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one or more items can't be changed because they are in use

I am trying to copy over 1TB of data from a internal hard drive (in a hard drive dock) to a new internal hard drive when I attempt to copy the data I get the message in the topic title.

I was originally trying to do this transfer on Snow leopard and when this problem surfaced decided this was a good time to upgrade to lion and blow away the old system with all the rubbish and start a fresh but as you can tell I am still getting the same error even after formatting the hard drive before installing lion and not doing anything with the system except attempting to transfer the data.

I have copied larger amounts of data than this previously so have no idea what is going wrong.

Posted on May 1, 2012 5:12 AM

36 replies

May 1, 2012 8:39 PM in response to Linc Davis

sudo lsof | grep 'Hard Drive 2'

WARNING: Improper use of the sudo command could lead to data loss

or the deletion of important system files. Please double-check your

typing when using sudo. Type "man sudo" for more information.

To proceed, enter your password, or type Ctrl-C to abort.

Password:

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 3277 26491 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.indexGro ups

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 8 26627 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.indexCom pactDirectory

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 2056 26626 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.indexDir ectory

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 3277 26595 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.1.indexGro ups

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 1024 26601 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.1.indexCom pactDirectory

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 8224 26600 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.1.indexDir ectory

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 20356 26525 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.indexGroups

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 203560 26524 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.indexIds

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 58596 26530 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.indexDirector y

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 313772 26531 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.indexCompactD irectory

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 4764544 26532 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.indexArrays

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 262144 26534 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/0.directoryStor eFile

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 32768 26490 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.indexIds

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 67392 26628 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.indexArr ays

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 65536 26629 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.0.director yStoreFile

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 32768 26594 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.1.indexIds

mds 86 root txt REG 14,11 262144 25881 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/reverseDirector yStore

mds 86 root 8r DIR 14,11 374 2 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2

mds 86 root 16r DIR 14,11 374 2 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2

mds 86 root 22r DIR 14,11 2210 25848 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6

mds 86 root 27r DIR 14,11 374 2 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2

mds 86 root 28r DIR 14,11 2210 25848 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6

mds 86 root 35u REG 14,11 140 26648 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/journalAttr.10

mds 86 root 36u REG 14,11 28 25854 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/indexState

mds 86 root 43u REG 14,11 2297856 25880 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/.store.db

mds 86 root 44u REG 14,11 4096 26593 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/live.1.indexHea d

mds 86 root 45u REG 14,11 0 25884 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Spotlight-V100/Store-V2/18378527-FF29-438C-BF56-DEC47473CCC6/journalExclusio n

Finder 163 UserAccountName 18r DIR 14,11 68 26639 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2/.Trashes/501

Finder 163 UserAccountName 30r DIR 14,11 374 2 /Volumes/Hard Drive 2

philips-mac-pro:~ UserAccountName$

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

May 1, 2012 8:49 PM in response to macnewcomer22

Are you sharing anything on that drive with File Sharing?

May 1, 2012 9:04 PM in response to Linc Davis

As far as I am aware nothing is being shared the drive is actually empty so nothing should be being shared.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

May 1, 2012 9:37 PM in response to macnewcomer22

Let's go back to the beginning. Please describe exactly, step by step, what you're doing and what happens. Screenshots would be helpful.

May 1, 2012 11:10 PM in response to Linc Davis

I had 4 2TB drives in my Mac pro and upgraded them to 4 4TB drives and copied data to 3 of the 4 drives successfully using a hard drive dock to plug the old 2TB internal drives into so I could transfer the data to the 4TB drives located in the Mac Pro.

This is the precess I am going through when the error occurs the drive I am trying to bring the data from is located in the hard drive dock and the drive I am trying to move the data to is located in the mac pro.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Wv3oZBTZo&feature=youtu.be

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

May 2, 2012 5:15 AM in response to macnewcomer22

The video is private and I can't view it. Please describe what happens.

