File cannot be read or written / File is busy and cannot be moved

Trying to back up a firewire disk to another firewire disk and I get errors on certain files that say the file is busy or can't be read or written. The disk in question has had permissions repaired, I've run Disk Utility and Disk Warrior on the drive, it gets a clean bill of health. Most of the files will copy fine, but some get the error. At wits end. Ideas?

Repairing Permissions only works on System Files not on your data. You might want to review their settings with BatchMod.
Also, that File is busy message can occur when the OS finds itself copying two files of the same name into a folder.
Regards
TD

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All music gone from iTunes and when trying to put it back, "Attempting to copy to the disk Macintosh HD failed. The disk could not be read or written to."

Hello,
I have a portable 500gb HD and I use it to put music and other stuff.
Earlier, out of the blue, all of my music from iTunes disappeared, and I tried to put it back by dragging my folder "music" from the external HD to iTunes, but the message "Attempting to copy to the disk Macintosh HD failed. The disk could not be read or written to." appears and nothing happens. Only 40 albums (the same ones every time) go into iTunes before the message appear.
I tried restarting the computer and nothing happened.

This sounds more like a hardware issue, possibly a failing drive if you had mysteriously vanishing files and there are problems writing to your drive.. You could get better support on a forum for your Mac model or at lest one for your operating system version. Have you verified the disk with Disk Utility to see what it reports?

I have been exporting lightroom webgaleries to my iweb site without any problem. Suddenly I get the error message "finder can't complete the operation because some data can't be read or written" - error code -36 - thoughts?

i have been exporting lightroom web galleries to my iweb site without any problem. Suddenly I get the error message "finder can't complete the operation because some data can't be read or written" - error code -36 - and the move to the sites folder on my idisk fails..... thoughts?

Try this community: MobileMe on my Mac: MobileMe: Apple Support Communities.
And you can continue to use iWeb for some time to come. The following will explain:
It's now confirmed that iWeb and iDVD have been discontinued by Apple. This is evidenced by the fact that new Macs are shipping with iLife 11 installed but without iWeb and iDVD.
On June 30, 2012 MobileMe will be shutdown. HOWEVER, iWeb will still continue to work but without the following:
Features No Longer Available Once MobileMe is Discontinued:
◼ Password protection
◼ Blog and photo comments
◼ Blog search
◼ Hit counter
◼ MobileMe Gallery
All of these features can be replaced with 3rd party options.
I found that if I published my site to a folder on my hard drive and then uploaded with a 3rd party FTP client subscriptions to slideshows and the RSS feed were broken. If I published directly from iWeb to the FPT server those two features continued to work correctly.
There's another problem and that's with iWeb's popup slideshows. Once the MMe servers are no longer online the popup slideshow buttons will not display their images.
Click to view full size
However, Roddy McKay and I have figured out a way to modify existing sites with those slideshows and iWeb itself so that those images will display as expected once MobileMe servers are gone. How to is described in this tutorial: #26 - How to Modify iWeb So Popup Slideshows Will Work After MobileMe is Discontinued.
In addition the iLife suite of applications offered on disc is now a discontinued product and the remaining supported iApps will only be available thru the App Store from now on.
HOWEVER, the iLife 11 boxed version that is still currently available at the online Apple Store (Store button at the top of the page) and those copies still on the shelves of retailers will include iWeb and iDVD.

"the finder cannot complete the operation because some data in [name of iMovie file] could not be read or written (Error Code 26)

Hi all,
I have an iMovie project in iMovie HD 6.0.3. (Mac OS 10.5.8)
It plays, but I cannot copy the file (including saving it to a flash drive). I get either a message
"the finder cannot complete the operation because some data in [name of
iMovie file] could not be read or written (Error Code 26)" or the
message "A project file is missing. The file [name of the QuickTime
movie inside the project.dv] couldn't be opened and is being skipped."
This happened suddenly, I was able to save a backup version numerous
times while working on the project.
I followed some of Karl Petersen's advise on apple discussions. I opened
the package contents, and everything seems to be there. The source file
(original QuickTime movie) is there and can be opened and played. I
replaced the current project file with the backup in the package
contents, but that did not change anything. I was able to export the
movie timeline into a new project as a single clip, but would like to be
able to copy the current project.
Thanks for any ideas..

Make sure all drives are formatted as "Mac OS Extended". (Journalling preferred, but not necessary).

Cannot move any files into trash to delete them. I get a Trash warning box saying "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in 'file name' could not be read or written.(Error code - 36)".Macbook has so much data it is almost not working

Cannot move any files into trash to delete them. I get a Trash warning box saying "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in 'file name' could not be read or written.(Error code - 36)".Macbook has so much data it is almost not working.
I have tried reseting to factory settings by removing battery and holding down the power switch for more than 5 sec but this does nothing.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated as I think with so much unwanted data on the desktop and other places the whole os will crash very soon.
Thanks, Rick

The hard drive may be dying anyway, or the directory damaged because it is so full. You should never let the hard drive get over 85% full.
A -36 error is a read/write error.
All you did with the power is reset the SMC. Does nothing to reset everything to factory settings.
Do you have your original 10.4 installer discs for the MacBook?
Is your data backed up?

