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not possible to copy and past a mp4 file to a usb flash drive

michel52

michel52

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 1, 2012
100
8
hi everyone,
i have a iMac late 2009 with yosemite as OSX
now the problem is, when i want to copy and past a mp4 file (movie) to a usb flashdrive (sandisk) it gives me a error message about not possible to past the file to the flashdrive and also not possible to activate the flashdrive at disk-utillyties???
please help!
Michel
 
michel52 said:
hi everyone,
i have a iMac late 2009 with yosemite as OSX
now the problem is, when i want to copy and past a mp4 file (movie) to a usb flashdrive (sandisk) it gives me a error message about not possible to past the file to the flashdrive and also not possible to activate the flashdrive at disk-utillyties???
please help!
Michel
Click to expand...
What format is the drive and how big is the MP4? If the drive is FAT32 format and the MP4 file is more than 4GB, you can't copy it, as FAT32 supports a maximum file size of 4GB.

Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)
​
Choose the appropriate format:
​
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive) NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion and later)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X. [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
 
GGJstudios said:
What format is the drive and how big is the MP4? If the drive is FAT32 format and the MP4 file is more than 4GB, you can't copy it, as FAT32 supports a maximum file size of 4GB.

Format A Hard Drive Using Disk Utility (which is in your /Applications/Utilities folder)
​
Choose the appropriate format:
​
HFS+ (Hierarchical File System, a.k.a. Mac OS Extended (Journaled) Don't use case-sensitive) NTFS (Windows NT File System)
  • Read/Write NTFS from native Windows.
  • Read only NTFS from native Mac OS X [*]To Read/Write/Format NTFS from Mac OS X, here are some alternatives:
    • For Mac OS X 10.4 or later (32 or 64-bit), install Paragon (approx $20) (Best Choice for Lion and later)
    • For 32-bit Mac OS X, install NTFS-3G for Mac OS X (free) (does not work in 64-bit mode)
    • For 64-bit Snow Leopard, read this: MacFUSE for 64-bit Snow Leopard
    • Some have reported problems using Tuxera (approx $36).
    • Native NTFS support can be enabled in Snow Leopard and Lion, but is not advisable, due to instability.
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support NTFS
  • Maximum file size: 16 TB
  • Maximum volume size: 256TB
  • You can use this format if you routinely share a drive with multiple Windows systems.
exFAT (FAT64)
  • Supported in Mac OS X only in 10.6.5 or later.
  • Not all Windows versions support exFAT. See disadvantages.
  • exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table)
  • AirPort Extreme (802.11n) and Time Capsule do not support exFAT
  • Maximum file size: 16 EiB
  • Maximum volume size: 64 ZiB
  • You can use this format if it is supported by all computers with which you intend to share the drive. See "disadvantages" for details.
FAT32 (File Allocation Table)
  • Read/Write FAT32 from both native Windows and native Mac OS X. [*]Maximum file size: 4GB.
  • Maximum volume size: 2TB
  • You can use this format if you share the drive between Mac OS X and Windows computers and have no files larger than 4GB.
Click to expand...

hi thank you for the reply:
the usb flash drive is 16Gb big an the mp4 is 2,66 gb,but when i put the new flash drive into a usb connection from the iMac it gave me this information:
 

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Even though the USB says it's read/write I find it very strange that it's formatted as FAT and not something newer. IIRC FAT has a filesize limit of 64kb.

If you want to be able to read these files on a PC as well format it to exFat and then it should work
 
mgroot said:
Even though the USB says it's read/write I find it very strange that it's formatted as FAT and not something newer. IIRC FAT has a filesize limit of 64kb.

If you want to be able to read these files on a PC as well format it to exFat and then it should work
Click to expand...
The MS DOS (FAT) shown in Disk Utility is FAT32, not FAT. It has a filesize limit of 4GB, which should be enough for the 2.66GB file in question.
michel52 said:
hi thank you for the reply:
the usb flash drive is 16Gb big an the mp4 is 2,66 gb,but when i put the new flash drive into a usb connection from the iMac it gave me this information:
Click to expand...
Try re-formatting the drive to FAT32 (MS DOS (FAT), then try the file transfer again.
 
GGJstudios said:
The MS DOS (FAT) shown in Disk Utility is FAT32, not FAT. It has a filesize limit of 4GB, which should be enough for the 2.66GB file in question.

Try re-formatting the drive to FAT32 (MS DOS (FAT), then try the file transfer again.
Click to expand...

hi i just did what you advised me but its still not working,i get a error message that its not possible to erase it into ms-dos (fat)
 

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michel52 said:
hi i just did what you advised me but its still not working,i get a error message that its not possible to erase it into ms-dos (fat)
Click to expand...

In the partition tab, remove the single partition and then add it back as FAT32.
 
Taz Mangus said:
In the partition tab, remove the single partition and then add it back as FAT32.
Click to expand...

oke, i connect again the usb flash drive (no name) on my iMac and this is now at the partition tap what it shows .... what i do now?
Also is that my iMac don't find the usb flash drive at "Finder" even it is connected on my iMac :(
 

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the problem is when i want to erase the flash drive into MS-DOS (FAT) the system say's "its not possible to deactivate the flash drive " :(
 

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Could be a dying flash drive or one that is hardware locked. Is there a switch on the flash drive that turns it into read only mode?
 
Sounds broken and being treated as read-only to me. Certainly when I have had an HDD cable giving errors that is what happened, the drive gets put into RO and won't format.

Have you tried ANY other usb drive, can you format it?
Have you tried YOUR drive in another usb port? On another machine?
 
Kilamite said:
Could be a dying flash drive or one that is hardware locked. Is there a switch on the flash drive that turns it into read only mode?
Click to expand...
hi Kilamite, no there is no switch on the new flash drive , i think also that the hardware is locked i don't know why?
 
simonsi said:
Sounds broken and being treated as read-only to me. Certainly when I have had an HDD cable giving errors that is what happened, the drive gets put into RO and won't format.

Have you tried ANY other usb drive, can you format it?
Have you tried YOUR drive in another usb port? On another machine?
Click to expand...
hi simonsi, yeah i tried it also with a windows 7 pc, windows 7 does not see the flashdrive or anything, i think the new flash drive is dead!
 
guy's i found the solution, i went back to my windows 7 pc and connected the flash drive and suddenly windows found the flash drive, i format it to FAT32 , then i plug it in on my iMac again and every was alright again, mac found the flash drive and accept past and delete files ;)
 
Mostly stuff doesn't spontaneously fix itself, I'd be prepared for it to be intermittent...maybe not use it for anything critical anytime soon?
 
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michel52 said:
guy's i found the solution, i went back to my windows 7 pc and connected the flash drive and suddenly windows found the flash drive, i format it to FAT32 , then i plug it in on my iMac again and every was alright again, mac found the flash drive and accept past and delete files ;)
Click to expand...
I'm glad you got it worked out, but I agree with simonsi: I would be suspicious of that drive's reliability.
 
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the only answer is to use a secondary pc to copy files- apple os is very limiting
[doublepost=1489518160][/doublepost]i don't know what hit is-but i'll get to it thanks
 
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