How to copy files to flash drive using mac terminal

Ryan need help wrote:

I kept getting a error code 36 when I tried drag and drop. It seems to only affect files that were here before the upgrade to high sierra

In this case you maybe able to use the command i to open the info pane on the disk

check the box: ignore ownership

or from terminal

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20020925051644480

The Unix command is taken from the Man page:

NAME

cp -- copy files

SYNOPSIS

cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file target_file

cp [-R [-H | -L | -P]] [-fi | -n] [-apvX] source_file ...

target_directory

DESCRIPTION

In the first synopsis form, the cp utility copies the contents of the

source_file to the target_file. In the second synopsis form, the con-

tents of each named source_file is copied to the destination

target_directory. The names of the files themselves are not changed. If

cp detects an attempt to copy a file to itself, the copy will fail.

The following options are available:

-a Same as -pPR options. Preserves structure and attributes of files

but not directory structure.

-f If the destination file cannot be opened, remove it and create a

new file, without prompting for confirmation regardless of its per-

missions. (The -f option overrides any previous -n option.)

The target file is not unlinked before the copy. Thus, any exist-

ing access rights will be retained.

-H If the -R option is specified, symbolic links on the command line

are followed. (Symbolic links encountered in the tree traversal

are not followed.)

-i Cause cp to write a prompt to the standard error output before

copying a file that would overwrite an existing file. If the

response from the standard input begins with the character `y' or

`Y', the file copy is attempted. (The -i option overrides any pre-

vious -n option.)

-L If the -R option is specified, all symbolic links are followed.

-n Do not overwrite an existing file. (The -n option overrides any

previous -f or -i options.)

-P If the -R option is specified, no symbolic links are followed.

This is the default.

-p Cause cp to preserve the following attributes of each source file

in the copy: modification time, access time, file flags, file mode,

user ID, and group ID, as allowed by permissions. Access Control

Lists (ACLs) and Extended Attributes (EAs), including resource

forks, will also be preserved.

If the user ID and group ID cannot be preserved, no error message

is displayed and the exit value is not altered.

If the source file has its set-user-ID bit on and the user ID can-

not be preserved, the set-user-ID bit is not preserved in the

copy's permissions. If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on

and the group ID cannot be preserved, the set-group-ID bit is not

preserved in the copy's permissions. If the source file has both

its set-user-ID and set-group-ID bits on, and either the user ID or

group ID cannot be preserved, neither the set-user-ID nor set-

group-ID bits are preserved in the copy's permissions.

-R If source_file designates a directory, cp copies the directory and

the entire subtree connected at that point. If the source_file

ends in a /, the contents of the directory are copied rather than

the directory itself. This option also causes symbolic links to be

copied, rather than indirected through, and for cp to create spe-

cial files rather than copying them as normal files. Created

directories have the same mode as the corresponding source direc-

tory, unmodified by the process' umask.

In -R mode, cp will continue copying even if errors are detected.

Note that cp copies hard-linked files as separate files. If you

need to preserve hard links, consider using tar(1), cpio(1), or

pax(1) instead.

-v Cause cp to be verbose, showing files as they are copied.

-X Do not copy Extended Attributes (EAs) or resource forks.

-c copy files using clonefile(2)

For each destination file that already exists, its contents are overwrit-

ten if permissions allow. Its mode, user ID, and group ID are unchanged

unless the -p option was specified.

In the second synopsis form, target_directory must exist unless there is

only one named source_file which is a directory and the -R flag is speci-

fied.

If the destination file does not exist, the mode of the source file is

used as modified by the file mode creation mask (umask, see csh(1)). If

the source file has its set-user-ID bit on, that bit is removed unless

both the source file and the destination file are owned by the same user.

If the source file has its set-group-ID bit on, that bit is removed

unless both the source file and the destination file are in the same

group and the user is a member of that group. If both the set-user-ID

and set-group-ID bits are set, all of the above conditions must be ful-

filled or both bits are removed.

Appropriate permissions are required for file creation or overwriting.

Symbolic links are always followed unless the -R flag is set, in which

case symbolic links are not followed, by default. The -H or -L flags (in

conjunction with the -R flag) cause symbolic links to be followed as

described above. The -H, -L and -P options are ignored unless the -R

option is specified. In addition, these options override each other and

the command's actions are determined by the last one specified.

If cp receives a SIGINFO (see the status argument for stty(1)) signal,

the current input and output file and the percentage complete will be

written to the standard output.

EXIT STATUS

The cp utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

Not all spaces. Only those in a file or pathname. Yours looks OK to me. I read it as cp ~/Desktop/"old iTunes ~/Volumes/sony samsung".

Enclose in quotes as above to avoid having to escape spaces with the reverse slash (\).

Or, as leroydouglas has recommended. Just drag the folders into the Terminal's window.

The ~/ means your home folder. Nothing gets mounted to your home folder, so "~/Volumes/sony samsung" is likely invalid.

External drives are mounted to /Volumes. So, the destination path should be something like: "/Volumes/sony samsung"

And, yes, you need -R. Depending on what you want copied, the source path will have an ending /

If you want just the files in the directory copied, put a / at the end of the path. If you want the directory copied, along with its contents, leave off the /

The UNIX (command-line) cp(1) command neither protects extended attributes, or copies recursively, by default. If that "old iTunes" is a folder, then the following will copy the folder and its cotents to ~/Volume/"sony samsung."

cp -pr ~/Desktop/"old iTunes" /Volume/"sony samsung/old iTunes"

Otherwise you will get an error message that "old iTunes" is a directory (not copied). If you do not specify "old iTunes" as the target directory, all of the files in the source "old iTunes" will be splattered all over the "sony samsung" destination.

A command that will preserve extended attributes and do the same thing as above is the ditto(1) command:

ditto ~/Desktop/"old iTunes" /Volume/"sony samsung/old iTunes"

spaces in a command line need to be escaped with \

your example: cp ~/Desktop/old\ iTunes ~/Volume/sony\ samsung

did you try to simply drag and drop?