Copy folder to external drive when plugged in

Hi there. I'm wondering if it is possible to use Automator to copy a specific folder's contents to an external drive upon it being plugged in. I'd rather not install a software item if it can be accomplished with Automator. Thanks in advance.

At best, you would use Automator to wrap an AppleScript solution, if an AppleScript can be devised for the task.
Consider instead Do Something When (http://www.azarhi.com/Projects/DSW/). I don't know whether DSW still works under Yosemite.

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When copying folder to external drive, "An older item named.." appears even when the dates are the same

When I am manually backing up folders from Macbook Pro Mountain Lion to an external drive, the dates for folders are being misread? It will say "An older item named.." every time. I checked the dates and times and they are the same on Mountain Lion and the External drive for the files and the folders. It should send me back a message saying "An item named “” already exists in this location. Do you want to replace it with the one you’re moving?"
When I try to move an individual file to the external drive and the dates are the same, I get the correct message - "an item named "" already exists..." so the issue is only with the folders.
I have only had this issue since the update to OS 10.8. Any Suggestions? thanks

The modification date of a file is stored internally in seconds. The Finder rounds off to the nearest minute. If the age of two files differs by less than 30 seconds, they'll seem to have the same modification date in the Finder.

How to unlock a locked folder on external drive when locked checkbox greyed out

I use an external hard drive for Time Machine backups and to store some larger video files in a folder called Videos. The Videos folder on the external drive is now locked and I can't unlock it. I go to Get Info, hit the lock icon and enter my password, but the "Locked" checkbox is greyed out in the General section. In the Sharing and Permissions section, instead of displaying my name, it says "Fetching . . ." and I can't change the Privilege from "Write Only".
Anybody know what's causing this or how to fix it?
Thanks.

Launch Terminal and copy/paste this command at the prompt…
chflags nouchg
Then drag the files you are having a problem with into Terminal. It will create the path, then press Return.

How do I prevent itunes from moving my music from its original place ie folders in an external drive when I play music from itunes. I have all my music in artist folders and separated by MPG3/MPG4 and FLAC folder within the artist folder.

How do I prevent itunes from moving my music from its original place ie folders in an external drive when I play music from itunes. I have all my music in artist folders and separated by MPG3/MPG4 and FLAC folders within the artist folder and itunes moves the track/s whenever i try and load selected music to my ipod/iphone. I've tried to find some sort of preference to prevent this, but no joy? What am I missing?

Try opening iTunes preferences. Then click on advanced tab. Then uncheck "Copy files to iTunes media folder when adding to library." By default, iTunes copies music to its own media folder when you use iTunes to play the music.

When I backed up files on my external drive, I inadvertently dragged my itunes library there. Now I can only play songs on my laptop when my external drive is plugged in. How do I get the library back to my computer

When I was backing up files from my computer to my external drive, I inadvertently dragged my itunes library to the external drive. Now I can only play my library when my external drive is plugged into my computer. How do I get the library location changed back to my computer?

Your drive was used with a PC and formatted NTFS which is proprietary Microsoft format.
You need to install a third party program that will read the NTFS format.
There is various software from PARAGON, Tuxera and NTFS-3G
When you get the data off and have verified it to be good, reformat the drive either HFS+ for Mac use only, or for Mac and PC use then MSDOS (FAT32) for under 4GB files (best) or exFAT (for larger than 4GB files) is proprietary and Microsoft is appling for a patent, which would likely mean OS X won't be allowed to read it anymore without a licensing fee and you'l have to pay another third party software company to read the format, just like NTFS is.
The less you have to rely upon third party sources to read your drives the better, this way if you have a issue and need to read the drive on another machine you don't need the software, and a internet connection and a credit card and...and...and...

How to make external devices (like iPods, etc.) NOT mount as connected drives when plugged in via USB to a Mac?

