can't open .zip, only starts .cpgz cycle

I just encountered the same problem. In my case, the original file was surely a PC user and the zipped extension is .pptx. I use Stuffit to unzip and get the .cpgz cycle.

I just tried changing the original extension of .pptx to .zip and it unzipped properly!

Message was edited by: MacNut2

Are you saying that all zip files are having problems or is just one file failing to unzip?

Maybe the file is corrupt or was made by a pc user with a proprietary zip format that is not compatible?

Make your own zip file and see if you can open it.

Download another zip file and see if you can open it.

Can do 1 better.
File downloaded off ftp server using Transmit. Downloaded in Binary format. Filename XXXX.ZIP and it unzipped. Copied this file and the enclosing folder to another mac so that folders could be renamed to our filenaming convention (File was untouched). Folder copied back and now it goes into .cpgz.

Checked the original download to the "copied" version - exact same mod dates, exact same permissions, exact same file size - yet run a tail or head command in shell and I get nothing from the renamed file. Tried to open files in BBEdit to see if there anything -- the "copied file" displays nothing, not even gibberish I would have expected!

Speaking of this automatic unzipping, is there anyway to disable this?

For example, say I want to download a .zip archive, and have it stay a .zip archive so I can upload it somewhere else? The problem with re-zipping it is that I don't want it to be a Mac .zip file with bogus resource files and DS_STORE files in it for Windows users. If I download a Windows .zip, I want to keep it as a .zip that was zipped on Windows, if you follow me.

OK, I'll answer my own question for anyone who sees this:

You can either disable the automatic opening of "safe" files in the General Preferences section of Safari, or I also discovered that, even when you have the Preferences set to automatically unzip the files, you can override this by control-clicking on the file and choosing "Download Linked File as..."

My user just encountered this zip/cpgz cycle as well, and I think this is what happened.

He was attempting to download a zip file that was only available via BitTorrent. So he downloaded the corresponding 24 KB torrent file and double clicked it. This opened Opera (his default application for torrent files), and the actual 62 MB zip file started downloading. But unlike a conventional downloading file that ends in .download and shows a small progress bar in the icon, the BitTorrent downloading file looks indistinguishable from a completely downloaded file: it ends in .zip and has the zip icon even though it is still downloading. So my user was attempting to unzip a 62 MB file when only about 50 MB had downloaded.

As of this writing, the file is still downloading. But I suspect once completely downloaded, he will be able to unzip the file normally using Stuffit Expander.

this worked for me too. when you double click on the original .zip file and get a .cpgz , alter the file extension of the newly created .cpgz to be .zip. then double click on this and it should extract properly. dont know whats going on but at least it works.

I had the the "unzipping" problem with Quicksilver (the launcher), the downloaded file was "QS.3815.dmg.bz2", and trying to open that, well, the "cycle with no end", but just removing the"bz2" was enough to solve the issue.

sad to say, I'm now having this issue and nothing seems to work = cpgz files and zip files replicate like rabbits -- I did change a cpgz file back to a zip file and rename it but it still replicated it...I'm downloading from a business website and it should work, but it's probably created by a Windows zipper and not easily openable by me [using Leopard] - this is the very first time this has happened.

Hey y'all,

Springy ( http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/systemdiskutilities/springy.html) does the trick.

Frred

Try a 3rd party app like BetterZip or Springy

I got the same problem with all zip files. I tried with differents appl and always I get a cpgz file.... and

mea culpa = I downloaded latest Stuffit Expander 12.0.2 and it opens the zips just fine

Springy seems to no longer be available ...
I'm trying to sort through the same issue.
Anyone have better luck with this?