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?
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