If I plug my iPod (or a thumb drive or whatever) to my Mac's USB port, the device appears as a icon representing a connected drive on my Mac's Desktop.
This is normal, expected behavior.
HOWEVER, in some cases, I'd prefer that the device not "mount" as a connected external drive.
With thumb drives or external USB drive, of course, I want them to "mount" so I can transfer files on or off them -- that would be the only possible reason to connect an external drive like that.
But with other Apple devices like iPods or iPhones, there are TWO possible reasons to connect them to a Mac: either to "sync" them or transfer files on/off them; OR, to simply recharge the device's battery. (Or, both sync and recharging functions at once.)
For those people who use their Apple devices in ways that require transferring files (i.e. most people), then having the device "mount" as a connected device is a desirable behavior.
But in my circumstance (and I bet there are a lot of people in a similar circumstance), I have no need or desire to transfer any data to or from my device every time I plug it into my Mac: I'm plugging it in SOLELY to recharge the device's battery.
Specifically, in my case, I have a 6th-gen iPod Nano, and I use it exclusively as an FM radio and a pedometer. I don't have any mp3s or songs or any other external files loaded on it, nor do I plan to add any in the future.
The only reason I ever plug it into my Mac is so that I can recharge the iPod's battery.
But the "problem," which is a minor one I admit but a problem nonetheless, is that every time I connect the iPod to the Mac, the iPod appears as a "connected drive" icon on my Mac's desktop. Which means that I'm not supposed to just unplug the iPod when I'm done -- first, I have to find its icon on the Mac Desktop, and then drag the icon to the Trash, to "unmount" it -- and only then can I freely unplug the iPod without getting an error message telling me that I shouldn't just disconnect connected drives without first properly unmounting them.
This would be bothersome enough if I only had to do it once per connection, but in the case of the iPod Nano, there's no way to tell how recharged it is while it is in the act of recharging, so that to see if I'm "done," I have to unplug it, check the battery status, and if it's not fully charged, re-plug it back in. So that each time I recharge it, I often have to unmount the drive several times, depending on how impatient I am.
There has to be a way to prevent the mounting of the drives of devices that one is connecting simply for the purpose of recharging. But how?
Strangely, I also have an old iPhone, and when I plug that in for recharging in the same way, it DOESN'T appear as a connected drive on the Desktop. I'm not sure how I managed to do this, but long ago I must have changed some setting or preference for this to happen. And by now I've forgotten what I did.
I'd prefer that I could change the "mount/don't-mount" setting on a device-by-device basis -- i.e. make it such that this particular iPod doesn't load, but perhaps a different iPod would load -- but if that's not possible, then is there a way to stop ALL iPods and iPhones from loading as connected drives when plugged in?
(I'm not talking about appearing as connected drives within iTunes -- I'm talking about appearing as an icon on the Desktop in the Finder.)
And please don't tell me to just buy a wall charger! I prefer to recharge off my computer if possible, using the charging cord that came with the iPod.
I presume there's some simple setting to toggle this on or off, but I haven't yet found it. Any clues would be appreciated. Thanks!

Well, I already know about that Finder Preferences option, but that is not what I'm looking for. Why not? Because I still need CDs and DVDs to appear on the Desktop and mount properly! If I uncheck the "CDs, DVDs and iPods" option, then I lose the ability to access CDs and DVDs, which creates a whole new problem for me. What I want is to not mount iPods only -- actually, what I really want is to not mount this particular iPod -- but if that level of specificity is not possible, then I want to exclude just iPods from mounting, without also condemning CDs and DVDs (or whatever) to invisibility.
Also, I was confused by the way the Preference is worded: It says "Show these items on the Desktop," with a series of options to check. But this phraseology seems to mean that the unchecked items will still "mount," they simply won't appear as Desktop icons. One would still have to "Eject" them using a menu command, rather than dragging the icon to the Trash -- right? Or am I mistaken, and is the Preference Pane simply badly worded, and when they say "Show these items on the Desktop," what they really mean is "mount these external devices as connected drives." So that if a category is unchecked, then they won't load as external drives at all?
But if so, then what purpose could possibly be served by inserting a CD or DVD that is not recognized by the computer? And if it isn't recognized, then it would seem that there would be no way to ever Eject the CD or DVD disk. Right?
Thus, if I uncheck that Finder Preference box you suggest, one of two outcomes will result:
-- Either CD, DVDs and iPods are still mounted, they just won't appear as icons on the Desktop; but they would still need to be Ejected via a menu command, which doesn't solve my problem.
-- Or, CDs, DVDs and iPods are not mounted or recognized by the computer at all, which means that if I insert a disk into the disk drive, it will get stuck there forever, since there's no way to Eject it, since the OS doesn't recognize that it's even there. Which is thereby a new problem.
Either way, I'd have a problem! Or...? Clarification, anyone?

When trying to transfer a folder from external drive to "users" folder, it says it cannot be modified because it is required by OS X. What does this mean?