May 2, 2012 5:43 AM in response to Linc Davis

Sorry about that here I have changed the videos settings here is the new link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7Wv3oZBTZo&feature=plcp

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

May 2, 2012 6:13 AM in response to macnewcomer22

You seem to be triggering an obscure bug in the Finder. I don't know why. Create a folder named "Projects" on the destination, then copy the subfolders of the source folder to it one, or a few, at a time.

May 3, 2012 8:28 AM in response to Linc Davis

Sorry it took me awhile to respond I copied several parts over at a time as you suggested and finally know which specific item is causing the trouble.

When I need to move a video file from one location to another using the internet I split it into several archived pieces to prevent corruption of the file on it's journey through the internet it is one of these pieces that seems to be causing the issue.

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,535 points

May 3, 2012 10:52 AM in response to macnewcomer22

Make a copy of the problem file on the source volume. Can you transfer that copy to the destination? If so, delete the original.

henin

Level 1

13 points

Jul 19, 2012 10:41 AM in response to macnewcomer22

I was having trouble copying some files, getting the "One or more items in... can't be changed because they are in use" error. The files were grayed out in the Finder. Did a lot of Googling and found out about Extended file attributes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extended_file_attributes) and xattr (http://developer.apple.com/library/mac/#documentation/Darwin/Reference/ManPages/ man1/xattr.1.html). Upshot: If you ls a file in Terminal and the permissions list ends with "@", the file has extended attributes. If you ls the file again with the "-l@" flag, you will see the names and values of the extended attributes. In my case, it was the com.apple.FinderInfo attribute that was causing the problem. Deleted the attribute with "xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo [filename]" on each file and everything was hunky dory. NB: Extended attributes can also store resources or essential metadata, so don't delete them willy nilly. It's always safe to delete com.apple.FinderInfo.

Posting this to my top few hits so others won't have to spend as much time on this as I have.

skillet

Level 1

25 points

Nov 28, 2012 2:13 PM in response to henin

henin your answer looks to be a solution for me but after reading both articles I am at a loss as to what it is exactly I am suppose to do.

There is a two gig movie file that is greyed out and plays in quicklook, but it does get stuck about 42 minutes in and stops playing video eventhough the time is still moving by in the counter. QuickTime Pro 7 and QuickTime X won't play it at all and give me the message "Item “149_8752.MOV” is used by Mac OS X and can’t be opened.". I have logged in as root and get the same problem, I have restarted several times. Changed permissions of the file and it stays greyed out.

When I go to transfer it to another location I get the error "One or more items in “149_8752.MOV” can’t be changed because they are in use." Then when I press continue it asks for my username and password "Finder Wants to make changes. Type your password to allow this. It then goest through the transfer process and when it is finished transfering the new drive doesn't have the file and when I get info on the drive has the exact same Used size as it was before (empty).

Not sure what to do from your description but I have googled this and read many, many posts and nothing seems to work.

User uploaded file

henin

Level 1

13 points

Nov 28, 2012 2:55 PM in response to skillet

Try this:

1) Launch Terminal, located in Applications/Utilties.

2) Using cd, change to the directory in which 149_8752.MOV is located. (E.g., If the file is on the desktop, type "cd ~/Desktop". If the file is in subfolder Foo of the Movies folder in your home directory, type "cd ~/Movies/Foo)

3) Type "xattr -d com.apple.FinderInfo 149_8752.MOV".

If this doesn't work, then your problem is different from the one I was having.

Hope this is helpful. Cheers, henin

Nov 30, 2012 5:23 PM in response to henin

I am having this issue with a Time Machine backup I'm trying to copy to a Time Capsule. As you can imagine, there are millions of files... can anyone give me an example of how I would script the xattr -d command to apply to all the files in the entire dirctory?

Any help here will be greatly appreciated.

Nov 30, 2012 5:26 PM in response to Hatrabbit

In your case (only) it might be easier to just set the old backup drive aside for a while and start a new backup on the Time Capsule.

one or more items can't be changed because they are in use