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DeathGreeter666

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 18, 2017
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- I share my solution on how I solve / fix the ( -36 error ) files permission on my HDD external disk (with terminal - MacBook Pro 2009 boosted + El Capitan SSD -

In hope you find the answer you seek here.

Hi everybody.

I have recently encountered an error with my external HardDrive Disk of my Mac while using Chameleon SSD Optimizer.

I have a Toshiba 1,5 Tb Fat32 HDD I use for my MacBook Pro and my Xbox 360. I had it for years. It's full of movies, music, pictures and games like everyone else. My Macbook is kinda old and sometime a good clean up is useful.

I had installed Chameleon SSD for a while without running it (since it was suppose to trim my internal SSD - but didn't work because El Capitan do the TRIM by itself) and CleanMyMac2 (that i'm using frequently).

So 3 days ago, I had my External HDD plugged and I started my monthly routine of CleanMyMac2 and I thought, maybe I can activate Chameleon SSD and select my HDD to clean it up a little, speed it up, defragment it..aybe it works. Just clean it up a little. I open Chameleon and activate the trim button.. Mac tells me it needs to reboot .. It did as usual. Nothing happens.

After the reboot, I tried to drag and drop a movie to my HDD, but I receive ( -36 error ).
"The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “<file name>” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)"
I couldn't take files nor copy it and drop it. It would take a f*cking long time to boot and I couldn't see files sometimes.

- I looked at disk info - "all permissions to read and write" is okay
- I thought maybe because it's fat32 max 4,6 GB file transfer. But no.
- I thought maybe the file is corrupt, try others, didn't work.
- I try the Disk Utilities in the apps folder. Checked Verify and repair, It wasn't able to repair it because it wasn't enable to unmount it. (New problem at the moment).
- I used terminal to verify disk and repair disk. Didn't work.
So files can't copy or paste, disk won't unmount by itself, so it can't repair permisssions on the disk. Says the disk is used by an app (so i'm forced to eject it manually). WHAT TO DO.

I searched the Internets for two days before I figure out how to fix the problem that was -36 error. I tried many many "solutions" that did nothing such as the dot_clean command in Terminal, the VerifyDisk RepairDisk in Terminal, the Disk Utility in the apps folder for permissions, name it I tried it.

The solution I found AND that STILL WORKS 24 hours after, 3 reboots later and many files backed up in case it burns in flame during the night.

My HDD is 1,5 Tb and half of it is used to store sh*ts.
When I made CleanMyMac - It cleared garbage files AND SPOTLIGHTS INDEX.
While booting, Spotlights want and try to create an index for the 850 Gb of files and it's an longtime process that can also fail.
So I asked Terminal - Which app is using my HDD now, that could block access to my file transfer, make it slow to mount. To know, type this line into Terminal, replacing your External. Mine is named Grand Chef.

... /usr/bin/sudo lsof /Volumes/"GRAND CHEF" (or it could be /Volumes/disk1s1 )
It gave me two apps working on my HDD named " mds " - that is Spotlights.
It gave me two - because one is Folder of the files, and the second is the indexation process.

d41601f327.jpg

(for example)​

So, I opened the System Preferences panel, click on Spotlight panel, click on the CONFIDENTIAL panel and add my Volumes to the NO-INDEX for Spotlights and everything when back in place. My HDD doesn't appear in the spolight search but I don't care.

I retyped the Terminal line after doing it and only one MSD appeared. The error -36 is gone, I can drag and drop, put files, like it never happened.

d4060b842b.jpg

It solves my "non existing Permission Denial -36 error for files transfer because de HDD is used by Spotlight that index tooo much files."

I hope it solves your problem and I wish my explanations were clear enough for you to understand. I won't recommend you installing Chameleon SSD and that caution while cleaning up your files with CleanMyMac apps while your HDD is plugged. Sorry for the typos, i'm a French Quebecker.

Have a nice day!

 
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