Movable links to files
What’s the process to link my project files together so that I can move them and their links to
other disks and Macs?
DO CATALINA’S NEW
VOLUMES WORK ON
FUSION DRIVES?
Yes. When upgrading
a Fusion Drive to
Mojave or Catalina, it’s
reformatted to Apple’s
new file system on
both its SSD and hard
drive components.
Although a few users
have experienced
problems, overall this
has proved reliable.
Once converted to
APFS, the Catalina
installer then creates
its new System and
Data volumes during
the installation.SHOULD I LET
AN APP HELPER
ACCESS
ACCESSIBILITY?
If you can trust that
app and want it to
work properly, agree
to its use of
Accessibility features.
This is a common
need for ‘helper’ tools
in apps, and doesn’t
give them direct
access to private data,
although they can
interact with apps like
Mail which do have
access to such data.
You can disable access
in the Accessibility list
in the Security &
Privacy pane later if
you’re worried about
what they’re doing.There are three types of link: Finder Aliases are
easy to create using the File menu; symbolic
and hard links can only be made in Terminal.
Aliases use multiple methods to locate the
item which they point to, so are fairly robust
when items get renamed or moved around.
However, they’re sensitive to the alias or the
item being moved to a different disk.
One workaround is to use the same disk
names, like the standard “Macintosh HD” for
internal storage, and the same nesting of folders
to reach them. This is harder with external
storage, which usually needs a distinctive name.
In expert hands, symbolic links can be more
robust, but they don’t cope when the linked
item is renamed or moved, which breaks them
completely. There isn’t a perfect solution. If you
rely on links for bringing project files together,
be careful how they’re moved, or you could find
yourself having to reconnect hundreds of aliases.This is a general input/output error, which could
occur in many situations. When it happens
during reading or writing files, it almost
invariably means the source file
is corrupt, or the destination file
can’t be written properly. Either
way, it’s most likely a disk error.
Restart in Recovery Mode
with the Cmd+R keys held
during startup, and open Disk
Utility. Select the volumes
involved, that containing the
original items, and the
destination. Run First Aid on
each to check and repair; once complete, restart
normally and try again.
Further errors suggest the original is corrupt
and should be replaced from
a backup. Suspect this may be a
bigger problem with that volume
or disk: keep it well backed up in
case that drive suddenly fails.
If you doubt the reliability of
that drive, replace it, preferably
before it fails completely. If the
disk is less than three years old,
you may have a warranty claim
for replacement.
Can’t complete copying files
When copying big films in the Finder progress stops, with the error: “The Finder can’t complete
the operation because some data in “Filename.mov” can’t be read or written. (Error code -36).”
With Finder Aliases linked to files and folders, moving the originals to a new volume is almost certain to break.
Error code -36 when accessing
files is a disk error; you need to
run First Aid in Disk Utility.Give an app consent to use
Accessibility features.Tech Support & Techsplanations
maclife.com MAR 2020 77