Finder "Some data can't be read or written. Error code -36" while copying to SDXC card

[homelesskitty]

Hi there

I am using a MBP 13", early 2011 running MacOS High Sierra.

I recently purchased a brand new Integral 128GB SDXC V30 UHS-1 card, not only to use for my digital camera, but to enable me to transfer files between my Mac and another computer, to take advantage of the higher than USB2.0 transfer-speed of the MBPs internal SD card slot.

Now, this card works perfectly in my camera, and also on my dad's Windows laptop via its internal card slot; reading and writing without issue, large volumes of data/backed up files etc. The card is formatted as exFAT, by Disk Utility on the MBP itself.

On my MBP, I can sometimes drag files to it, without issue; they copy, they are present and correct when viewed on the MBP, the camera and also on the Windows PC. Other times the card will appear in Finder as "Read Only", which is usually corrected by having the write protect lock halfway in the neutral position (possibly an unrelated side issue but I thought it was worth mentioning anyhow).

I can drag files normally to it, one by one, and this seems to work alright, however if I drag folders or multiple individual files to it sometimes it throws up the following error:

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

Invariably after this happens, I can no longer read or write from the card, it has to be force ejected.

Now I figured that maybe exFAT couldn't support particular filenames compared to APFS, but nope, the filenaming contains no incompatible characters and is of a reasonable length.

I checked the source file, this is also fine; the source file is not problematic reading/writing to other devices and at any rate, the -36 error will appear on random files that copied fine on a previous cycle, and conversely I can copy the same previously erroneous source file on another pass.

This makes me think it's a write problem, rather than a problem with the source files.

Anyone encountered this or have any suggestions to solve it? Is the SDXC card just incompatible? Is the SD card registering itself as READ-ONLY partially through the transfer of data and thus can't write to it anymore?

I am loathe to use an external USB card reader, or use the camera as a USB drive for the SD card, as this defeats the purpose of using the inbuilt SD card slot as a faster means to transfer data.

 

[homelesskitty]

Hi again,

Had a look at the various other Error code -36 related threads, but none of them seem to apply directly to this particular instance;

ie. I know there isn't data corruption at source, therefore it definitely seems to be write-related. However, like I say it writes no problem, in smaller bursts 50% of the time. Don't know if it is just an incompatibility with my MBP and the Integral SDXC card. I can only make the assumption that because I have filled this SDXC card from a Windows computer a few times over (4 or 5, to be precise), without issue, that the blocks on the card aren't corrupt; as I would imagine I've written to almost every single one available at some point. Also, as I say the card is brand new for all intents and purposes.

Just want to know what tree, if any, I should be barking up to try and get this to work.

My thoughts are:

• SDXC card incompatibility with my MBP (unusual though as it detects it, and has the ability to write to it at times)
• SD card slot on MBP is temperamental

Any advice would be great, and much appreciated!

 

[chscag]

Welcome to our forums.

We've seen this error before reported by another member. It's a very vague error and one that's hard to pin the cause down.

Take a look at this article and see if it helps somewhat to explain what's happening with regard to error 36:

"Error Code -36" on a Mac | What Causes It and How to Fix It

 

[homelesskitty]

Welcome to our forums.

We've seen this error before reported by another member. It's a very vague error and one that's hard to pin the cause down.

Take a look at this article and see if it helps somewhat to explain what's happening with regard to error 36:

"Error Code -36" on a Mac | What Causes It and How to Fix It

Thank you so much, chscag, I will check this out later and report back on whether it fixes it or not!

I'm having other issues now, unfortunately.. ongoing saga. Will create a seperate thread for it, as it's a totally different issue!

 

[homelesskitty]

Welcome to our forums.

We've seen this error before reported by another member. It's a very vague error and one that's hard to pin the cause down.

Take a look at this article and see if it helps somewhat to explain what's happening with regard to error 36:

"Error Code -36" on a Mac | What Causes It and How to Fix It

Thanks chscag, running dot_clean on folders prior to copying the files over has completely solved it.

Absolutely brilliant, thank you!