Cannot transfer large files between drives - data can't be read or written

Hi there!
I am trying to transfer a couple of large files to a hard drive from my internal ssd. Both are set to Mac OS Extended (Journaled). Small files transfer fine, but large ones (eg. 20GB) get a varying distance through and then the following error message comes up:
The Finder can't complete the operation because some data in “FILENAME” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)
I have tried to ensure read&write permissions are allowed, but this hasn't helped. This has occurred with multiple files.
Any help would be very much appreciated.
Max

Hi
I exported a movie
How ?
One must/can only move iMovie Events and/or Projects - WITHIN IMOVIE !
Do not alter or move anything in
• iMovie Project folder - or -
• iMovie Events folder
IMovie get's confused - and damage might well be un-repairable !
How was the target hard disk formatted ?
Mac OS Extended - only option that works !
How much space was there on the target hard disk ?
1 hour SD-video needs about 13Gb
HD about 5 times more
I would
• Connect second laptop (Mac) via FireWire
• Start this second one - Keeping T-key down (target mode)
• Now in iMovie Project resp Events window it will show up as an external hard disk
Drag-and-drop Events and/or projects over.
Yours Bengt W

Error 36 cannot be read or written when transferring files to USB

Hi!
I am having a really annoying problem where i can't transfer files to a USB as i get the following error message:
"The Finder can’t complete the operation because some data in “______________” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36)"
Does anyone know how to fix this?
I've tried googling some options like typing certain things into terminal and doing a disc detox, but nothing is working
thanks!

Many times this is due to a directory issue. Running a utility like TechTool or DiskWarior may fix it. Sometimes its a warning of a hardware issue. Either a drive going bad or a bad flash drive.

File can not be read or written

I cant sync purchased music from ITUNES;I get an error message stating file cannot be read or written...Any Ideas?

I faced the same problem and i fixed it by going to applications - utility - disk utility and fixing the errors.

ITunes sync problem: file could not be read or written

I am running itunes 10.5.2 on OSX 10.7.2 on a 2.53 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Macbook
A week ago i did a so called "clean install" on my Mac, making sure to back everything up on one external drive, and clone the disk on another before beggining. I started with snow leopard and then installed the upgrade from the app store. I then reinstalled all of my software, loaded my photos, setup my preferences and devices, and finally directed itunes to the media folder on my external drive.
I had been using the external drive for itunes for a couple of years: on the previous system and even my previous desktop, with no problems whatsoever.
All my songs apps etc. showed up and there seemed to be no issue.
Then I tried to sync my iphone 4s and it started off okay, but about halfway through the message "could not sync ___ song to iphone because the file could not be read or written". When i located the song in question it was where it should be and even played properly in itunes. The second try would bring about the same error only with a different song. This went on several times before I realized something was really wrong.
I made sure to change the permissions for all itunes folders, music folders, even the external drive itself to have read & write permissions for all fields, and checked the box to include all internal files. I also tried resetting my iphone, syncing through another usb port, and running permissions checks on the main drive.
Thinking it could be a broken hard drive, I tried moving my aperture folder to the internal drive and all 30 GB transfered no problem. But when I tried to move the itunes folder to another drive, it stopped midway through and the finder gave me "error -36" saying that some song could not be transfered because "the file could not be read or written".
In case it helps I have included the Console log from on of my attempts to syc.
Any ideas? Thanks for your time and effort in helping.
Jan 9 16:49:23 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:49:53: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 16:49:57 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:55:03 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: 0 0 AppleUSBCDC: start - initDevice failed
Jan 9 16:55:03 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: USBMSC Identifier (non-unique): 57442D574D41565530363531313730 0x1058 0x1003 0x175
Jan 9 16:55:23 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:55:53: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 16:55:56 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:56:26: --- last message repeated 2 times ---
Jan 9 16:56:52 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:57:26 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:57:56: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 16:57:56 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:59:07 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 16:59:15 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Jan 9 16:59:39: --- last message repeated 4 times ---
Jan 9 16:59:39 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:00:23 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:00:53: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:01:23 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:06:40 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Jan 9 17:14:34 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Jan 9 17:17:18: --- last message repeated 3 times ---
Jan 9 17:17:18 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Jan 9 17:21:46 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:22:16: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:22:44 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:23:14: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:23:14 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:23:48 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:24:18: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:24:22 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:24:52: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:28:04 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:28:34: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:28:37 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:29:07: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:29:07 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero
Jan 9 17:29:12 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: disk1s3: I/O error.
Jan 9 17:29:42: --- last message repeated 1 time ---
Jan 9 17:30:06 Rolf-Lufts-MacBook-Pro kernel[0]: IOSurface: buffer allocation size is zero

I had this same message appear today when i was putting new music on my ipod touch 4th gen. The only difference is that I wasnt using an external drive. I was using the one on my computer. This is the first time i have had this problem

Cannot "print" a window as pdf then read it in Adobe Reader; Adobe says the file is damaged and cannot be opened.

