delete virtual drive

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Level 1

60 points

delete virtual drive

For reasons I'm not entire sure of, Mac OS 10.14.11 has started creating virtual drives. Using the Terminal, I found these virtual drives in /Volumes. All the virtual drives have names similar to my actual hard drives, which are then renamed. So, for example, I had a drive called Backup, which is now renamed Backup 1, and a virtual drive is called backup. Using the terminal, I deleted all files on the virtual drives and would like to now delete them. My Linux/Unix knowledge had never reached that point, so if someone could tell me the command, I'll carefully delete the virtual drives. Mac OS finder knows nothing about these virtual drives.

Posted on Mar 27, 2014 8:28 AM

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Answer 1

Limnos

Level 10

411,175 points

Mar 27, 2014 8:33 AM in response to bob browne

In 8 years of using OSX I haven't seen such drives which suggests to me there's something on your computer creating these, probably for a reason. It would be good to find out what is doing it and why first, especially if they are not visible in Finder (how did you find them in the first place?)

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Answer 2

bob browne Author

Level 1

60 points

Mar 27, 2014 9:16 AM in response to Limnos

I really have no idea why OSX does this, but it is not the first time. I found them because I had downloaded a file to a directory on a hard drive. The file was not there. I used the Terminal to see what might be going on and that's when I discovered the virtual drives. BTW, I have already bought a new Mac and plan to retire this one soon. However, I would like to use it in the meantime, and solving this problem would make that a lot easier to do.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

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239,111 points

Mar 27, 2014 9:26 AM in response to bob browne

It happens when a drive get disconnected or goes offline during file transfer.

In Finder's Menu, select Go menu>Go to Folder, and go to "/volumes". (no quotes)

Volumes is where an alias to your hard drive ("/" at boot) is placed at startup, and where all the "mount points" for auxiliary drives are created for you to access them. This folder is normally hidden from view.

Drives with an extra 1 on the end have a side-effect of mounting a drive with the same name as the system already think exists. Try trashing the duplicates with a 1 or 2 if there are no real files in them, and reboot.

If it does contain data...

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2474

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Answer 4

bob browne Author

Level 1

60 points

Mar 27, 2014 9:52 AM in response to BDAqua

Thanks. That fixed it. Unfortunately one drive with a 1 is the original drive. I will try renaming it, rebooting and hoping that all the pieces are now where they belong.

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Answer 5

BDAqua

Level 10

239,111 points

Mar 27, 2014 10:02 AM in response to bob browne

Great news. 🙂

If it happens again, look into if the drive is loosing power or going bad.

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