Copy without those unwanted hidden files ._

When I copy music files to a USB stick for use in my car system, the car system shows those hidden files, starting with a ._
How can I copy files to the USB stick without having those files, other than using a Win computer?

There is a built-in command to clean those files, dot_clean.
In a Terminal window, typedot_clean -m Make sure you leave a space, but don't hit return, yet. Drag a directory that has those files to the terminal window and hit return. It will merge any metadata with the main file and get rid of the ._ files.
To read about the options for dot_clean, type man dot_clean in the terminal and you can read the manual page for it.
The basics are:
-f to just work on that directory, not any subdirectories.
-m tells it to delete the ._ files even if it cannot merge the metadata
I don't know anything about BlueHarvest, so I can't compare except to note that if you don't like playing in the terminal, BlueHarvest will put a GUI face on the process.

Similar Messages

How do I not copy hidden files associated with photos

I want to put photos on my new digital picture frame. It can be plugged into a USB port and looks like a disk drive.
I select and drag the photos I want to the device, but there is a hidden file for each one that gets copied as well. The device doesn't know what to do with those files. They don't cause a problem, but do take up space.
How can I keep from copying those files?

I'd like to be able to see the hidden files in the Finder so that I (hopefully) could select them and delete them before transferring the files to my digital photo frame.
When you saw and deleted them using Terminal, were they present on your HD, or did you only look at the files already transferred to the USB photo frame device?
The hidden "._" files are "resource fork" files, and when you make hidden files visible in Finder you might find that they exist only on the USB device, having been created there by the transfer process itself - see:
*Apple Double Format Creates File Name With the Prefix '._'*
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA20578?viewlocale=en_US
Also take a look at [Blue Harvest|http://www.zeroonetwenty.com/blueharvest].
They don't cause a problem, but do take up space.
How much space? If not excessive, then leaving them alone would also be an option!

Fail to copy mov /videon file over 400mb from iphone 4s to my pc(Shows 0kb after copy), but those below 400mb can be copied successfully

fail to copy mov /videon file over 400mb from iphone 4s to my pc(shows 0kb after copy), but those below 400mb can be copied successfully

Sorry, even over 350mb fails

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?

Is there a way to access my iTunes Library, which is stored on a (PC) External Hard Drive, on a MacBook Air (through an Apricorn Universal Hard Drive Adapter), without transferring the music files off of the external hard drive?
In other words, because the MacBook Air only has 120 gbs of hard drive space & my old hard drive, from a Lenovo, has 500 gbs of hard drive space (and I have over 120 gbs of music), I’m looking to manage my iTunes music from the external hard drive permanently. Upon attempting to access the iTunes library held on the external hard drive the following message comes up: “The iTunes Library.itl file is locked, on a locked disk, or you do not have write permission for this file”. Is there a way to get around this?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks so much!

You will have to engage a split library which means you will have to start answering questions on this forum because you will need to learn a lot about how iTunes works in order not that have a big mess at the end of it all. It also won't be easy when the time comes to relocate it all to different drives.
You can go to advanced preferences and turn off organize media and copy to items to media folder when adding items to library. Next read about how to selectively consolidate items to the external drive.
Sept. 2010, Consolidate selected content - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2589812 and April 2014, https://discussions.apple.com/message/25414357
"...selected the new tracks directly in iTunes, Control-clicked on the selection, and saw that now you can consolidate selected items." - http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20090919000326840
Remember that when you start iTunes without the external drive turned on iTunes will present you with a bunch of broken links. If you have automatic downloads enabled with iCloud you may have to turn that off to prevent iTunes from repopulating your drive trying to deal with those "missing" tracks.
If you add tracks in bunches to iTunes and want them to go to different media folders you will need to either add them by holding down the option key while dragging if the desired media folder is not the one set in preferences, or by changing the media folder in preferences. Changing media folder preferences only applies to new files added, not old ones.
Okay, I am going to stop typing because you might just reply to me, "Oh, okay, forget it," and I don't need the exercise.
What are the iTunes library files? - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1660
More on iTunes library files and what they do - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes#Media_management
What are all those iTunes files? - http://www.macworld.com/article/139974/2009/04/itunes_files.html
Where are my iTunes files located? - http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1391

