How do I find broken aliases

I relocated some of the files on my iMac, not I don't know if such move has invalidated any existing aliases. I want to find all the broken aliases.
I looked into Spotlight. It does not seem to have an option to do so.
I opened the command window and tried to use the good old UNIX "find" command.
find -L . -type l -print
Only the good linked files are shown. All the broken alias (i.e. the alias points to a non-existing file because it moved or deleted) were not shown. I used one of the known broken alias to test if the search was effective. The answer is no. The broken alias is displayed as a zero size file. The UNIX "ls -l" command does not even show the "l" indicator in the permission code. A valid alias is shown with the "l".
Please tell me if you know any trick to find all the broken aliases.
Thanks in advance.

Thanks for the information. For some reason, my file system still have a few invalid aliases. They may or may not be caused by the file move. They may be caused by changes in my external drive. Perhaps something was changed off-line or while I was in another login account. Apparently if User1 and user2 both have an alias on a file and when user1 move that file, user2 alias will not be updated. It may not have happened like that, but it appears to.
Other than buying a software for the task. Is there anyway to find broken aliases using out-of-the-box Apple software tools?

Similar Messages

  • Urgent! How can I find broken VIs reported by TS 3.0 deployment

    Having problem resolving errors. TestStand 3.0 and Labview 7.0

    Hi Sharlan,
    Mass-compiling the folder(s) containing the VIs you are calling in your TestStand sequence(s) is the easiest way to find the broken VIs. To do this, startup LabVIEW, click Tools >> Advanced >> Mass Compile.
    David Mc.
    NI Applications Engineer

  • How to find good vs broken aliases?

    I have created a smart folder to find all the aliases on my Mac.  There are 1282 but I know about half, maybe more are not good - they are either broken OR (and this is worse) they take one to the wrong file-- often something really weird like a file or x-code buried deep within an applications. 
    Some are good.
    But I don't want to check each of the 1282 individually - I won't live that long!
    Since I have data on my Mac that dates from 1992 - including every eMail I ever received or wrote since 5 March 1996 --- I am sure many of the links have been broken as I have moved from OS 6.0.4 to 10.8.3 --- and via many Macs, too.
    Someone said DiskWarrior (I have version 4.3 and will update to 4.4 but essentially NEVER use this program - it kinda scares me…) can find broken aliases.
    Is there another way? 
    I suppose I could just delete all of them and start fresh - I am tempted to do that -- it should not cause any problems with any REAL files now should it?
    Thanks for any comments or suggestions here!
    Best regards,
    Steve Schulte
    Tuesday 26 March 2013

    I just trashed all but 10 of the 1282 aliases and that's that!
    Steve
    Wednesday 27 March 2013

  • How to find all aliases?  Search program needed

    Whenever I try to browse certain types of Web sites with Firefox - and I'm not sure what the common denominator is, but it might be Javascript - the OS tries to connect to an AFP share point on another machine. There's no good reason for it to do this.
    This is apparently a common problem. Google for "AFP Connection Status" and you'll see a lot of reports of "stale" AFP pointers being generated by various Mac programs, which cause this sort of behavior ever after. Solutions invariably involve looking in directories associated with the application, like "Plugins", for stale link alias files.
    I've looked in the obvious places and I can't find it. Now, what I need to do is find (or write) a program which lists ALL the alias files in the system, or, preferably, all the aliases which point to an AFP share point. Because there SHOULDN'T BE ANY. Aliases are, these days, zero-length files with structured information in the resource fork containing the actual information about the file being pointed at.
    Can anyone help by pointing out such a program? The BSD "find" command hasn't been extended (yet) to search file metatdata, it seems, at least not according to the man page. I am no stranger to the Terminal, being an old FreeBSD hand, so UNIX-style solutions are welcome.
    Mac Pro (4-core)   Mac OS X (10.4.9)  

    Had to solve this one on my own. Hopefully people will see this when they Google for it, but this is a general solution to the problem of persistent "AFP Connection Status" popups that won't go away.
    The problem, as others have stated, is that there is an alias somewhere on the system that points to the missing share. The share won't be mentioned in a regular file; the share point's information is located in the resource fork of the alias. What's needed is a way to search the entire file system for any resource fork that mentions the share.
    Here is how to do that:
    # find / -type f -exec grep funkyshare '{}'/rsrc \; -print
    When this command finds the aliases - and there may be more than one - you can delete them.

