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Level 1

4 points

Finder Error code -36

Since upgrading to 10.6.2, I can no longer write certain data to an external USB drive. Others have reported similar behaviors. Some experimentation has given a few more facts:

I'm specifically trying to copy a directory named "src" to an external USB drive formatted in FAT32. The directory had previously existed, and I'm attempting to overwrite the directory and it's contents. It appears to be deleting the directory and contents, then gives the following message:
"The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in "src" can't be read or written. (Error code -36).

No matter what I do, I can't copy the "src" directory anywhere on the USB drive, and I can't copy any sub-directories to the USB drive. I am able to manually re-create the entire directory structure on the USB drive, and manually copy the files one at a time.

This is on a relatively new Mac Pro 2.66G Quad Core. I can successfully copy the "src" directory to other places on either of two internal hard drives, so the problem does not appear to be with the source directory. The exact same behavior happens on a MacBook Pro (also running 10.6.2). Running Disk Utility on the USB drive shows no problems.

Now for the interesting part -- I fired up my old G5 Dual 1.8G (running 10.5.8) and there were no problems whatsoever. I successfully copied the entire directory back and forth (and deleted) just fine. TechTools Pro running on the G5 found no problems with the USB drive. (Apparently TechTools does not yet work on Snow Leopard). This leads me to conclude that there is no fundamental problem with the USB drive.

My conclusion -- This is a serious bug in 10.6.2. It appears to be caused when deleting a directory structure from a FAT32 drive, and then copying a similar directory structure back to the FAT32 drive.

Has anyone found a fix or work-around to this problem?

Mac Pro 2.66G Quad Core, Mac OS X (10.6.2), same problem on MacBook Pro

Posted on Nov 12, 2009 1:48 PM

140 replies

trip1ex

Level 1

9 points

Dec 21, 2010 11:43 AM in response to William Ooms

I can transfer large files from latest Snow Leopard version to latest Windows 7 HOme PRemium OS.

IT works over the network. Wired network. On a Verizon Actiontec router.

Sometimes that is.

IF I transfer 1 or 2 large files (1.5 gb each or so) then it seems to always work. Even 3 files.

But it almost always seems to fail eventually if try to transfer 10 files over or more. IN this case I get error code -36.

Also noticed an interesting difference between routers.

I switched my router to the Apple Airport Extreme router with no internet connection. Newest version, but not with the latest firmware that came out a few weeks before this post. Anyway I cannot even transfer 1 large 1.5gb over to my Windows 7 computer. It starts the transfer and is twice as fast as Verizon router (both wired connections,) but it craps out with Error Code -36 just as it looks like the transfer is going to finish.

Dec 21, 2010 2:55 PM in response to CheeseMan-G5__

Apple - This bug is not answered or resolved, yet it is marked as such. Please correct this so a resolution can be found.

Our company has been trying to move to Mac's for the past year, and we're having so many issues with the most basic functions (copying files). I too am experiencing the same thing others on this forum have posted (error message #-36). This is on a directory we copied from a Windows share to a mac, made zero changes to the files, then attempted to copy them back to a different server, or even the same server.

I've been through the dot_clean routine (doesn't work), copying files manually through the command line (does work, but I'm not about to tell people that how you have to copy files on a Mac), and copying from within a Windows VM on a Mac through Fusion (also works, but it's a ridiculous workaround).

Some users in this thread have been reporting that it's been an ongoing issue for 2+ years, which makes us question if we made the right move to transition to Apple-based products in the office.

-Mark

Dec 22, 2010 3:35 AM in response to William Ooms

I'm facing the same problem trying to copy from a HFS+ Journaled drive to another HFS+ Journaled drive through afp.

Under 10.6.5.

Dec 27, 2010 5:52 PM in response to David Losada

I'm having the same problem. I can move a file (dragging and dropping) from one folder to another on the hardrive in the MacBook, but I get "Error code -36" when I try to copy the file to an external HD. At least I get that problem for "big" files (around 1 GB). For small files (100 KB) it seems to work.

I tried the "dot_clean" stuff and renaming the file to something with no spaces, but nothing worked for me.

Is there some other fix for this?

Dec 27, 2010 6:48 PM in response to James Elliott1

I managed to fix the problem for me. The problem was that the external hard drive had some minor problems. I ran Disk Utility and that corrected the problems on the external hard drive and I was able to copy the files.

Finder Error code -36