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Vanilla

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 19, 2002
589
0
Atlanta, GA
Hi
I have a 250GB LaCie Drive connected via Firewire 800 to my iMac which I have been using happily to backup my work folder for a while until yesterday.

Suddenly when I try to copy over the folder from my iMac it fails with the following message:

"The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "[file name]" could not be read or written (Error code -36)"

After it happened a few times on different files (which I initially removed as I didn't really need them anyway) I began to realise this was a bigger problem than just a corrupt file and started investigating. On the next crash I checked out the file in question, which was a .PSD file and managed to open it fine on the iMac.

I also have a copy of my work folder on my PowerBook and tried - successfully - to copy the same work folder from my PowerBook to the LaCie Drive by connecting to it wirelessly via my iMac, but when I try to open the PSD file on the LaCie drive it opens with missing information and an error message saying:

"This document has been damaged by a disk error. The most likely causes of this error are: a defective disk drive, a defective disk drive cable, or incorrect peripheral cable termination. Some of the pixels in this document may be invalid. Open anyway?"

So, in summary:

1. Copying a folder or the offending file in isolation from my iMac to the LaCie drive always fail with the Error Code -36 message.

2. I can open the offending file quite happily on both my PowerBook and iMac.

3. I can actually copy the folder over from my PowerBook to the LaCie, by connecting to it wirelessly via my iMac, but when I try to open the PSD file on the LaCie it opens in photoshop with a "damaged by disk error" message.

I've been pulling what little hair I have out in clumps trying to isolate whether the problem is with the iMac or the LaCie drive and I now think it's the LaCie drive itself that's the problem but I would be grateful for any advice or suggestions as at the moment I cannot backup my work!!!

PS: I have repaired permissions numerous times on the iMac and have successfully verified both the iMac and LaCie drives.
 

Vanilla

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 19, 2002
589
0
Atlanta, GA
mad jew said:
What format is the LaCie drive? Are you using a nice and simple file name with no whacky characters? :)

Hi
Thanks for the quick response!

According to Disk Utility the format is Mac OS extended.

The file in question I have zoned in on is called IMG_0070.psd I just changed it to IMG0070.PSD, opened it in PhotoShop, did a minor change, saved it and then tried to copy it over to the LaCie but got the same -36 error code.

cheers
Vanilla
 

Sedulous

macrumors 68030
Dec 10, 2002
2,530
2,577
I had the same problem. Eventhough disk utility verified the drive, there was a problem with it. The only way I could repair it was to format the drive.

p.s. The files that are being reported as corrupt probably are not actually corrupt.
 

Vanilla

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 19, 2002
589
0
Atlanta, GA
Sedulous said:
I had the same problem. Eventhough disk utility verified the drive, there was a problem with it. The only way I could repair it was to format the drive.

p.s. The files that are being reported as corrupt probably are not actually corrupt.

interesting. I guess you mean you formatted the LaCie Drive? Did you copy stuff off the LaCie, format it and copy it all back? This sounds like a plan to me!

PS: HOW DID YOU FORMAT IT EXACTLY??

Vanilla
 

Vanilla

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 19, 2002
589
0
Atlanta, GA
mad jew said:
Use Disk Utility in the Utilities folder to erase and format it. I think it's probably your best bet. :)

Cool. So selecting Erase in Disk Utility will wipe the drive and re-format it?
I've never done this before which is why my questions are quite granular!

I'm also right now copying back to my iMac a bunch of movie files in preparation for this...

Vanilla
 

Vanilla

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 19, 2002
589
0
Atlanta, GA
mad jew said:
Yeah, that's right. :)

Good luck with it all. I hope it works.

Hi
Just to let you all know, reformatting the disk worked a charm. Thank you for the advice, much appreciated.
cheers
Vanilla
 

dylan

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2005
368
0
I have this problem too. I think it happened when my brother pulled out the power cord while the machine was running. Unfortunately I don't have anywhere I can move my files so I can't format. Toast won't burn them but they open fine... I fixed a few by changing the permissions... Anyone know what this "error code -36" means? I've googled around but it seems to missing from apples docs.... Any help would be really appreciated I have 20 gigs of music here i don't want to lose and have to re-rip.
 

dylan

macrumors 6502
Jul 9, 2005
368
0
No one has any ideas? If there not corrupt there should be a way of saving them, no?

Edit: it appears the error only occurs over firewire.... Tried USB and it worked fine.

EDIT: Well it appears i have fixed the problem. I grabbed the firewire cable from my isight and now it works fine now i just need to pick up a new firewire cable tomorrow
 

dkoder

macrumors newbie
Mar 11, 2008
1
0
Lisbon, Portugal
Had the same problem, formated, repaired permissions and even scanned with DiskWarrior, nothing seemed to work.

Then I read in another forum that was I/O related and that someone disconnected the iSight... worked for me! Re-connected the iSight later and still no problems since. Strange how the camera could screw up the whole firewire bus, but anyway, it really worked in my case when nothing else did.

Might help somebody.
 
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