Problem With Moving a 60GB File

[Maserati7200]

I'm trying to move a 60 GB file from my external drive to my MacBook. I have 100 GB left on my MacBook. When I try moving the file to my MacBook, after over an hour of it "preparing to copy" 2 Million files, it tells me that there is not enough space. This is ******** because I have almost double the amount of space left on my HDD. How can I fix this problem?

 

[Consultant]

If it's all small files, 2 million small files from a 200gb drive will take a lot more room than 2 million small files on a 500gb drive. Same with any os.

 

[njl]

i could be wrong, but i think i read somewhere that mac os x has a file size limit.. you may what to search that issue?

 

[Tallest Skil]

i could be wrong, but i think i read somewhere that mac os x has a file size limit.. you may what to search that issue?

No, that's FAT32 and Windows.

OS X's single file size limit is 8 exbibytes.

 

[njl]

ok thanks

 

[mrchinchilla]

I'm trying to move a 60 GB file from my external drive to my MacBook. I have 100 GB left on my MacBook. When I try moving the file to my MacBook, after over an hour of it "preparing to copy" 2 Million files, it tells me that there is not enough space. This is ******** because I have almost double the amount of space left on my HDD. How can I fix this problem?

Have you tried using mv ?

 

[Maserati7200]

Have you tried using mv ?

What is mv?

And also, this file I'm trying to move is a Time Machine backup folder (long story). I moved my home folder (59.x GB) to my iMac (via target disk) to free up some space (only need this file on my MacBook temporarily) just fine, yet I can't move the backup file from my 250 GB external drive to my MacBook.

 

[mrchinchilla]

What is mv?

*facepalm*

mv is the Unix move command.
Open Terminal and type

mv /path/to/folder /path/to/destination

 

[Tallest Skil]

What is a Gosset 4 21 polytope?

Now, I wouldn't facepalm you for that. Not everyone possesses the UNIX knowledge that you have.

 

[mrchinchilla]

Now, I wouldn't facepalm you for that. Not everyone possesses the UNIX knowledge that you have.

My initial guess is it's a some kind of shape...?

After Googling, yes it is.

 

[Maserati7200]

Sorry I don't know all of the terminal commands, jeez -_-

But would moving it corrupt the file? I've heard that can happen

 

[angelwatt]

But would moving it corrupt the file? I've heard that can happen

There's always a possibility, but that would go for small files as well. I'd recommend keeping your computer usage down while it's doing the moving so the computer has uninterrupted access to resources.

 

[ElectricSheep]

I would recommend not using the mv command at all.

When using mv across volumes, it effectively behaves like issuing the following three commands:

rm -f /path/to/destination
cp -pRP /path/to/source /path/to/destination
rm -f /path/to/source

Just use the cp command yourself, and avoid any possible risk to your source files. When the copy completes and you are comfortable that it was correct, trash the source yourself.