File in use error when copying files

Question

File in use error when copying files

Pardon my rant, but after 10 hours of unsuccessfully trying to copy 10GB and 15GB files, I don't have anything nice to say about Apple's OS or hardware.

Yosemite is reporting an error: "The operation can't be completed because the item "xyz.rar" is in use" every time, and every way I try to copy a file from an external exFat formatted drive.

In finder, I've tried copy/pasting the file and then the whole folder. I've also tried drag/drop the file and folder. Nothing seems to work.

I tried splitting the file into smaller (700MB) chunks but still get the same error.

I've read in other forums that the Icon Preview option is a cause of this problem, so I've disabled it. (The posts I've been reading are VERY OLD.)

I've resorted to using the terminal to perform the copy, and got an error saying "cp: xyz.rar: Resource Busy"

*** is going on?

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Yosemite (10.10.1)

Posted on Dec 21, 2014 8:53 AM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

scron

Level 1

8 points

May 4, 2015 7:17 AM in response to Another New User Account

I have been unable to drag and drop large files, even onto the Desktop, let alone onto my NAS - I get the dragged files freezing in the middle of the screen or I get the 'unable to copy / file in use' error.

Talking to Apple Support, they had me set up a new User, and then within that new account, the trouble went away. This pointed to the StartUp items being run in the original troublesome account,

I have deleted all of my 3rd Party programs and then installed them one by one until the problem came back, and in my case (Macbook Air 5,2 running 10.10.3 Yosemite) I found it was DropBox causing the conflict. I have DropBox running in the Menu Bar (top of screen) and disabling sync (bottom left corner) stopped the file copy problem. Try disabling DropBox sync is file copying is failing?

Reply

Answer 2

mende1

Level 10

93,568 points

Dec 21, 2014 8:58 AM in response to Another New User Account

It is strange that this happens with RAR files, which cannot be read by OS X by default. If you are using any RAR extractor, close it. You can also try unchecking "Reopen windows when logging back in" in the restart/shutdown window, so OS X will not open any application the next time you turn on your MacBook Pro. Then try copying that file.

If it does not work, boot up in safe mode by holding down the Shift key while your Mac is starting up. This mode should not give you any problem.

Reply

Answer 3

Dec 21, 2014 3:21 PM in response to mende1

@mende1, thanks for trying to help.

I forgot to mention that before I tried using the external drive, I attempted to copy the files directly from a Shared folder on my Windows 7 Machine over wireless. It was really slow, and eventually failed for the same reason given in my OP. So I thought using an external drive would be faster.

I've now formatted the drive twice on Windows and once on OSX. The current block size is set to ...(Well, OSX doesn't have the ability to show me that info... Or it must think I'm a pompous ignoramus who wouldn't understand anyway.)

I turned off the "Reopen... " option and decided to boot in Safe Mode first.

In Safe Mode:

1: I get really funky display performance. Dragging windows around tears them as the renderer tries to keep up with the movement. It makes me think I have a Pentium 3 in the machine with a graphics card as old.

2: The external drive was not mounted, and unplugging/plugging it back in didn't work either.

3. I was going to use the DiskUtil command in the terminal to mount it. But it reported that it couldn't mount the drive, so I decided to reformat it instead using a simple drive label (I had 'TmpStorage' before, and now I'm using just 'tmp').

So Safe Mode does not resolve anything except show me how poor my MBP and OSX are.

Rebooting again in normal mode, did no resolve the problem. It still fails with the same error as previously.

As for USB3, it takes forever to boot the machine while I sit and wait for it to scan the drive. My 8 year old ASUS does it in a second or so.

So I'm now trying again, but using 'sudo' and copying in the terminal. After about 20 minutes, my terminal shows:

'cp: xyz.rar: Resource busy'

Go figure!!!!!

It weren't for the $2800 I paid for this machine, I would take it to the metal recyclers, and then send an invoice to Apple for my wasted time.

Reply