  • Broken aliases in mountain lion

    I'm using 10.8.1 on a 15-inch MBP. Recently, I've been getting several repeatedly broken Aliases of folder on my desktop. My process is to create the folders on my local HD and then use the Finder option by right-clicking to Create Alias. I then move the Alias folder to the desktop and delete the word Alias. This has worked for me for years, but suddenly it's problematic on recently created folders. Even after I've "Fixed Alias". Has anyone had this experience?

    This is a bit late this. I had similar problems, looked for an answer, and couldn't find one.
    So I wrote a script that will do it as follows:
    Given an alias directory, and a "target files" directory:
    - Test files names for a trailing "alias" and test files to see if they are symbolic links.
    - If so, search for filenames in the target directory tree matching the root of the alias or link name
    - If found: replace the broken alias or link with a new symbolic link.
    That works for me but it's not a very nice solution:
    1) It doesn't use a good test for aliases, which is slightly dangerous but not very: It'll fail in the unlikely case a files which is not an alias finishes with " alias", or if an alias has had the trailing " alias" removed.
    2) It doesn't check for multiple file matches, and will link to the first it finds. (or link to all of them in turn, over-writing, I can't remember).
    3) most importantly: It removes all aliases and replaces them with symbolic links which isn't great. Aliases supposedly have greater flexibility than links which explains why they are ten times the size.
    Links are enough for me - I'm just posting this as an indication of what can be done, without including my inelegant script.
    Finally, a good place to look to learn how to do a better job is this person I came across:
    http://sveinbjorn.org/osxutils_docs
    This Sveinbjorn has shared this utility "mkalias" which shows how to make aliases.
    From there, it's probably not hard to make a proper applescript "alias" test in place of my stupid filenamename method, and test separately for aliases and links to avoid the "all links" problem.
    And finally a little test for multiple matches when searching for the target would be nice.
    Good luck.
    I myself will probably stick to links, too lazy.

  • Creative Megaworks 250D 2.1 THX: How can I find a new remote control & spare satellite(s)?

