I have several old internal hdds that I have collected over the past 4 years and I would like to be able to see what is on them without actually attaching them to my Mac Pro. Is there a way to generate a text file (better yet, a Finder like graphical representation of the file structure) that would list the directories and files contained on a volume that is normally offline?
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How to dump an OSX volume directory into a text file?
- Thread starter akadmon
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I'm rusty on my *NIX commands (haven't used it since I retired 5 years ago), but open terminal :
change to the root directory cd...
list files and ; ls....
direct the output to a file or copy from the screen.
change to the root directory cd...
list files and ; ls....
direct the output to a file or copy from the screen.
I've used DiskTracker for almost ten years. It will create a database that will list files and directories and you can do searches.
Now, you say that you don't want to hook them up to your Mac Pro -- why?
Now, you say that you don't want to hook them up to your Mac Pro -- why?
Unless those volumes have been connected recently and are cached somewhere on your current drive, there's no way to know what's on them without connecting them...
Thanks for getting me unstuck -- I just neded to use the correct search term in google, "OSX disk catalog". Turns out there are at least 3 other programs that do what I want, besides Disk Tracker. I'll take them for a spin and report back here.
The reason I don't want to keep old hdds connected is that they're essentially archives containing files I have no need to access on a regular basis. I don't feel buying enclosure(s) for them is justified. If I need to get something off them, I can just pop one into a docking station. That's where the catalog will come in handy (so I know which one to pop in).