Can't download files from app or Safari directly on my hard drives after updating Mac to Sequoia

JBDLID wrote:

Thanks for the answer .

I already did this , Changing the file download location was the first things I tried . I even tried to do this then set up back to the download folder and then back again on "ask for each"

Doesn't work .

When I download audio files from Safari to my external hard drive, once the download is finished, the file appears incomplete and stays in the .download format, preventing me from opening it in Finder.

Thank you for clarifying that. We now understand what is happening, and have a better chance of figuring out why.

How is the drive formatted? It should be APFS, if it is an SSD, or Mac OS Extended if it is a rotating HD. Open Disk Utility, select the drive in the sidebar and confirm.

Typically disks come preformatted for use in Windows machines, either as ExFAT, or NTFS.

Older drives could be FAT32, and that only supports files up to 4GB in size, so a large download could well fail for that reason.

Do smaller downloads work ok on the external drive?

JBDLID wrote:

I haven't formatted the disk since I updated to Sequoia , it's exactly the same configuration and it worked perfectly before ...

I can't test in an older OS right now, but I DID test in Sequoia.

To reiterate: I can download to an external drive, PROVIDED that it is formatted as either APFS or Mac OS Extended. If it is set to ExFAT, I get the exact same issue, the file stays as something.download and cannot be used.

So, we know what is happening. It appears that something has changed in this regard, and I may get a chance to try in an older mac running Big Sur, but I don't think it is relevant. The answer is for me clear.

Any and all credits to @ HWTech 👍

Issues with external drives and macOs Son… - Apple Community

Quote " You have neglected to include some very important details such as the file system(s) used on the external drives which have this issue. I'm assuming they are using exFAT or FAT32 file systems. If so, continue reading.....

Apple changed the exFAT and FAT (ms-dos) driver from a Kernel driver to a user space driver so it seems it is still a work in progress, or maybe this is the new normal.

See this Apple article, especially section in the following screenshot:

macOS Sonoma 14 Release Notes | Apple Developer Documentation

Also, here is another similar thread about the issue:

Can’t set folder icons for the folders in…exFAT or FAT32 volumes - Apple Community. "

End Quote

I have made some tests that CONFIRM my suspicion that the problem is with how the disk is formatted.

In the absence of external drives to test, I made two disk images, one in ExFAT and one in APFS.

Safari had no problem downloading to the APFS disk image, but failed, just as you experienced, with the one using ExFAT.

Predicated on using Safari to download files

Change the Location for downloads using Other and point it to the External Drives(s)

Though, downloading " sound banks of hundreds of gigabytes " on a frequent basis

This may require a computer with an Externally Large or Larger Internal Drive to avoid this ongoing issue

What exactly happens if you try to download directly to the external?

Which browser are you using?

If it’s a third party one, you may need to grant it access to the external drive. Does Ssfari impose the same restrictions?

Please tell us EXACTLY what happens. You speak of many "manipulations" but we need you to be specific.

Did you try to set the file download destination to the external - as shown in the image that Owl-53 posted above? And then what? When you click to download something, what happens?

An error message? Post a screenshot of that.

Something else? Please explain.

Also: you can control-click on a link and choose Download Linked File As..., and choose a location (which in this case could be in your external). If you do that, do you get an error message? Post a screenshot. If no error, does the download go through?

There are several similar posts on this topic that I remember seeing a while back. I don’t know if any of them have any solutions. It has to do with how Safari downloads files into a temp container and then as a final step moves it as a complete file.

I wonder if it maybe is just some sort of access problem with the external drives. Perhaps try giving Safari full disk access in the privacy and security system settings

As to the large file issue, I would imagine the temp download is done to the internal drive first, and then the move is completed after. I can’t tell you for sure that that is the case though.

Owl-53 wrote:

@Barney-25

Predicated on OP original post. re Drive is almost full or words to that effect

Yes, why do you think I didn’t read that? perhaps because you didn’t understand the entire point of that statement. The point was it may not matter if you try to download to the external drive because the temporary download is going to happen on the internal drive.

From your perspective, which of the 3 issues are central to your computer issue ?

1 - Is it the Internal Drive is too full ?

2 -You can download the file to the internal Drive ?

3 - The workflow of having to move the downloaded file and then move to external drive ?

Will downloading the file Directly to the external drive solve the Internal Drive is too full ?

JBDLID wrote:

??? that comment doesn’t give me a solution for sure ! 😂

You are very right, it does not

There have been at least two different suggestions put forth from 2 different contributors

Neither of which are reported (by you ) to have worked - right ?

Help us help you and supply the information requested from my Colleague

We are experienced in Technical things related to the usages of Apple Computers

Though, we are all working remotely from various locations somewhere on this planet

We can not see exactly what you can see when attempting to use Safari to download " sound banks of hundreds of gigabytes "

Any further suggestions would be pure speculations or guess work

Neither of which would be productive and basically spawn a " Game of 20 Questions "