When trying to transfer a folder from external drive to "users" folder, it says it cannot be modified because it is required by OS X. What does this mean? How can I transfer the folder?

It sounds like you're trying to replace a home folder. Replace the contents of the folder instead, or use Migration Assistant.
OS X: How to migrate data from another Mac using Mavericks

Problems accessing iTunes media folder on external drive via Mac

I have recently got a Mac Book Pro and assumed it would be easy to access my iTunes library - which I store on a Buffalo external drive and normally access via my Asus vivobook laptop running windows 8 - by simplying plugging the external drive into the Mac Book Pro, opening iTunes while pressing on the Option key (as I understand it is called) and then selecting the iTunes library .itl file when invited to choose a library. However, when I do this, I get a message saying that "the .tl file is locked, on a locked disc or I do not have write permission for this file".
If I click on the .itl file in the external drive via my Mac, it takes me straight into iTunes but, of course, without any of the content of my iTunes media folder.
I can access the media on the external drive when it is plugged into my Mac and am not aware of ever having introduced any restrictions on the library .itl file (I normally switch the external hard drive between my Dell desktop and my Asus laptop).
I have restarted my Mac Book Pro and quite iTunes etc. I also have the media folder correctly identified on the external hard drive in my iTunes preferences, Advanced Settings.
I would be most grateful for any ideas as to what could be the problem here.
Thank you (in anticipation).
Best,
Michael

Get info on the drive. Check the format. If it says NTFS it is a format that Macs cannot write to, only read, unless you install special software. It is a common issue with using Windows drives on Macs. "Locked" may mean iTunes cannot open it for full use since it needs to write to the library file as well as read it.
Your solution may be to reformat the drive to something a Mac can use fully too, such as FAT (beware file size limits with large video files). or trying to work with a NTFS driver for Mac.
NTFS drivers for Macs (there may be others):
Paragon NTFS - http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ - recommendation: https://discussions.apple.com/message/18708633
Tuxera NTFS 2012.3.2 - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/33122/tuxera-ntfs
NTFS for Mac OS X 9.5.3 - http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/26288/ntfs-for-mac-os-x
http://macntfs-3g.blogspot.com/ and http://i.vishalagarwal.com/post/30387627819/ntfs-write-on-lion-or-mountain-lion

Can't see external HDD when plugged into TC

So I have done research here and haven't found an answer yet. My first problem was the the drive was NTFS so I moved all the data and formatted it to exFAT. Both the PC and macbook pro can read and write to the drive when plugged into each system. When I plug it into the TC it won't show up anywhere. It is an externally powered drive. What have I missed or doing wrong? I want to use this drive as a network drive to keep my itunes library on so 3 systems can access it.

The problem is that the USB port on the TC will only support drive formats of Mac OS Extended (Journaled) or FAT 16/32.
To confirm:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2426

I have just installed Photoshop Elements for a MAC. MY photos were in iPhoto, I have 47,000 pictures and my drive on my Mac laptop is not large enough. I store my photos in iPhoto on an external drive. Can I store all my photos on an external drive when u

I have just installed Photoshop Elements for a MAC. MY photos were in iPhoto, I have 47,000 pictures and my drive on my Mac laptop is not large enough. I store my photos in iPhoto on an external drive. Can I store all my photos on an external drive when using Photoshop Elements? If so, in what format should they be stored in? I do I move them from iPhoto to the new storage location? How do I call them up in organizer? And how do I call them up to Edit? I do not want to store any pictures on my Apple Mac laptop. I want to store pictures on several external devices.

Yes you can store images on an external hard dive and have them referenced in Organizer. It’s best to export copies to separate folders/subfolders and that will ensure iPhoto does not get corrupted.
Alternatively you could continue to use iPhoto with the Elements Editor set up in the iPhoto prefs as your external editing app. Then there is no need to use Organizer and no need to duplicate your images.
You can then call up photos directly from iPhoto as normal with the additional option e.g.
Double-click on a thumbnail to edit in iPhoto editor.
Control (right) - click on a thumbnail to edit in the elements app.
http://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop-elements/kb/photoshop-elements-iphoto-mac-os.html

Copying Library folder in User folder to external drive

In addition to my Time Machine backup, I have always kept an additional copy of the contents of my user folder on an external USB drive. Tried to do this for the first time since updating to Snow Leopard and copying fails when it gets to the Library folder with a message that I don't have permission to copy this folder. With Leopard this always worked, but not anymore, anyone know of a solution, also is there actually any purpose in backing up that particular folder?

