Scotdavid
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Error-36 when copying aperture 3 library to external hard drive

I am trying to copy my aperture 3 library (126GB) to an external hard drive to free up space on my local hard drive.

When it is at the final 1gb of the process I recieve an error message:

"The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “Aperture 3 Library” can’t be read or written.

(Error code -36)"

 

I have repaired the aperture library and repaired permissions and this did not work. Any suggestions?

 

I'm running 10.9.3

Posted on Jun 2, 2014 5:50 AM

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Scotdavid

Q: Error-36 when copying aperture 3 library to external hard drive

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 2, 2014 6:18 AM in response to Scotdavid
    Level 10 (105,183 points)
    iLife
    Jun 2, 2014 6:18 AM in response to Scotdavid

    Check the file system of the external hard drive.The error message you get is very typical for trying to copy an Aperture lobrary to a drive with an incompatible file system. That can result in conflicting pathnames.

    See:  Format external drives to Mac OS Extended before using with Aperture

     

    Your external drive needs to be formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled). You can check the file system with "File > Get Info" in the Finder. Select the icon of the drive and press ⌘I. Then disclose the "General" tab of the Info panel.

    Screen Shot 2014-06-02 at 15.15.56.PNG

  • by Scotdavid,

    Scotdavid Scotdavid Jun 2, 2014 6:36 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 2, 2014 6:36 AM in response to léonie

    I checked the file system of my external hard drive and it is formatted Mac Os Extended (Journaled).

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 2, 2014 7:05 AM in response to Scotdavid
    Level 10 (105,183 points)
    iLife
    Jun 2, 2014 7:05 AM in response to Scotdavid

    Then there may be one single item in your Aperture library that cannot be read. 

    Try to copy the library file by file separately.

     

    • Open the Aperture library and reveal the package contents:  Select the Aperture library in the Finder and use the command "Show Package Contents".
    • On your external drive create a folder named "Aperture Library" (without the filename extension .aplibrary) and open this folder.
    • Now drag items from your Aperture library to the folder on the external drive. Don't try the large folders "Masters", "Previews" at once, but open them and copy the items inside in smaller installments. 

    At some point you will hit a problem get again the copy error. Then try to identify the file that is causing this problem and post back, so that we know, if it is a file that is essential.

  • by mpl2014,

    mpl2014 mpl2014 Oct 20, 2014 11:32 AM in response to Scotdavid
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 20, 2014 11:32 AM in response to Scotdavid

    I think I found a solution or at least a work around for this problem.

    I encountered the same issue while copying a 270GB Aperture library to an external LaCie disk. Error 36 kept appearing after 60 or so GB. Rebuilding and repairing the library database did not work. Checking and repairing permissions did not solve it either.

    As an experiment I tried to export my photo's from aperture in the following way.

     

    • From Aperture select: FILE -> EXPORT ->SMART ALBUM AS NEW LIBRARY
    • Type a Library name in the top field
    • Then check both the COPY and PREVIEW checkboxes and choose a location where to export to. Then click EXPORT LIBRARY

     

    Aperture starts exporting the complete library to the new location. No errors occurred. I replicated the same method on another mac and that worked too.

    The whole process takes no longer than copying with Finder.

     

    I found that when comparing the original library on my internal drive with the new library that in the new library there where 7 images less. I figure that those where corrupt images causing the error 36 while copying with Finder and Aperture left them out automatically in this export proces.

    The new Library now works normally.

     

    Hope this helps

  • by chasenya,

    chasenya chasenya Aug 28, 2016 1:59 PM in response to Scotdavid
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 28, 2016 1:59 PM in response to Scotdavid

    I'm a couple years behind replying to this but I was having the same issue on 10.11.6 with ALL MY FILES on my LaCie HDD and couldn't get anything off the drive without encountering the error 36. Tried DiskWarrior (as everyone and their dog recommended it) and it did nothing except get hung up on Step 5 for over 50 hours. I cancelled the "rebuilding" and found one more piece of Software called Carbon Copy Cloner (https://bombich.com) and it WORKED! I was able to transfer the data to my new external hdd where it can be read/wrote/copied/moved on the new hdd. Hope this helps someone!