Running Firefox 4.0 on an Intel Mac OS 10.5.8. Same problem with Firefox 3.6.16. You can save a Firefox window as a pdf file by using the File dropdown menu and selecting Print. Under Print, you can select PDF, then Save as PDF or Save as Adobe PDF. Firefox will save the file. If you try to open the file you get an error message that the file is damaged and cannot be opened. I did not have this problem in Safari; I followed the same procedures and the pdf file opened fine in Adobe Reader. Why is Reader rejecting the pdf file produced by Firefox when it did not reject the pdf file produce by Safari?

If anyone is reading this still looking for what caused the issue and how to fix it here is what I discovered.
The antivirus program our company uses, Bitdefender Antivirus Plus, was causing some of the PDF files not to open. After troubleshooting the different modules and settings the culprit was..
Scan SSL in Privacy Control Settings. Turning it OFF solved the problem and all the PDF files that previously would not open now open just fine. This issue has been sent to Bitdefender for them to review. If you use a different antivirus program and are having this issue try locating the Scan SSL setting and see if turning it off solves the problem.

The File Could Not Be Read or Written?

I am trying to sync some songs to my iPod Touch (brand new, by the way) and occasionally I hit a song where I get the error message that the "file could not be read or written."
I set iTunes to only sync checked songs and video. I mark the problem song as "corrupted" in the notes and then uncheck it. When I sync again, it skips that song and the sync continues until it finds another song that is "corrupted."
Strangely though, I can play the song on my iMac with no problems. I just can't sync it to my iPod.
How do I fix this?

I had this issue and couldn't figure out what it was for the life of me. I am running windows 7 and the latest version of itunes. I tried multiple reinstalls of itunes and restores of the ipod. I finally got it fixed by following this guide.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1539
Apparently there was an issue with my .dll files. Hope this helps.

I have the 20gb iPod that I need to put music back onto with my new computer. It starts to sync then it says "ITunes could not copy the song to the iPod because the file could not be read or written. ????

I have a 20gb iPod that needs music from ITunes. On my new computer I am trying to sync but I get error message "could not copy to iPod because file could not be read or written. Attempting to copy to the disk failed. The disk could not be read from or written to." I have tried several times and have reset to factory settings.

Is the new PC running XP as well, Chalotte?
If so, I might start with the following document (your error message is a possible symptom of the issue too):
iTunes displays -50 error message when syncing iPod on Windows XP

HT203180 I have bought several tv seasons from the itunes store. Recently some episodes will not sync with my ipad. The error message is that the file "could not be read or written". Previous episodes of the same series synced successfully.

I have bought several tv seasons from the itunes store. Recently some episodes will not sync with my ipad. The error message is that the file "could not be read or written". Previous episodes of the same series synced successfully. Also while watching the same episode on my laptop (Mac Book Pro) it freezes.

I had this same message appear today when i was putting new music on my ipod touch 4th gen. The only difference is that I wasnt using an external drive. I was using the one on my computer. This is the first time i have had this problem

ITunes could not copy "Beethoven's Symphony No 9 (from "A Clockwork Orange")" to iPhone "Heywood Floyd's iPhone" because the file could not be read or written

Hello, i am having the following problem...
"iTunes could not copy "Beethoven's Symphony No 9 (from "A Clockwork Orange")" to iPhone "Heywood Floyd's iPhone" because the file could not be read or written" [ ... and yes, Heywood Floyd is an avatar name..]
With this...
a. it occurs when I try to synch my iphone with iTunes.
b. I have tested the "Beethoven's Symphony No 9" files that I have found on my iTunes, and my iPhone, as there is a copy of "Beethoven_ Symphony No. 9, _Choral_" folder that is the concert from Bernard Haitink & London Symphony Orchestra;
c. This is where is get weird, a sort of Jack Torrance moment, they only file related to "A clock work orange" is 06 A Clockwork Orange - Ode to Joy.m4p...
So what is happening, and how can I resolve this, as I am not able to synch between my mac and my iPhone....

Check the media source drive for errors.
See also Repair security permissions for iTunes for Windows. Not sure it is relevant but can't hurt.
If iTunes is confused about what media is and is not on the device take these steps:
Backup the device.
Restore as a new device.
Restore from the earlier backup.
tt2

"file could not be read or written" files grey.

Trying to re-sync iPhone to mac, iTunes is up to date and so is iPhone but 80% of the songs on iPhone are grey and are unplayable.
When trying to sync, anywhere from the 1st song up to the 14th (there are lots more songs but it doesn't ever load past 14) iTunes freezes for about 5 minutes and the message "iTunes could not copy "song" to the iPhone because the file could not be read or written" appears.
The files it is talking about work perfectly when played on iTunes but still don't sync.
I have tried deleteing enough music so that I can sync the entire library and even restoring the phone but nothing has worked.
Help.
iPhone 4 with software 5.1.1
iTunes version 10.6.3

I had this same message appear today when i was putting new music on my ipod touch 4th gen. The only difference is that I wasnt using an external drive. I was using the one on my computer. This is the first time i have had this problem

File cannot be read or written / File is busy and cannot be moved

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