    Hi all,
    For years, we have owned and used one remarkable speaker set from Creative:
    The Creative Megaworks (Cambridge Soundworks) 250D 2.1 THX-certified speakers!
    I have no complaints. The sound this small 2.1 set produces is amazing! The 300 watts (RMS) power can shake the whole house - x50W + 2x75W are more than enough! Movies, music, games, everything sounds great - bass is deep and clear, mid-range is good, high frequences are clear! There's no noise and no distortion (I have connected the system to an SPDIF digital connector on my sound card), the Signal-to-Noise ratio is 99 dB, and the frequency response of the set is extremely good, too!
    But I have a problem, now. We have broken, by accident, one of the satellites. Now I have only one satellite, and the bass/amplifier with the remote control... Looks like a . system... ;-)
    This system was a present for us. Maybe we were lucky, but I am very happy with the build quality of this Creative spaker set. Until we have broken one of the satellites ourselves, yesterday, everything was OK, and the sound it produced was amazing all these years...
    I tried to contact a Creative representative, asking if we can maybe order one (or two) spare satellites fot this set, but the only reply (up to now) was:
    "You are out of warranty period. Buy a new speaker set."
    Well, we could, I guess...
    But:
    First: Creative does not have (at present) a similar model, 2.1, THX certified, with digital (SPDIF input), 300W+ RMS, 99 dB Signal-to-Noise.
    Second, to throw away such an amazing set just because there's one satellite broken? That would be such pity! :-(
    I'd like to buy one (or two) new 250D satellites. I was thinking even that, in the worst case, I can maybe try to order 2 satellites from a Creative Gigaworks S750 set. They have very similar characteristics, 70W rms power, 8 ohms, so maybe this'll work. I was trying to check today if two satellites can be ordered, but with no luck up to now... :-(
    Does anyone have any similar experience? What do you do if you accidentally have broken up one satellite from a 2./5./7. expensi've speaker set? Should you throw away the whole set? Try to find similar satellites?
    I hope Creative support will help, but I don't have much hope, at present...
    Does anyone have experience connecting an S750 satellite to a 250D system? Can I expect any problems? Or it'll work?
    Finally, just one more question:
    The remote control.
    Currently, the remote control unit on our 250D model works OK. But I am a bit worried, if anything happens, that the speaker set can become useless. So I'd like to order one spare new remote control for this model, just in case. Can someone help?
    Maybe, even if this speaker set is not produced anymore, a new remote control can be ordered from Creative?
    I'd really like to make these 250D speakers produce great sound again!? I am a big Creative fan and Creative 250D 2.1 THX is one of the best sound systems I have ever owned (or heard) and I'd like to do everyting to fix things up...
    Thanks for all the help!
    Cheers! :-)
    PS The satellites of the 250D look very much like these. But these Cambridge Soundworks satellites are more powerful (20W RMS); I was even thinking to order a pair of them, but not sure if they'll fit well. Maybe a pair of S750 satellites (70W RMS) is a better idea? But in any case, if I can find a new pair of satellites, what to do with the remote control?... Please, help!

    After exchanging several messages with official Creative Support, I feel a bit disappointed... For years, I have believed that Creative is a company that makes amazing audio products. They probably still do, but now that I am a customer who owns an expensive product of theirs, but with expired warranty, they don't want even to suggest a solution that can work for both parties!
    Why is Creative Support so un-supportive? :-( I am still a Creative customer, after all, right?
    My communication with Support went nowhere. After it was established that our 250D system is out of warranty period (it is only 2 years, btw), they refused to sell me a replacement satellite (even if they still may have some left in stock, for such cases)!
    Finally, I found S700 satellites on ebay and I hope that 2 of them will fit well with the 250D system. Impedance of 250D satellites is 8 ohms (S700 satellites are 8 ohms, too), power is almost the same (250D satellites are 75W rms, and S700 are 70W rms), Signal-to-Noise of both systems is 99 dB, and frequency response is similar, too (250D satellites should be around 50Hz - 8 kHz, I think, and S700 should be around 50Hz - 20 kHz).
    Well, my final 'point of worry' was that if anything happens with the remote control, we won't be able to switch on/off the system, even if the sub/amplifier works. So, I tried to ask Support just to sell me one new remote control, if they can. To sell, not to give for free, mind this! ;-)
    They refused!
    My e-mails are either left un-answered, or the only kind of reply I get is 'We can offer you 10% off our new products'. Well, I don't want to buy a whole new expensi've system, if I can just get 1-2 replacement parts for my old one, and have it working for years! :-)
    (Imagine you buy an expensive DSLR camera, you break the LCD screen, and imagine how Canon or Nikon refuse to sell you a replacement LCD, because you're out of warranty! I can't imagine that!)
    Well, with Creative it looks like this works only this way: Buy a new system. While speaker system is within its warranty period, Creative may replace defecti've and/or broken parts. Once system is out of warranty period, you can simply throw the system away, as Creative will not sell you replacement parts, no matter how politely you ask (and no matter if such parts are available at Creative or not)!
    I hope I will be able to use our 250D system for some more time (after the satellites arrive). I don't know how I can find a new remote control, just to be on the safe side.
    And I am not sure I will buy Creative product next time. I will carefully look around and maybe will pick up a product from a company which will offer me not only warranty support, but out-of-warranty support, too. That would be wise.
    I like how the high-end Creative speaker systems sound. I simply cannot understand how this company can be successful, if they make such great products, but then refuse to help its customers, when they have problems... :-(

