Is moving files really a PAIN?

Hi!

I'm fairly a new user of a MBP running Snow Leopard on it. Now, this is a situation which is quite perplexing.

-I connected my hard drive which has lots of music in it. The music is sorted and categorised in different folders.
-Each of these folders has 2 versions of the same song - a FLAC version and an MP3 version.

What I want to do is, that I want to move all the FLAC files in a single foler and leave the MP3 files as they are in the respective folders.

So, I follow a set algorithm (imbibed by me as a Windows user over the years), of searching for the particular format within the folder and then trying to move the files. This, however, does not seem to work with Mac OSX.

I get an error message:


Confused???!!! So was I. I tried running the action in Automator. Unsuccessful again.

Please try doing this and let me know if you're successful.

And please help. Anyone!
Thanks!

Moving files? A Pain.

Hi!

I'm fairly a new user of a MBP running Snow Leopard on it. Now, this is a situation which is quite perplexing.

-I connected my hard drive which has lots of music in it. The music is sorted and categorised in different folders.
-Each of these folders has 2 versions of the same song - a FLAC version and an MP3 version.

What I want to do is, that I want to move all the FLAC files in a single foler and leave the MP3 files as they are in the respective folders.

So, I follow a set algorithm (imbibed by me as a Windows user over the years), of searching for the particular format within the folder and then trying to move the files. This, however, does not seem to work with Mac OSX.

I get an error message:


Confused???!!! So was I. I tried running the action in Automator. Unsuccessful again.

Please try doing this and let me know if you're successful.

And please help. Anyone!
Thanks!

You want to know why an action you performed in Windows in the past won't work in Mac OS X now??

Merged threads.

MYmacROX said:

You want to know why an action you performed in Windows in the past won't work in Mac OS X now??

Click to expand...

I just want to know how to get the job done. Also, I am curious to know if it CAN be done.

IMHO, MOVING files shouldn't be this hard.

Well, I can't decipher what exactly it is you want to accomplish, but...

Can you see the external drive's contents in Finder on your Mac?
If so, search within that drive for "mp3". All files found will be mp3s. I don't know what you want to do with them once you found them. Move them? Somewhere... But that should at least identify the files in one place.

One way to do this:

1. Create smart folder for all FLAC files.
2. Open said folder, select all, drag to new destination. If the new destination is on the same volume, the originals will be moved (the "Smart Folder" will still show them all, but their actual location will have changed). If the new destination is on a different volume, the FLAC files will be *copied,* not moved. You can then select all files in the smart folder and delete them.

MYmacROX said:

Well, I can't decipher what exactly it is you want to accomplish, but...

Can you see the external drive's contents in Finder on your Mac?
If so, search within that drive for "mp3". All files found will be mp3s. I don't know what you want to do with them once you found them. Move them? Somewhere... But that should at least identify the files in one place.

Click to expand...

Apologies, if I wasn't clear with what EXACTLY I wanted to do. Here's the thing:
ON my external hard drive:
-I have DUPLICATE files (mp3 + FLAC) in different folders of my music collection. (Have converted FLAC to Mp3 to use with my iPod).

What I want to accomplish:
-I want to MOVE the FLAC files to one folder (another buddy wants these)
-Copy the collection (with MP3's) onto my Mac's Hard Drive.
-If possible, restore the FLAC files to their previous locations. If not, then all files in one parent folder would also work.

Chas_m's solution(below) seems to be the answer, but....

chas_m said:

One way to do this:
1. Create smart folder for all FLAC files.
2. Open said folder, select all, drag to new destination. If the new destination is on the same volume, the originals will be moved (the "Smart Folder" will still show them all, but their actual location will have changed). If the new destination is on a different volume, the FLAC files will be *copied,* not moved. You can then select all files in the smart folder and delete them.

Click to expand...

... I assume, SMART FOLDERS can work only with the MBP's Hard Drive (or a HFS formatted hard drive?).

I tried creating a SMART FOLDER on the NTFS external hard drive, but it doesn't seem to be happening.

