Can't transfer files from internal SSD to other drives (Error -36)

michetonu · Aug 12, 2015

Hi,
I just installed a Samsung SSD 840 EVO in the optical bay of my 13" Macbook Pro (mid 2012). Now I'm running OS X 10.10.4 on the SSD, keeping the home folder and every other file apart from system and apps on the HDD.
Now, when I try to transfer files (generally large files) from the SSD to the HDD or an external hard drive, most of the times it gives me this error at some point during the transfer:

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “File Name” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36)

Sometimes it happens after a few MBs, sometimes almost at the end of the transfer, sometimes (rarely) it works fine.

Note that I have no problem writing data onto the SSD from any drive, so the problem is only transferring data from it. Also the drive does not seem to give me any other problem. It works as fast as it should and I can open any application from it.

I just updated to 10.10.4 and enabled TRIM to see whether that could be the problem, but it did not solve it. I also tried the "dot_clean" solution that has been suggested elsewhere for Error 36, but it didn't work either.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

Lifeisabeach · Aug 12, 2015

You probably need to repair permissions. You can do that easily with Onyx. If that doesn't work, run Onyx's full suite of maintenance and cleaning tools.

chscag · Aug 12, 2015

michetonu said:
Hi,
I just installed a Samsung SSD 840 EVO in the optical bay of my 13" Macbook Pro (mid 2012). Now I'm running OS X 10.10.4 on the SSD, keeping the home folder and every other file apart from system and apps on the HDD.
Now, when I try to transfer files (generally large files) from the SSD to the HDD or an external hard drive, most of the times it gives me this error at some point during the transfer:

The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “File Name” can’t be read or written.
(Error code -36)

Sometimes it happens after a few MBs, sometimes almost at the end of the transfer, sometimes (rarely) it works fine.

Note that I have no problem writing data onto the SSD from any drive, so the problem is only transferring data from it. Also the drive does not seem to give me any other problem. It works as fast as it should and I can open any application from it.

I just updated to 10.10.4 and enabled TRIM to see whether that could be the problem, but it did not solve it. I also tried the "dot_clean" solution that has been suggested elsewhere for Error 36, but it didn't work either.

Any ideas?

Thank you!

Go ahead and repair permissions as recommended by member Lifeisabeach, but I suspect you're getting that error because you have your home folder with files on the HDD, while you're booting from the SSD. It's never a good idea to have your home folder apart from the system. It can be done but there are apps which will not comply and that can lead to file errors.

Lifeisabeach · Aug 12, 2015

chscag said:
Go ahead and repair permissions as recommended by member Lifeisabeach, but I suspect you're getting that error because you have your home folder with files on the HDD, while you're booting from the SSD. It's never a good idea to have your home folder apart from the system. It can be done but there are apps which will not comply and that can lead to file errors.

Ah... it didn't quite click in my head what he had done there. Yeah, I gotta agree here. Moving the Home folder wholly to a separate drive isn't really a good idea. It's fine to relocate certain folders, as long as you put a symlink in its place to redirect traffic to the new location.

MacInWin · Aug 12, 2015

Or he can just create a home folder on the boot drive for those few applications that need it there and keep most of his data on the other drive. I ran that way for a while, but got frustrated with certain applications that insisted that THEY knew better than I where the data should be saved.

Slydude · Aug 12, 2015

@chscag I think you may be on to something there. I suspect what's happening here is that something the system needs from the User folder is not ready when the system needs it because the spinning hard drive (with the user folder) is slower than the SSD.

Can't transfer files from internal SSD to other drives (Error -36)

michetonu

Lifeisabeach

chscag

Well-known member

Lifeisabeach

MacInWin

Guest

Slydude

Well-known member

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