  • HT201272 Lost 111 songs, not found on my hard drive/computer anywhere. How can I recover the songs from previously purchased items? I get amn "i" in circle that says can't locate song, and when I try, it goes nowhere. How do I find the songs previously pu

    I've been trying to locate my lost song files on my computer and in my iTunes purchased library. However, when I try to go through itunes purchased to redownload prevously purchased songs, it says they have all been downloaded to my computer. These are the songs that show up with a small "i" in a circle in my library. I click to "locate" but cannot find them anywhere. How can I find them and/or re-download these songs? 

    Tunes works through a database file which has a list of your tracks.  When you click on a track it looks up in the database which file it needs to play, then plays the file.  If something breaks this link then you get !  The two main ways to get ! are to move a file from where iTunes expects it to be, or to delete it altogether.  I don't know which has happened in your case.  You can try using Spotlight to find a file for the one referred to in a broken link.  If the files have been moved then they need to be moved back.  If they were deleted completely you will have to restore them from a backup or download them again from the iTunes Store and rebuild your library.

  • I changed the path of my photos, how can I find them from iPhoto

    I didn't import my photos into the photo library,
    now I changed the path of my photo,
    how I can find them,
    I have thousands of photos, I don't want to check one by one~

    I believe this is the post Larry's referring to:
    Pascal Mah
    Re: iPhoto '11 referenced library problems
    Jul 27, 2011 4:28 PM (in response to Terence Devlin)
    YES!!!
    I finally managed to recover my iPhoto library!
    But it was not easy. I had to hack into the database file to put up things right.
    After a significant amount of trial-and-error, here is the procedure I came to, which finally worked for me (use at your own risk):
    0. Make sure you make enough backups so as to revert to the previous state if something goes wrong!
    1. Make a copy of your iPhoto Library [Show Package Contents]/Database/apdb/Library.apdb to your desktop.
    This file contains most of the data involved for managing your iPhoto data.
    2. Open this file using a SQLite database manager.
    I used Navicat 9.1, which has nice import-export features. For direct editing, Base 2.0 is may be easier.
    3. Open the table RKMaster.
    This table contains all records for the individual pics of your library.
    4. Correct the path of each of your pic files in the imagePath column to their current filepath.
    This contains the path of your pic files at the time they were imported, and is not updated by iPhoto even though you have moved your pic files somewhere else.
    If you have several thousands of paths to correct, a good idea is to export this column to a text file (also including the modelId column for referencing), and to correct paths using the substring Search&Replace function of your favorite text editor. Be sure to re-import the corrected data properly using the modelId column as references.
    5. If needed, correct in the same manner the content of the fileVolumeUuid column to the value of the drive currently containing your picfiles.
    If needed, obtain this value considering a pic which was recently imported from that drive.
    6. If your drive name was modified, also correct its name in the name column of the RKVolume table.
    Identify the proper record by considering its uuid previously obtained.
    7. If you're happy with your work, quit the database managing program and put Library.apdb back in its original location inside your iPhoto Library.
    Keep the older somewhere in case something goes wrong.
    8. Run iPhoto to see if your work is successful!
    At this point, you might consider rebuilding the Photo Library (hold alt-cmd while launching iPhoto) and choose Repair the iPhoto Library Database (Be sure to leave the Rebuild the iPhoto Library Database from automatic backup unchecked!). This might correct some possible unconsistencies resulting from your edits. Also, a good thing might be to rebuild all thumbnails. If iPhoto does not bug you for locating files during that process, you have possibly done your work right! If not, back to step 1.
    As said, this worked for me, with no visible inconsistencies or side effects to be noticed in the behavior of iPhoto (at least for now). But possibly some knowledgable people might comment and improve that process, and some database script guru might also help automating this. Please comment.
    Lessons learned (How I understand the things as far as I know):
    A. Library.apdb stores the initial drive and path of the pic files at the time they were imported. This is not modified as the files are moved around.
    B. Some other data (BLOBs?) is used to track the files at their actual location. Therefore, it seems OK to move the pic files after they were imported.
    C. Unfortunately, this other data is broken if the file is recreated (even with same content and location), for example with a file-based backup and restore (Time Machine).
    D. In that case, iPhoto is unable to recover the file if its current drive and path does not match the one when the file was imported, stored in the database. Also there is no mechanism in iPhoto to correct this data.
    E. Therefore, it is very important to import pic files in iPhoto only when these are already in their final location! If not, your iPhoto Library won't survive a TimeMachine backup and restore! (Possibly, a block-based drive backup could work... I don't know).
    F. ...And Apple should really, really fix this issue! (By correcting the stored filepath and drive to the current file location at least when the database is repaired, and by offering at least some basic file reconnection options).
    OT