If it doesn't work this way, I'll have to take the longer route: Copy both formats on to my MBP Hard Drive (tedious process, since I have to make space first) and then go the SMART FOLDER way.

I'm hoping there's another alternative as I'm facing a space crunch currently.

Thanks.

Ah. Yes, there's the problem.

Macs can *read* from NTFS drives, but cannot WRITE to them. That's the crux of your entire issue.

There are some third-party solutions that will enable NTFS-writing, but I can never remember the names. Google NTFS Mac on this forum and it will likely turn up.

Yes, thanks Chas. Good info as always!

You are trying to write to a Propriety Windows NTFS drive with OSX out of the box. You need to enable NTFS support. There is NTFS Mounter that turns on OSX NTFS write support. There is also Paragon software but that costs $19.95. Either will work but I use the NTFS Mounter app. Works perfectly ever time I have used it.

chas_m said:

Ah. Yes, there's the problem.

Macs can *read* from NTFS drives, but cannot WRITE to them. That's the crux of your entire issue.

There are some third-party solutions that will enable NTFS-writing, but I can never remember the names. Google NTFS Mac on this forum and it will likely turn up.

Click to expand...

dtravis7 said:

Yes, thanks Chas. Good info as always!

You are trying to write to a Propriety Windows NTFS drive with OSX out of the box. You need to enable NTFS support. There is NTFS Mounter that turns on OSX NTFS write support. There is also Paragon software but that costs $19.95. Either will work but I use the NTFS Mounter app. Works perfectly ever time I have used it.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm aware of the NTFS limitations on Mac OSX. I have been using PARAGON since the very next day I started using the MBP.

Read/Write capabilities are enabled on the external hard drive. I can create normal folders, no problem. Smart Folder creation is where the problem is. Is there a way to use Smart Folders with NTFS volumes?

Metalheart, will try it and get back to you. I have never really tried Smart Folders on a non Mac formatted partition.

Ok that was fast, tried it and no. Smart Folders will not work on an NTFS or FAT 32 drive. Just tried it with both. It's for Mac formatted drives only I guess.

I just tried creating a Smart Folder on an HFS drive as well. Doesn't work on external hard drives I suppose. So I am back to square one.

I can't use the SMART FOLDER method after copying the FLAC (and MP3) files onto my MBP Hard Drive from the external drive because of the already existent FLAC files on my MBP Hard Drive.

So back to my original question: Is there any way to MOVE the files on an external hard drive by using the method of "SEARCH and MOVE"? I can't seem to fathom why this would not be possible I really need to do this.

OK try this
cmd-space -> terminal
cd to your drive - which is probably in /Volumes

Go to one above your directory of music
Do a test


If it finds the proper flac files then you can use these commands to move them to one directory

Note - be careful with command line - and ask questions if you don't understand something. I tried this with a cp command and DNG files intermixed with JPG files and it did what I believe you are asking.

Hmm, maybe its just me, but why not open Finder in the List view, then sort by Kind and then choose all the .flac files as they are shown differently from MP3 files, them move them as a group from that folder to wherever you want them to be? When you open the next folder of mixed files, it will automatically be sorted the same way, so you just lather, rinse, repeat for each music folder. On my iMac MP3 and flac files sort differently from each other (I just tested it), so it should work.

+1 what jakerich said. Do it all the time that way.

jakerich said:

Hmm, maybe its just me, but why not open Finder in the List view, then sort by Kind and then choose all the .flac files as they are shown differently from MP3 files, them move them as a group from that folder to wherever you want them to be? When you open the next folder of mixed files, it will automatically be sorted the same way, so you just lather, rinse, repeat for each music folder. On my iMac MP3 and flac files sort differently from each other (I just tested it), so it should work.

Click to expand...

Good advice. ;D

MYmacROX said:

Can you see the external drive's contents in Finder on your Mac?
If so, search within that drive for "mp3". All files found will be mp3s. I don't know what you want to do with them once you found them. Move them? Somewhere... But that should at least identify the files in one place.

Click to expand...

Either method will work.