OS 10.12.6

I tried to open a folder which said 'file cannot be opened because original file cannot be found'
I'm sure this has been asked before but what is the answer?

I tried putting the HD in the sidebar via finder prefs and then dragging it out and replacing it by dragging the desktop HD into the sidebar. That was a suggestion from googleing. Didn't work of course.

jaybass

Could be a directory error. Have you tried running Repair Disk via Disk Utility, or better still, rebuilding the directory with Disk Warrior, TechTool Pro or Drive Genius (if you have one of them)?

I know this is obvious, but sometimes we neglect the obvious — Have restarted your computer?

I ran disk warrior and everything was good. Also ran TTP and with the same result.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Jaybass

A similar thread recently might have something relevant to your situation (?) . . .


https://www.finetunedmac.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=48531#Post48531

Also obvious, but did you move the original file/folder to a different location?

As opposed to symbolic links, aliases follow their targets around when they're moved or renamed.

Or perhaps jaybass has used the wrong term.

Mac os aliases are a hybrid that keeps a copy of the hard and soft links to the file, those are the symbolic link, (text path name, ie "/Users/waldo/Desktop/myfile.txt") and the hard link (node id of the file if its on the same volume, ie 8457902.

Mac OS is clever in that if you do anything to interact with the alias, it will automatically verify both alias types work, and will fix one if it is broken while the other still works. This happens automatically.

This is handy because moving or renaming the file will change the path but not the node, and replacing the file (overwriting it, as many save operations do) may change the node id but will not change the path. The alias only breaks if BOTH of these things are changed before the alias is accessed.

Note that unix hard links only track files on the same volume, and cannot be moved or copied to a volume that the original is not on. (I think that mac os aliases store the hard links WITH the device ID which makes them able to exist on other volumes)

Any object that's saved in a preferences file (like "recent files" lists) are all saving ALIS records, which are these two things, so that's why most mac apps can follow files around pretty well. (MS Office is a good exception to that rule...)

Hard links don't work on directories, so those are stored only by path. If you move or rename a folder, an alias may have difficulty staying attached. I don' know how ALIS records follow folders, but they seem to be fairly reliable.

Ira,

Just to answer your response, I trashed it as it wasn't that important but it would be handy to know the solution...if there is one.

jaybass