  • How do I find out what is being captured and applied?

    Hi,
    I have the following issue i'm trying to understand.
    My test 2-way streams setup (10.2.0.3 on windows) was stopped/broken for some weeks. I got around to starting to fix it yesterday. Since then its been sat there scanning through logs starting from the 21st of May 2007 (and still on the 21st). There are large number of messages being captured queued and propagated (8378901+ at the mo). This would make some sense if there had been constant changes going through for the past weeks but there haven't. I've created and dropped a table, inserted a couple of rows, and maybe created an index but thats it.
    So what is going on?
    Is there a way to peek into the queues and see the contents of these messages?
    How do I find out what its doing and why?

    Hi,
    You can know what is being applied using the following query:
    select sid, event, p1, p2, state, seconds_in_wait, sq.SQL_ID, sql_text
    from v$session s, v$sqlarea sq
    where sid in (select sid
    from v$streams_apply_coordinator
    union all
    select sid
    from v$streams_apply_reader
    union all
    select sid
    from v$streams_apply_server) and s.sql_id = sq.sql_id
    AAN

  • How to Resolve the Broken Dc's on CBS.

    Hello all,
    I am facing few broken Dc's in CBS. I tried to resolve the broken DC's by the following procedures, but was not able to completely resolve the broken DC's on CBS. few procedures are
    1. No built and Deploy errors in NWDI
    2.Had released all the activities from transport, no more activity's are in pending state in TSK.
    But I am facing broken DC's in compile state, Metadata and Used Dc's. Can any of you suggest me how to resolve the broken DC's on CBS.
    Thanks you all,
    Anil

    Hi Anil,
    first of all please notice that I've moved this thread to the NWDI forum.
    See the guide:
    Understanding Broken DCs and Dirty DCs
    https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/30b7c94e-fc6b-2910-30b8-d34a7b51309e
    You find some other useful documents in the top-most thread of this page in NWDI forum (SAP NetWeaver Development Infrastructure (NWDI))
    Direct link to the thread:
    Most important NWDI related guides and documents
    The specified item was not found.
    Best Regards,
    Ervin

  • I lost my redemption code to install Lion onto my new computer. Is there a way I could get it again? When I go to the "get the update" page, it says that my serial number already has a code. How do I find this code again?!

    I lost my redemption code to install Lion onto my new computer. Is there a way I could get it again? When I go to the "get the update" page, it says that my serial number already has a code. How do I find this code again?!

    It is probably broken. You can try restoring it using Recovery Mode, but if that fails its time for a new phone. After all, it is 4 generations out of date. See: Recovery Mode

  • Finding broken files

    after changing computers I seem to have a bunch of broken files
    I seem to bump into them when I'm syncing my 30g ipod
    how can I find them?
    I want to either be able to copy the contents of the list that comes up while syncing or
    find all the files that are broken in my library

    Well, either someone chose a different letter, or the drive letters were assigned from above by an IT department (and ordinary users are locked out of mapping new drives).
    It's possible to map the same share twice, if you have the power to do so. So just remap V: to the same network share as Z: and you're good to go, for your own purposes. I'm not sure how you could set it up to cover the rest of your question (so that anyone else opening the file would not get the missing links dialog) without relinking everything yourself. I suppose it'd be scriptable.

