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User profile for user: henkhb
henkhb Author
User level: Level 1
5 points

MacOS 27.2: Issue with symbolic links on SMB shares and FCPX?

Hey!


My FCPX archive is stored on a Synology NAS system.

It worked over years. Since the latest update of MacOS and DSM (NAS OS) I can't load any event in my libraries.

All media files are red ("changed file"). It's a big fuss, cause I need the system to work properly on customer projects. On a FCPX plugin page, i found the following notice:


⚠️ macOS 27.2 – we identified an issue where symbolic links (symlinks) are unusable on SMB mounts, such as Suite.

If you're using Final Cut Pro, do not upgrade macOS to 27.2, as it relies on symlinks to link Clips to media outside your Library.


Anybody can confirm this? is there any fix?

Posted on Oct 30, 2026 2:06 PM

Question marked as Top-ranking reply
User profile for user: Paracid303
Paracid303
User level: Level 1
18 points

Posted on Nov 1, 2026 6:36 AM

Same problem here, and I can add some findings after a week of isolating it.


Setup: MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon), macOS 27.2, Final Cut Pro 12.4, Synology DS2422+ (DSM 7, SMB Service 4.15.13, Btrfs), 10GbE. Libraries on one share, media on another, imported with “Leave files in place”. Worked for years until the 27.2 update.


What I found inside the library: in Library.fcpbundle/<Event>/Original Media/ every clip is a 1067-byte file beginning with “XSym”. That is the format macOS uses to store symbolic links on SMB volumes that don’t expose real symlinks. A library from April on the same share has 159 of them and worked fine until last week. On 27.2 Final Cut still writes them when you relink, but the SMB client no longer presents them as links: Finder shows plain 1 KB files, and Final Cut tries to open a 1 KB “mp4”. First “Missing plug-in”, then “Modified file”, and relinking is undone within a minute.


What I ruled out: it is not the NAS. I set the SMB settings identical to a second Synology that I had not touched; that one fails the same way, with a new library and with an old one from a snapshot. Rebooting, NFS, nsmb.conf tweaks, Full Disk Access for Final Cut: no change. QuickTime plays the same files from the share without issues.


What works:


  • Library on a local drive, media left on the NAS. Important: after moving the library you must do File › Relink Files › All and point it at the media folder on the NAS once. Moving the bundle alone keeps the broken 1 KB files, which may be why it didn’t work for you.
  • Media copied into the library (no links), even with the library on the NAS.
  • Others report that going back to 27.1 / 27.0.1 resolves it.


Same reports on r/finalcutpro with QNAP and another Synology. Filed with Apple via Feedback Assistant.

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User profile for user: Paracid303
Paracid303
User level: Level 1
18 points

Nov 1, 2026 6:36 AM in response to henkhb

Same problem here, and I can add some findings after a week of isolating it.


Setup: MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon), macOS 27.2, Final Cut Pro 12.4, Synology DS2422+ (DSM 7, SMB Service 4.15.13, Btrfs), 10GbE. Libraries on one share, media on another, imported with “Leave files in place”. Worked for years until the 27.2 update.


What I found inside the library: in Library.fcpbundle/<Event>/Original Media/ every clip is a 1067-byte file beginning with “XSym”. That is the format macOS uses to store symbolic links on SMB volumes that don’t expose real symlinks. A library from April on the same share has 159 of them and worked fine until last week. On 27.2 Final Cut still writes them when you relink, but the SMB client no longer presents them as links: Finder shows plain 1 KB files, and Final Cut tries to open a 1 KB “mp4”. First “Missing plug-in”, then “Modified file”, and relinking is undone within a minute.


What I ruled out: it is not the NAS. I set the SMB settings identical to a second Synology that I had not touched; that one fails the same way, with a new library and with an old one from a snapshot. Rebooting, NFS, nsmb.conf tweaks, Full Disk Access for Final Cut: no change. QuickTime plays the same files from the share without issues.


What works:


  • Library on a local drive, media left on the NAS. Important: after moving the library you must do File › Relink Files › All and point it at the media folder on the NAS once. Moving the bundle alone keeps the broken 1 KB files, which may be why it didn’t work for you.
  • Media copied into the library (no links), even with the library on the NAS.
  • Others report that going back to 27.1 / 27.0.1 resolves it.


Same reports on r/finalcutpro with QNAP and another Synology. Filed with Apple via Feedback Assistant.

User profile for user: Gh-sup
Gh-sup
User level: Level 1
34 points

Nov 10, 2026 10:23 AM in response to henkhb

I've been working through this issue as some of my team have been experiencing issues. Excuse some of the AI formatting, but this explains where I currently am with this issue. Can any of you confirm what I have found after updating to 27.2.1?


Your diagnosis matches what I saw, and 27.2.1 (26B131, released Nov 9) fixed it for me. Tested today, two Macs, same SMB share (Samba-based NAS, not Synology), same Final Cut Pro 12.4 library, nothing changed on the server between runs:


  • macOS 27.2 (26B123): ls -la on Original Media shows the clips as plain -rwx files, 1067 bytes, no ->. A clip imported “Leave files in place” on 27.2 shows up as a link but ls returns Invalid argument on it. Media offline, relink holds only until FCP is quit.
  • macOS 27.2.1 (26B131): the same 1067-byte files list as lrwx ... -> links. Media online, no relink needed. New “Leave files in place” imports survive quit and reopen.


Apple’s 27.2.1 notes only say “bug fixes”, nothing about SMB.


If you can update one Mac to 27.2.1 and open the library you originally had issues with without relinking, it would be good to have that confirmed. My server is Samba 4.22.


Any more input on this issue is greatly appreciated!

User profile for user: neuroanatomist
neuroanatomist
User level: Level 9
72,871 points

Oct 30, 2026 2:44 PM in response to henkhb

This macOS 27.2 issue affecting symbolic link behavior on SMB volumes has been reported elsewhere online. macOS 27.2 reportedly breaks the "Leave Files in Place" mechanism when the Final Cut Pro library itself resides on the NAS.


Under macOS 27.2, Final Cut Pro's internally generated symlinks—used to track external media—are interpreted as generic 1KB modified files instead of valid shortcuts, causing FCP 12.4 to lose track of the asset streams during playback.


Because your tests confirm that a local library referencing NAS media works perfectly, you can reportedly bypass this bug immediately without waiting for Apple's patch. 


Immediate Actionable Workarounds

Move only your .fcpbundle library package to your Mac Studio's local SSD while leaving all source footage exactly where it is on the NAS.

  • Why it works: This completely sidesteps the macOS 27.2 SMB symlink bug. The local macOS file system handles the tracking links to the external NAS assets flawlessly.
  • Setup: In FCP, select your library, open the Library Properties inspector, click Modify Settings, and ensure the media location is explicitly pointed to your external NAS folder. You can keep your cache local to speed up timelines


Full disclosure, I am passing this along but cannot test personally. I do have an NAS accessed via SMB, and video media stored on the NAS plays fine on my Mac running 27.2, but I do not use FCP.


Bugs should be reported to Apple here:

Feedback - macOS - Apple


FYI, second thread on this today. Here is the first.

macOS 27.2 – External media becomes unrea… - Apple Community


MacOS 27.2: Issue with symbolic links on SMB shares and FCPX?

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