Easy symbolic linker please!

Question

Level 1

13 points

Easy symbolic linker please!

I need to move Logic Pro X samples to external drive in El Capitan 10.11.2. However correctly I think I do the ln -s thing own terminal I get 'illegal option'. If I try SymbolicLinker I get 'Invalid Path, target already exists'. I would like a simple clear guide for someone more familiar with the mixolydian than the terminal! I think that as SSD's are becoming common, it is a necessity to move content to External Drive and I wish Apple would give us an easy way to do it.

Posted on Dec 16, 2015 8:42 AM

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Answer 1

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Dec 16, 2015 10:53 AM in response to dorlan335

You can't make symbolic links to a different volume using 'ln -s'. Use OS X 'aliases'. You can make with the Finder, which can be scripted:

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7072208/how-do-i-create-a-macintosh-finder-al ias-from-the-command-line

if you have a lot of them.

C.

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Answer 2

JimmyCMPIT

Level 7

29,322 points

Dec 16, 2015 10:54 AM in response to dorlan335

I tend to rely heavily on minor harmonic myself, but you can try here.

http://www.logicprohelp.com/forum/

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Answer 3

dorlan335 Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 16, 2015 10:56 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Thanks Jimmy, I tried that and got in a right phrygian!

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Answer 4

dorlan335 Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 16, 2015 11:02 AM in response to cdhw

Thanks cdhw. LogidPro Help assure me that you can, but I think you must be right. I had previously succeeded with Aliases but I was told that it's not the way to go as it causes probelms on any future Logic updates, and causes warnings of additional downloads needed becuase LPX or El Capitan doesn't 'see' the alias material. Symbolic Links were said to be the best way, so i tried, And failed.

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Answer 5

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Dec 16, 2015 11:07 AM in response to dorlan335

Actually, I was mistaken. Hard links can't span filesystems, but 'ln -s' creates soft links, which can. What type of filesystem is your external drive formatted with?

C.

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Answer 6

dorlan335 Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 16, 2015 11:12 AM in response to cdhw

Mac extended. When i try doing it in terminal I get 'illegal option'. I shall persevere. (My wider point is that LPX for those of us who like to record audio, on an SSD is unworkable without an external drive and that being so, they should really give us some app thing that just 'does it').

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Answer 7

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,652 points

Dec 16, 2015 5:59 PM in response to dorlan335

dorlan335 wrote:

Mac extended. When i try doing it in terminal I get 'illegal option'. I shall persevere. (My wider point is that LPX for those of us who like to record audio, on an SSD is unworkable without an external drive and that being so, they should really give us some app thing that just 'does it').

What exactly did you enter?

Please copy the line you entered from the Terminal and paste it into a reply, here. Don't type it into here, just copy and paste.

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Answer 8

dorlan335 Author

Level 1

13 points

Dec 16, 2015 11:48 PM in response to Barney-15E

I abandoned that attempt when it failed so I can't paste it. It was exactly as instructed "ln -s", (the l being a lower case L). Incidentally, what happens to those failed attempts? Hopefully deleted, but could there now be bits of gibberish in there? Would that explain why SymbolicLinker won't allow me to select a target folder, maybe? And if links are 'better' than Aliases wouldn't it be a good idea for the Mac to offer the link as an alternative in the Folder options?

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Answer 9

cdhw

Level 4

3,594 points

Dec 17, 2015 2:14 AM in response to dorlan335

When ln fails with an error message it doesn't do anything. My guess is that you have the source and/or target paths wrong. So one last time, try the 'ln -s' command you think should create the link and then use this command 'ls -l /Volumes' and then copy and paste the section of the Terminal window that shows both commands and their results.

C.

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Answer 10

Barney-15E

Level 10

123,652 points

Dec 17, 2015 4:45 AM in response to dorlan335

Just open the Terminal and arrow up until you get to the command that failed. Copy and paste that line. Each arrow up will display the previous commands entered.

As mentioned, if the command fails, then nothing happens.

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