  • How do i find words, excel and power point in my mac book air ?

    how do i find words, excel and power point in my mac book air ?

    You would have to purchase, install, and update them first.
    They would be installed into /Applications, probably into an MS Office folder. The installer may have placed aliased copies of the icons in your Dock, or if not, use the Finder > Go menu > Applications, and have a look around. When you find the applications, you can drag/drop the principal three onto your Dock — where a single click can launch them.

  • How to Turn Off anti-aliasing in JavaFX?

    How to Turn Off anti-aliasing in JavaFX? Is that possible at all?

    If you find that doesn't work as well as you want, perhaps the easiest thing is to select the object (Select>All), Edit>Copy, File>New>Image from Clipboard.
    Then follow MichelBParis's instructions, then either copy and paste back to the original or drag to the original.
    If that is your only layer then using the Image Size is the best way.

  • How do I find out what is in new versions?  What version to use?

    We are currently using Instant Client 10.1.0.3 connecting to a 9.2.0.6 database. There are several newer version of OIC that are available (10.1.0.5 and 10.2.0.2). How do I find out what is in those versions and whether it is advisable to upgrade (upgrading 500 clients worldwide is no small task)?
    Are there changes in either of these versions that address the vulnerabilities of CPU July 2006?
    Our servers will be upgraded to 10gR2 in the next 6 months, if that is relevant to the question.

    I see your problem now.
    Unfortunately Oracle does not disclose the bugs that are fixed in the CPUs.
    It is certain that the fixes from CPU July 2006 are neither in Instant Client 10.1.0.5 nor in 10.2.0.2, because these came before the CPU.
    Actually I was wrong in my previous reply, you can apply patches, and consequently also CPUs, to Instant Client. The description how to do this is well hidden in the C++ Call Interface Programmer's Guide, see http://download-uk.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/appdev.102/b14294/install.htm#sthref105
    Basically you have to install the full client, patch it, and copy the patched shared libraries over the Instant Client libraries.
    I guess if you want to do that, you will have to upgrade your Instant Clients to versions for which the CPU was released.
    As to the question what is preferrable, 10.1.0.5 or 10.2.0.2, I'd go for 10.2.0.2 in the hope that it has less bugs. There have been voices on this forum saying that '10.2 is broken', but they have never given more detailed information when I asked. Maybe somebody will append to this thread.
    Yours,
    Laurenz Albe

Maybe you are looking for

  • My nano generation 6 now stops playing music when the screen goes black

    The nano recently started to do something weird.  I have been using it for a couple years with no issues.  Recently it will stop playing music as soon as the screen goes black (sleep).  it never did this before.  I have checked the settings, nothing

  • ITunes 5 library damaged on startup

    I've had this happen three times now, the first when I installed iTunes 5. It would go through the "processing library" or whatever it does with the progress bar, and then tell me that my library is corrupted. I brought it up, and my library was fine

  • 2.2 and factory reset - fixed issues, and battery is much better

    I am not sure this will help all users with little quirks going on or not, but I had lagging issues, and quirks myself.  Decided to do the factory reset, and re-set up my phone and what a difference.  My web is faster, battery seems to get much more

  • IMessage and Facetime won't let me sign in

    Whenever I try to sign into FaceTime or iMessage it says I was signed out because my password was changed, and even when i changed my password it still doesn't work!

  • IPhoto does not find some photos.

    I use a desktop iMac (20-inch, early 2008), OS 10.7.5. The iPhoto search feature refuses to find some of my photos from a recent upload. I have eight recent photos of a Crane Hawk in my iPhoto library. I imported them and then labeled them, adding ta