CD not mounting and 100s of CIBD files created

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bertfrmbxl Author

Level 1

8 points

CD not mounting and 100s of CIBD files created

System:

Mac mini late 2012

2.6 gHz, i7.

16 GB

OS 10.13.3

Until recently I was able to use an external DVD/CD drive without problems - not an apple superdrive; an LG in fact with two USB connections to provide sufficient power.

These last few days itunes has been unable to read a CD when inserted in the drive.

The symptoms are strange; the drive is spinning but the CD icon on the desktop flashes, so does the CD icon in itunes. When I look in disk utility I see the same flashing (grey-not grey) icon for the CD. For one user account (admin) it normally works but with a second user (also admin) it does not.

When I looked in activity monitor I have seen, a couple of times, a process called "disk arbitration" running, it was pulling a large portion of the CPU. At times the finder has been consuming 100% of the CPU as well.

I also see that, in the library preferences directory there are literally 100s of .cibd files being generated: see image if I have succeed to attach it. I have the impression that the system is repeatedly logging the CD and making a new file, which is odd because I think there should be only one.

I have tried deleting the preference files for finder and itunes for both users, to no effect. I have zapped the pram, reset the SMC and restarted several times. For the second user I see an occasional message that the Mac is being optimised at the moment.

The problem has appeared from nowhere, at the moment it is inconvenient but I am concerned that this is symptomatic of a larger issue.

Any ideas anyone?

Thanks

Mac mini, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3), m. mini late 2012 2.6 gHz,i7,16gb

Posted on Mar 4, 2018 4:31 AM

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Answer 1

bertfrmbxl Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 5, 2018 10:19 AM in response to bertfrmbxl

Well, I see that generated a lot of interest!!😁

However, I have found the problem and it might be interesting for someone else. I found an old post from over 10 years ago which noted the same behaviour, namely loads of .cidb files being produced and suggested the problem might be permissions.

When I looked more closely, logged in as user2, I found that the original (un-numbered) .cidb file was also accessible to user1, read & write. So, I closed out access to all but user2, I also did the same for the preferences directory and, bingo, no more funny stuff, flashing icons, and mounting disk consumption.

Very odd.

And, yes the title of the post should have read CIDB files; now where did I put my glasses?

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CD not mounting and 100s of CIBD files created

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