Does your external drive have any ownership flags for the folder you are copying to?
Check out BATCHMOD try www.macupdate.com
Also do Get info on the external drive; on the folder you want to copy to, my guess is that 10.6 has changed something.
For synching a backup of user account(s) I would turn to a program, like SuperDuper, to keep current and let it handle these kind of issues, and great program for $29.
I use SD to copy (clone) the entire account, but ~/Library has email, prefs, bookmarks and all kinds of things you find handy to have backed up.

Deleting photos from external drive when referenced (not copied) to iPhoto

Hi, I've seen similar posts, but none of them really answers my question.
I have an external NAS drive with RAID, where I keep ALL my data, because I use number of ways to access them. I also have my photos there. I recently bouht MAC MINI and I want to use it to organise my photos. Because I have only 80G drive on MAC, I choose to import the photos from the external drive to iPhoto, NOT copying them to it's own library but rather referencing them only.
Now the question I have - When I delete a photo in iPhoto by putting it to Trash and then empty the trash, the file still stays on the external drive, although it disapperas from iPhoto library. This is uselesss to me, because I WANT the file to be deleted from the external drive (orginizaing the files, right?).
The only way I found I can do this is clicking on the file in iPhoto, selecting "find file on disk" then deleting the file from disk, then deleting from iPhoto, one by one. That is no way to do it, I would rather use Picasa instead, although I like iPhoto more, I think it is superior in almost everything else.
One more question: is there a way to see a list of directories imported to iPhoto?
thanks,
J.

J.
What I need is to delete the file when I "look" at it,
Use a File Organiser. That’s what they are for, organising files. Other than that, if you’re using a database application such as iPhoto then you have to use the application to manipulate the data.
You ask a question:
But I am still wondering why isn't there any setup option to actually allow iPhoto to delete referenced files.
and the answer
I know it may cause some problems for some user,
iPhoto is firmly focussed on the home user with a point and shoot camera. It’s very effective at what to does, but it does very simple things. Any setting that could lead to inadvertent data loss is avoided. (There are occasional posts on the forum from folks who uncheck that ‘Copy Files to Library on Import‘ setting but who then don’t actually move the files from the camera. They wonder why iPhoto has “lost their photos“.)
You mention that you’re using the NAS so that access your photos in a number of ways. IF you can tell us what ways you use, perhaps we can help.
I just need to know which directories I imported to iPhoto.
How are these directories organised? Named?
Regards
TD

TA20831 Why do I get error code -50 when copying from one external drive to another in OSX Lion 10.7.4?

Any pointers (apart from 'googling') would be appreciated. Thanks

I have not yet been able to figure out what the problem is. I have checked the iMovie and other forums, both here and elsewhere on the Web, and I have not come across a single post that relates to this problem. The files I have been trying to copy are still on the external drive, and I have used the drive to store and transfer other files to and from my TiBook with no problems. But those three iMovie files, which will open and play from the external drive, STILL won't copy back onto my hard drive.
The one thought I had involved disk space: Maybe a significant amount (30GB or more) of free space needs to be on the target drive when copying such large files. When I get to a point where I can delete some of the larger files I have been tinkering with, I'll try again.
In the meantime, any insight from anybody into this issue will still be appreciated.

Error when trying to copy files to external drive

When attempting to copy files to external hard drive I get a message " unable to copy some data, error code -36".
How do I find out what that error code is tring to tell me?

Sadly, I have had this issue as well. Last eyar Iit got to the point I couldn't copy at all. From what I recall, Apple told me it could be one of many things. A bad internal drive, bad permissions, a bad external drive, a bad firewire port, a bad cable, bad memory, and on and on. I never did figure it out, but I do know my hard drive did crash a month later. However, having said that, I own a new computer, and last week, it started again. Still have not figured out what is going on. Good luck.

Error when copying file to external drive

I am trying to copy an ISO file to an external drive. the ISO mounts with TOAST Titanium and the external drive is recognized works fine.
the error says:
Sorry, the operation could not be completed becasue an unexpected error occured. (Error code 0)
is there anything i can do to get around this?
thanks

I think the problem may be in trying to copy an ISO file format. Why don't you convert it to a .dmg in Toast and then try copying?
-mj

Copy folder to external drive when plugged in

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