User profile for user: Rob_Conroy
Rob_Conroy Author
User level: Level 1
10 points

dot_clean not working for me, what am I doing wrong?

I need some help!


I am currently trying to move pictures from a portable external HDD to a desktop external HDD and have run into Error-36. I have tried using the "dot_clean" command in Terminal but nothing seems to be happening after I type out the command and hit enter. Is there something I am doing wrong?


I am using a mid 2010 15" MBP with a 2.4Ghz i5 processor, 6GB of 1067Mhz DDR3 RAM and a Seagate 1TB SSHD Hybrid Drive. The external drives are a WD Elements 2TB portable HDD and a WD Elements 4TB desktop HDD. Most of the images have transferred over fine but after transferring, folder by folder, half of them I have now run into the Erro-36 issue.


Before trying to transfer the troublesome file I have check the permissions and I have both read and write permissions, but after the error occurs I only seem to have read permissions. This is where I have used the dot_clean command in terminal but it doesn't seem to be registering or doing it's job.


Can anybody tell me where I am going wrong?


Thanks in advance!

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jun 3, 2016 3:05 PM

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4 replies
User profile for user: Kurt Lang
Kurt Lang
User level: Level 9
68,382 points

Jun 12, 2016 10:17 AM in response to Rob_Conroy

Simply typing dot_clean isn't enough. You have to tell it what and where to clean.


Using an MS-DOS formatted USB flash drive as an example. Have the drive plugged in so its icon is available on the desktop. In Terminal, type:


dot_clean -mn


Put a space after the -mn. Don't hit Enter yet. Now drag and drop your USB drive's icon from the desktop into the Terminal window. It will fill out the correct path for you, like this:


dot_clean -mn /Volumes/FLASH\ DRIVE


I happened to use a flash drive that has the name "FLASH DRIVE". That's why the \(space) between the two words in Terminal.


What you've done is:


1) Entered the basic command

2) Added the command argument m, which means "Always delete dot underbar files." This is automatically done recursively (all folders and subfolders on the drive).

3) Added the command argument n, which means "Delete dot underbar file if there is no matching native file." Without it, Mac files on the DOS formatted drive such as ._Trash would be left behind.

4) Told it what drive to run this command on.


Now press Enter. It's done when Terminal goes to the next prompt. Dismount the drive and insert it in a Windows computer to confirm all ._ prefix files are gone. They should be. All .DS_Store files, I believe, still get left behind.

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dot_clean not working for me, what am I doing wrong?

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