Possible to overwrite a pdf when in use or open a pdf without holding/locking the file for update

Possible to overwrite a pdf when in use OR alternative open a pdf without holding/locking the file
We frequently generate pdf files from our 3D program and would like to know if it's possible to either open a pdf file in a way that it doesn't get locked or hold up so the pdf can be updated even when opened or in use.
Most programs e.g. ultra edit & notepad will let go the file when you opened and hence the file can be updated or over written even when in use.
If any guru can help, would be highly appreciated

Hi Abbas,
It's not possible to overwrite a pdf when it is already in use by a different program or user. The file then opens up in Read Only mode.
You can make a copy of the file and then apply those changes later in the original file. That's the only possible solution.
Regards,
Rahul

Copying formula sheets to new files

Hello all! Thank you for your time and expertise This is the first major problem I have had with Numbers and it has me stumped.
I have 12 separate files named Q1 - Q12. Each contains sheets named A - I.
I am trying to create a new file named A which contains each A sheet from files Q1 to Q12. Briefly, I copy sheet A from file Q1 and paste it into file A and rename it Q1 (since it was originally named A). I then copy sheet A from file Q2 and paste it into file A and rename it Q2 (since it was also originally named A). This pattern continues until file A contains sheets Q1 - Q12. I then do the same with file B until it contains Q1 - Q12, etc. I have also created a sheet named Score which contains formulas that have sheets Q1 - Q12 referenced.
The problem occurs when I try to copy the Score sheet from file A to file B. Since it has formulas referencing sheets Q1-Q12, I figured it would still work (since file B has sheets also named Q1-Q12), however all formulas paste as =#REF! (i.e. the formula is completely gone and replaced with =#REF!).
This puzzles me as I used this strategy when creating scoring sheets in the original files Q1-Q12 containing sheets A-I. Copying and pasting the scoring sheet between those files worked just fine. The only thing I can think of is that renaming the sheets may have something to do with it. Has anyone else ever had this problem? Any ideas on how to fix it? Thank you so much for your time!

I do mean "sheets" when I described sheets; I actually simplified the original post to keep it short(ish). For the sake of berevity, I didn't mention that each sheet actually had 9 different tables in it. I just figured that added an extra layer of unneeded complexity.
Since the two files have the same layout (i.e. sheets named the same, same number of tables per sheet, etc.), I was confident that my sheet containing formulas (Score) referencing other sheets by name would be able to be copied to other files without problem. But I was wrong...
Trying your idea, it does appear to work but is a bit more labor-intensive than I had hoped it would be. Thank you for the suggestion - I do appreciate it! This solution is definitely better than the alternative I had come up with, so I'll keep it in mind if no one else has experienced this problem and has a solution. Thank you

How to delete hidden files?

I am trying to delete two hidden files and have copied the given prompts exactly into Terminal and all I get is files not shown.

Files have permissions associated with them and if they are not yours, then you can't delete them without elevating your permissions level to do so.
System files are hidden and have special permissions for a reason, so you don't tamper with then and wind up messing up your machine.
Some files, even if deleted, are immediately rebuilt if a system process or program needs it, some are regenerated upon launching or rebooting the machine.
Some files deleted cant' be recovered at all and may cause the machine not to boot the next time.
LVNV1989 wrote:
I am trying to delete two hidden files and have copied the given prompts exactly into Terminal and all I get is files not shown.
The files may not exist at the path given, you entered it wrong, the instructions might be for another operating system or version of OS X and the files are no longer there.
What exactly are you trying to do?, what operating system and what hidden files are you trying to delete?
We can correct your perhaps misguided advice, or find a easier solution to your problem or tell you it won't work and why.
but we need to know more please.
If you don't want to tell us, then install the free TinkerTool and enable invisible files and you might be able to delete them manually, however if they are system/root files then your going to need to enter the Admin password for a "sudo" window of root power level destruction. At your own peril! Backup your data now before it's too late.
Good Luck

