I have a very large (3/4 TB) sparsebundle on a network volume. It turns out, things would have been much more useful if it was a folder instead of a sparsebundle. Rather than deleting and re-copying all that data, is there a way to change a sparsebundle disk image into a regular folder?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can I convert a sparsebundle to a folder?
- Thread starter ScottR
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
No not really... you would need to open the sparse bundle then move the contents out to the new folder.
Hm. I can't seem to open it in Finder or Pathfinder; they both just hang--it's a VERY large sparsebundle (not a Time Machine backup). And I can't delete it in either--Finder will work away for hours without anything happening.
So I can't open it to move the files, and I can't delete it to start from scratch. How can I at least delete the sparsebundle?
So I can't open it to move the files, and I can't delete it to start from scratch. How can I at least delete the sparsebundle?
Hmmm... any way you can move the drive from the network to maybe an external USB enclosure to work with it there?
Well, it’s in one of those cases that’s not designed to be readily opened, so yes in theory, but it’s one of those situations where I could be exchanging one headache for another .
Does it seem like it is getting deleted when you do it in Finder and it is just taking a long time? I did something like this once on my Time Capsule and it took a long time also with no feedback. I'm wondering if you could just start the delete from Finder then just go to bed and let it go?
Been a while, but... it eventually deleted. I don't know how or why; the first four tries the sparsebundle didn't get any smaller, it stayed the same size after hours of attempted deletion, my iMac beaming unresponsive. Then all of a sudden it worked. I have no idea why.
What I also learned from Mike at Bombich Software (makers of Carbon Copy Cloner):
"Sparsebundle disk images are made up of multiple 8MB "band" files. If the disk image file is large, it could have thousands of those band files, and it may take quite a long time to delete the file (each filesystem transaction can take a long time for NAS devices, especially if they have a "recycle" folder setting)."
He also gave me tips to delete it more efficiently with Terminal; unfortunately, I got the reply AFTER I was finally able to delete it in Finder.
What I also learned from Mike at Bombich Software (makers of Carbon Copy Cloner):
"Sparsebundle disk images are made up of multiple 8MB "band" files. If the disk image file is large, it could have thousands of those band files, and it may take quite a long time to delete the file (each filesystem transaction can take a long time for NAS devices, especially if they have a "recycle" folder setting)."
He also gave me tips to delete it more efficiently with Terminal; unfortunately, I got the reply AFTER I was finally able to delete it in Finder.
