Large file transfer stops working when using USB hard drive

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Level 1

4 points

Large file transfer stops working when using USB hard drive

I am transferring large video files and folders from one drive on a WD My Book Duo to another in the same My Book Duo. Both Drives are WD Red and formatted for HFS+J. The My Book Duo is connected to my iMac. Every time, part way through, it stops. I try to continue by merging, but that stops as well. The windows that were involved in the transfer disappear. Most of the shortcuts and folders on my desktop disappear as well. No error message. I force quit finder and restart the transfer. It does the same thing, sometimes after 300GB, sometimes after 800GB. Completely random.

This problem has been going on for a few days now. Any help?

iMac 27″ 5K, macOS 10.15

Posted on Aug 27, 2021 11:27 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

BarbieMac21 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 28, 2021 1:06 AM in response to BarbieMac21

Solution for anyone that searches for this later: I checked multiple drives, one by one, using disk utility first aid multiple times. They all passed. Finally I tried moving the subfolders one by one and that worked perfectly. It's more labor intensive, since you have to be there watching it and moving folder by folder, but it works.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,598 points

Aug 27, 2021 12:42 PM in response to BarbieMac21

There is no need for any WD or any third party maintenance utilities. I strongly recommend that you uninstall any WD software installed on the computer. To test your external drives open Disk Utility and run First Aid on the 2-3 times on each drive. If any errors appear that means that need to be replaced. You can find Disk Utility in Applications - Utilities - Disk Utility. A shortcut for launching any app is to open Spotlight (the magnifying glass icon in the upper right of the display) and type in the name of the app or file you are looking for. If you want to learn more about Spotlight I'd recommend navigating to https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/mac-help/mchlp1008/mac

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,598 points

Aug 27, 2021 11:34 AM in response to BarbieMac21

First try restarting the computer in Safe Mode with both EHDs disconnected from the computer, then restart normally. Next, please mount one of the EHDs and test it and then do the same with the 2nd EHD. After both EHDs are mounted then retest your transfer.

BTW, going forward please buy higher quality enclosures. WD makes very good HDs however their enclosure are not good quality. They have a very high failure rate primarily due to overheating because the enclosures lack good airflow. Most experienced users on these forums like the following enclosure.

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/ME3NH7T00/

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Answer 4

BarbieMac21 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 27, 2021 11:57 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks for offering assistance. Test them using the WD Drive Utilities application, or something else? I was thinking of just getting a new enclosure, but I need to deal with what I have for now.

Edit: Would that enclosure work with the WD hard drives I already have filled?

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

140,598 points

Aug 27, 2021 1:01 PM in response to BarbieMac21

I believe that error is a file transfer error and may occur because you have one or more files locked. However please reset the NVRAM and see if that help you out. NVRAM Reset

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Answer 6

BarbieMac21 Author

Level 1

4 points

Aug 27, 2021 12:51 PM in response to BarbieMac21

This time I received an error:

"The operation can’t be completed because an unexpected error occurred (error code -41)."

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Large file transfer stops working when using USB hard drive

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