Removing resource forks from photos and videos etc.?

Question

Level 7

23,049 points

Removing resource forks from photos and videos etc.?

A couple of years ago I was recommended to use BlueHarvest or ZapResourceForks to remove the duplicate "thumbnail" images I was getting when playing photos on an SD card inserted into my Sony TV.

I am now using Mountain Lion and ZapResourceForks does not appear to work on anything past Snow Leopard.

I have downloaded the 30 day demo of BlueHarvest which works perfectly but for my occasional needs I can't justify the $15 cost.

Is there any free method of doing the job in ML ?

iMac, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4), Little knowledge... many opinions.

Posted on Jul 25, 2013 2:13 AM

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Answer 1

Z_B-B

Level 2

296 points

Jul 25, 2013 3:35 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Hello,

I do not know but Maybe this will help you > >

http://www.duplicatephotocleaner.com/features

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Answer 2

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 25, 2013 3:51 AM in response to Z_B-B

Thanks but I don't think that will work.

My "thumbnails" are not really duplicates but a peculiarity caused by resource forks used by Macs and only appear when shown on non-Mac equipment.

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Answer 3

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,670 points

Jul 25, 2013 4:31 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

You can run a utility (in Terminal) called dot_clean on the SD card to remove the ._ files.

You would use the -m option to remove the ._ files instead of merging them.

dot_clean -m /Volumes/SD\ Card\ Name

You could create a Service in Automator so you could right-click on the SD card and select "Clean" from the Services submenu.

I used this method to clean them off a USB stick I used to plug into my car stereo.

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Answer 4

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:06 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

I have just done another Google search and discovered this free app

http://mac.softpedia.com/get/Utilities/Delete-Resource-Fork.shtml

For anyone wanting something similar just make sure you don't install MacKeeper which insists on popping up!

The app seems to have removed the resource forks but for some strange reason the pictures appear in a strange order when played via my Panasonic Blu-ray player ........ they go in order but in between each picture is another random one from later on ........... 001, 079, 002, 125, 003, 156 etc.

Any ideas why?

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Answer 5

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:10 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks Barney - I would like to try your method but I'm a complete novice with Terminal and Automator and require a little more step by step guidance on what to write and where etc.

Message was edited by: Ian R. Brown

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Answer 6

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,670 points

Jul 25, 2013 5:33 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

For the Automator Service, Open Automator and Select Service as the type of workflow.

At the top, set it to receive Folders in Finder

From the Library at the left, under utilities, drag a Run Shell Script action into the workflow pane (right side).

Set the Run Shell Script action to Pass Input: As Arguments.

Replace the text of the workflow with this:

dot_clean -m "$@"

Save it with a short, useful name.

When you right-click on a Folder, the name you chose will appear in the Services submenu of the contextual menu. You can also access it from the <Application menu>>Services menu.

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Answer 7

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 25, 2013 7:08 AM in response to Barney-15E

Thanks Barny for that simple and easily followed description.

I assume that if I want to delete the resource fork of a movie I just substitute "movie files" for "folder" in the Automator window?

Strangely some of my movies and pictures don't display the resource fork thumbnails even though they haven't been zapped in any way . . . . . .

I'm still puzzled by something else I mentioned earlier.

For some unknown reason, when I play some folders of photos on my new (yesterday) Panasonic Blu-ray player, their order becomes slightly jumbled whereas other folders of pictures are perfect.

Originally I thought it was caused by the app "Delete Resource Fork" but further investigation showed it was just this random quirk of the player.

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Answer 8

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 25, 2013 7:24 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Yet another simple question!

I realise that zapping a few files is instantaneous but what about a folder containing thousands or a long movie ....... would they be zapped almost instantaneously?

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Answer 9

Jul 25, 2013 8:48 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Where are you getting these resource forks in the first place? Very few applications add resource forks. They've been archaic for years.

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Answer 10

BeebarbX

Level 1

110 points

Jul 25, 2013 9:16 AM in response to Jeffrey Jones2

@Jeffrey Jones2

Maybe so, but even now the system still uses them to store data that Windows doesn't understand, such as:

- Spotlight Comments

- Label

- Stationary Pad State

- Hidden/Shown extensions per-file setting

- Per-file Open With selected application

- Custom Icon

There are many more possible reasons, I've even had downloaded *.exe files have resource fork dot files when I copy them to a flash drive to put on my Netbook (which ironically has such a bad Wi-Fi receiver it doesn't work with any network).

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Answer 11

Jul 25, 2013 9:28 AM in response to BeebarbX

That information is stored in "extended attributes". It is not stored in the resource fork. Extended attributes are put into "dot" files when you copy the file to a non-HFS file system. A resource fork is one example of an extended attribute, but not the only one. None of the metadata you listed is stored in a resource fork.

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Answer 12

Barney-15E

Level 10

118,670 points

Jul 25, 2013 4:47 PM in response to Ian R. Brown

Jeffery Jones has already hit on this, but the ._ files are the metadata files. A movie file on its own will not have the ._ files. They only appear when you copy the file over to a file system that cannot handle the extended attributes of HFS+ file system. So, the dot_clean utility will only find and remove those files once they are transferred over to another hard drive formatted with something like FAT32.

So, there is no point in running it on a movie file as it doesn't have ._ files.

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Answer 13

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 26, 2013 8:22 AM in response to Barney-15E

I've not had any problems recently until the day before I posted.

I had then started using a BD player as a media player (instead of my old WD TV HD) and I had also reformatted the USB HD used for TV media to FAT 32 (so I can also use it with my Toshiba laptop).

It was then that I noticed the double titles on a number of photos and .mp4 and .mov videos.

It was a bit hit and miss as only a handful of the 100+ videos I had just copied onto the USB HD had the double title.

Presumably I had altered them in some way on my Mac before copying them.

Anyway the problem is now solved thanks to your script and Delete Resource Fork.

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Answer 14

Ian R. Brown Author

Level 7

23,049 points

Jul 29, 2013 2:55 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Here's an update which may be of use to others with a similar problem.

R-C-R suggested this free app which works marvellously and is available from the AppStore

http://macpaw.com/cleanmydrive

Another problem I mentioned earlier was that when playing photos on my BD player, they were listed and appeared in a random order.

Several Google searches revealed that this was a common problem dating back several years but with no apparent solution.

After experimenting I discovered it is caused by using photo file names containing an odd number of numerals such as 001 or 00001 etc. (Any letters or words prefixing the number don't matter).

Simply using 01 or 0001 etc.ensures everything is listed in the correct order.

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Removing resource forks from photos and videos etc.?