How to open hidden files on iPad 2

I have iPad 2 and I want to access my hidden files. I have been searching in the internet and looked all over for 3 hours but yet nothing. So I thought I may ask here but, I want to open them WITHOUT jailbreaking. I have searched in the internet and I think I understood some stuff. I found out that I can put some commands in something called terminals or finder etc.. I looked around the internet but I did not understand what is that terminal at all. Then when I searched a bit the only thing I found about finder is that I must jailbreak my ipad first and then some program called.... cidney or something will be installed and when I open it I will be download finder app. However, I want to open the hidden files and be able to copy files from FileManager or (one of the two, it does not matter) without jailbreaking. So please tell me how to do it step by step since I am not any professional on iPad and I have it since 2 weeks only.

First, there are only two ways to get new, authorized apps onto an iPad.
One is to download the app from iTunes on a computer, connect the iPad and sync the app over to it.
Two is to use the App store on the iPad itself and download directly to it from there.
If he did anything else to put these apps on your iPad, then he already jailbroke it, as that is the only way he could have bypassed the two officially supported means I just mentioned.
Ordinarily, to delete an iPad app, you would tap and hold the app until it wiggles and a red/white "X" appears in the app icon - then tap the "X" and it is deleted.
If he did not install these apps via iTunes or the App store on the iPad, you have a hacked device, and you should try a restore to undo the jailbreak. Be aware that it is sometimes impossible to undo a jailbreak, and the result is a ruined device.

Showing hidden files white screen upon restart

I put in the command to show hidden files and restarted my iMac. It only shows a white screen. Completely blank. How do I fix it? It runs on Lion and has a Time Machine backup.

