fully functional NTFS read-write driver. Current ZimaOS documentation also lists NTFS among supported USB read/write formats, so a current NTFS drive appearing read-only should not automatically be treated as the old 1.2.3 bug.
Separate Filesystem Read-Only from Samba Permission Read-Only
A USB filesystem can be writable on the host while a network user still has read-only share permission. Samba's Samba share permissions shows that share-level access controls are independent of the underlying filesystem.
The NAS file sharing basics explains current ZimaOS member permissions, while the authenticated SMB access is useful when a client can browse a share but cannot write with its credentials.
Check the Mount Before Reformatting
If a current NTFS USB disk is unexpectedly read-only, verify mount state, filesystem health, and write permission first. The external drive mount workflow is useful when a USB drive is mounted on the host but an application does not receive the expected writable path.
Do not reformat a drive that contains the only copy of your data. exFAT solved the historical case, but it should not be the first diagnostic step on a modern release.
Bottom Line
The NTFS write failure was real on ZimaOS 1.2.3, and exFAT worked around it for the original poster. Current systems support NTFS read-write, so first distinguish filesystem mount state from Samba permissions and only reformat after backing up the data.