Take each of these steps that you haven't already tried. Stop when the problem is resolved.
Step 1
The first step in dealing with a boot failure is to secure your data. If you want to preserve the contents of the startup drive, and you don't already have at least one current backup, you must try to back up now, before you do anything else. It may or may not be possible. If you don't care about the data that has changed since your last backup, you can skip this step.
There are several ways to back up a Mac that is unable to boot. You need an external hard drive to hold the backup data.
a. Boot into the Recovery partition, or from a local Time Machine backup volume (option key at startup.) When the OS X Utilities screen appears, launch Disk Utility and follow the instructions in this support article, under “Instructions for backing up to an external hard disk via Disk Utility.”
b. If you have access to a working Mac, and both it and the non-working Mac have FireWire or Thunderbolt ports, boot the non-working Mac in target disk mode. Use the working Mac to copy the data to another drive. This technique won't work with USB, Ethernet, Wi-Fi, or Bluetooth.
c. If the internal drive of the non-working Mac is user-replaceable, remove it and mount it in an external enclosure or drive dock. Use another Mac to copy the data.
Step 2
Press and hold the power button until the power shuts off. Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed to boot, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards. Use a different keyboard and/or mouse, if those devices are wired. If you can boot now, one of the devices you disconnected, or a combination of them, is causing the problem. Finding out which one is a process of elimination.
If you've booted from an external storage device, make sure that your internal boot volume is selected in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
Step 3
Boot in safe mode. Note: If FileVault is enabled, or if a firmware password is set, or if the boot volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Post for further instructions.
Safe mode is much slower to boot and run than normal, and some things won’t work at all, including wireless networking on certain Macs.
The login screen appears even if you usually log in automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.
When you boot in safe mode, it's normal to see a dark gray progress bar on a light gray background. If the progress bar gets stuck for more than a few minutes, or if the system shuts down automatically while the progress bar is displayed, your boot volume is corrupt and the drive is probably malfunctioning. In that case, go to Step 5.
If you can boot and log in now, empty the Trash, and then open the Finder Info window on your boot volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name.) Check that you have at least 9 GB of available space, as shown in the window. If you don't, copy as many files as necessary to another volume (not another folder on the same volume) and delete the originals. Deletion isn't complete until you empty the Trash again. Do this until the available space is more than 9 GB. Then reboot as usual (i.e., not in safe mode.)
If the boot process hangs again, the problem is likely caused by a third-party system modification that you installed. Post for further instructions.
Step 4
Sometimes a boot failure can be resolved by resetting the NVRAM.
Step 5
Launch Disk Utility in Recovery mode (see Step 1.) Select your startup volume, then run Repair Disk. If any problems are found, repeat until clear. If Disk Utility reports that the volume can't be repaired, the drive has malfunctioned and should be replaced. You might choose to tolerate one such malfunction in the life of the drive. In that case, erase the volume and restore from a backup. If the same thing ever happens again, replace the drive immediately.
This is one of the rare situations in which you should also run Repair Permissions, ignoring the false warnings it may produce. Look for the line "Permissions repair complete" at the end of the output. Then reboot as usual.
Step 6
Reinstall the OS. If your Mac was upgraded from an older version of OS X, you’ll need the Apple ID and password you used to upgrade.
Step 7
Repeat step 6, but this time erase the boot volume in Disk Utility before installing. The system should automatically reboot into the Setup Assistant. Follow the prompts to transfer your data from a Time Machine or other backup.
Step 8
This step applies only to a pre-2013 Mac Pro tower, not to any other model. A dead logic-board battery can cause a gray screen at boot. Typically the boot failure will be preceded by loss of the startup disk and system clock settings. See the user manual for replacement instructions.
Step 9
If you get this far, you're probably dealing with a hardware fault. Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested.

Network Drive Hidden Files

When I modify files saved on network drives, a hidden file is created on the network drive that bothers my co-workers. I originally dealt with a .DS_Store file in every folder I accessed on the network drive. I researched and found the support topic related to this issue. I used the command:
defaults write com.apple.desktopservices DSDontWriteNetworkStores true
There are no more .DS_Store files, but now, every time I modify something on the network drive, a hidden file appears for the modified file. For instance, I save a Word file Doc-1.doc and a ._Doc-1.doc hidden file is created. Also, if I move or copy a file to the network drive, the same thing (drag and drop x.pdf and ._x.pdf hidden folder.
The single .DS_Store file was bad enough, but now every file I access has a hidden file with it. Any commands to prevent this from happening?

The '._' files contain meta-data specific to the Mac. Contained therein are things like custom icons, the label color for the file, the file type, the file creator, etc.
The Mac only creates those files if the filesystem being written too doesn't natively handle Mac file and resource data. If you can mount the filesystem using AFP instead of NFS or SMB/CIFS, the problem will go away (and AFP also has the benefit of being faster). There's really no way to disable the creation of the '._' files outright.
There are four ways to address the issue:
1. Let your co-workers get over it. Any decent CIFS implementation will hide the '._' files so they won't see them. The files cause no harm, so it shouldn't matter.
2. Manually delete the '._' files. You can do this periodically, even write a script to do it and have it run automatically on a schedule. However, when you delete the files, be cognizant that you are throwing away some information. OS X is going to have to guess the file type, and you won't be able to use custom icons or icon label colors.
3. Use BlueHarvest ($13 download; 30-day free trial). This monitors file creation and deletes '._' just after they're written. You can set rules to delete '._' only for certain types of files too.
4. Use DAVE. DAVE preserves the file meta-data on Windows shares that support alternative data streams by saving the data in an ADS. It should work with most CIFS-type servers.
You might also ask your sysadmin if it's possible to add Mac File Services for Windows -- which lets you access Windows shares as native OS X AFP shares.

The hidden files on my macbook air keep showing up!

The hidden files on my macbook air keep showing up! I use different methodes to hide them, but every time, out of the blue, all those horrible 'windows like' .docs show up. I used Paralles 5 (have deleted it - no change), even updated to Lion, no change.. Deleted MacFuse.. no change... I suspected ThinkerTool, but also that one is gone... Files most of the time show as soon as I open a desktop folder... HELP anyone??

Dear People,
After month I'm still struggeling. Like I said, it is not just a replace True with False sollution. When I hide the 'hidden files' and I copy a file to my desktop, the screen flashes and boom... there are my hidden files again.
I can keep on hiding them, but they will keep showing up.... what to do?

Show hidden files won't stick

Hi,
I'm setting up an i7 Mac Mini with Mavericks and trying to show hidden files. Using Terminal I do the old
$ defaults write com.apple.finder AppleShowAllFiles TRUE
$ killall Finder
But hidden files are still invisible.
When I try to read back it reports:
The domain/default pair of ([...]com.apple.finder, AppleShowAllFiles) does not exist
I've opened the plist up in XCode and every time I add it there it disappears as soon as I issue the `killall Finder` command.
Anybody know why this might be?

Back up all data.
This procedure will unlock all your user files (not system files) and reset their ownership and access-control lists to the default. If you've set special values for those attributes on any of your files, they will be reverted. In that case, either stop here, or be prepared to recreate the settings if necessary. Do so only after verifying that those settings didn't cause the problem. If none of this is meaningful to you, you don't need to worry about it.
I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, they may not work as described.
Step 1
If you have more than one user account, and the one in question is not an administrator account, then temporarily promote it to administrator status in the Users & Groups preference pane. To do that, unlock the preference pane using the credentials of an administrator, check the box markedAllow user to administer this computer, then reboot. You can demote the problem account back to standard status when this step has been completed.
Triple-click anywhere in the following line on this page to select it:
{ sudo chflags -R nouchg,nouappnd ~ $TMPDIR.. ; sudo chown -R $UID:staff ~ $_ ; sudo chmod -R u+rwX ~ $_ ; chmod -R -N ~ $_ ; } 2>&-
Copy the selected text to the Clipboard by pressing the key combination command-C.
Launch the built-in Terminal application in any of the following ways:
☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)
☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.
☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Terminal in the icon grid.
Paste into the Terminal window (command-V). I've tested these instructions only with the Safari web browser. If you use another browser, you may have to press the return key after pasting.
You'll be prompted for your login password. Nothing will be displayed when you type it. You may get a one-time warning to be careful. If you don’t have a login password, you’ll need to set one before you can run the command. If you see a message that your username "is not in the sudoers file," then you're not logged in as an administrator.
The command may take a few minutes to run, or perhaps longer if you have literally millions of files in your home folder. Wait for a new line ending in a dollar sign (“$”) to appear, then quit Terminal.
Step 2 (optional)
Take this step only if you have trouble with Step 1 or if it doesn't solve the problem.
Boot into Recovery. When the OS X Utilities screen appears, select
Utilities ▹ Terminal
from the menu bar. A Terminal window will open.
In the Terminal window, type this:
res
Press the tab key. The partial command you typed will automatically be completed to this:
resetpassword
Press return. A Reset Password window will open. You’re not going to reset a password.
Select the startup volume ("Macintosh HD," unless you gave it a different name) if it's not already selected.
Select your username from the menu labeled Select the user account if it's not already selected.
Under Reset Home Directory Permissions and ACLs, click the Reset button.
Select
 ▹ Restart
from the menu bar.

My iBook doesn't show the hidden files on my pen drive

Hi there,
I have a 1 Gb Kingston pen drive to transfer files from/to my work PC (which is a Windows PC).
The pen drive works seamlessly on the Windows PC. But when using it on Mac iBook G4 it always leaves some "markers" of the files used like "._trash". These are not very big, but I wonder:
1) Why does Mac create those apparently useless files?
2) Why can I only see those apparently useless files on Windows PCs but not on Mac? (i.e. if I didn't have to regularly use a Windows PC my pen drive would get filled up with useless information without me even knowing)
3) Why can I add or alter files from Mac to pen drive, but I cannot simply delete files on the pen drive using my Mac (again, I need to retort to my olde Windows PC to do such a "basic" operation).
I always press the eject button before unplugging my pen drive.
I always find annoying that external devices that work just fine and as expected on Windows PCs create endless problems and issues when connected to Mac (have similar issues with my Sony digital camera).
Thank you for your help and time
Marco

Hello Soave
Hope to answer some Qs.
1) The files aren't useless to OS X. Please follow this link to read more.
2) Mac OS X is based around Unix. In Unix, the convention to hide files is to prefix a full-stop. Windows does not recognise this as a hidden file and hence will simply show them with the preceding full-stop.
3) I can't answer this one as I can see no reason why you should be allowed to alter them but not delete them. It's obvious you have write access to them. I use a thumb drive on my Mac and I have no such problems.
I haven't personally used it, but this program might be of use to you.
James

Hidden Files like "._filename" on every file?

Hello,
I know OSX is saving some hidden files on the disk. But I found out that Leopard (latest version) has a hidden file for each file I have on my harddrive - starting with a "._" ex: "._myimage.jpg" - is this normal? I have an iMac 24" 2007 and my harddrive says : Filesysten: Journaled HFS+.
When I copy files to a Windows machine - all those hidden files are copied as well - and I can remember that this wasn't the case some weeks ago.
If this is a normal behavior I am fine with it - but I think it is not - or some sort of software set this up on my iMac? I am running Default Folder X. I also sometimes use ChronoSync to sync files between MacBook Pro - running Snow Leopard.
Thanks for any hint and/or tip!

I found out that Leopard (latest version) has a hidden file for each file I have on my harddrive - starting with a "._" ex: "._myimage.jpg"
Exactly how did you discover this? IIRC, your conclusion is wrong. What you're seeing is that Mac files have a data fork and a resource fork that are split when copied to windoze boxes. You won't see those on the Mac side. See http://www.macdisk.com/macforken.php3 for starters. Then, search these forums for *"transferring files to windows"* and other variants and peruse the results.

Hidden fIles display?

I just go an iMac and connected a Maxtor external HD to it and a MuVo MP3 player. Everything is OK but when I open these devices the file structure shows me what seem to be Hidden Files....Resource Fork, etc.
I don't want to see that when I click on the HD. I just want to see the normal files without the excess pollution of visual space.
So far I have not been able to locate any preference which would allow me to hide these files from view...like Don't show Hidden Files.
Can someone help?

Neil,
This is why I like these discussion pages. If you take the time to look around and be patient you will generally find the answer to the problem.
In my case my Macbook Pro crashed unexpectedly and on getting it going again for some really strange reason there were hidden files from all corners of its Universe on display including all of the root files and even hidden files on the desktop. Really strange and I was in a state of panic having had to do a rebuild about 2 weeks ago and thinking "oh dear, here we go again". To make matters worse the program icons and/or shortcuts everywhere were kind of light coloured.
I followed a process described in the help files which involved using the "Mac OS X Install Disk" and navigating to to some deep dark place on the install DVD and finally running a "sudo" command. It didn't fix the problem.
Your script worked perfectly (once I had fixed the typos) and for that I am eternally grateful. I have saved a copy, just in case.
I still don't understand what happened to make all the hidden files unexpectedly visible but no doubt someone such as yourself would be able to offer a technical explanation.
Man, if I could award you a star I would.
Thanks heaps.
Chris

Copy without those unwanted hidden files ._

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