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opening an alias folder
#48614 04/22/18 11:46 AM
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jaybass Offline OP
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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


OS 13.6.4 iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2017, 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 24 GB RAM, 2400 MHz DDR4. SuperDuper. 1 TB Lacie HD
Re: opening an alias folder
jaybass #48615 04/22/18 11:49 AM
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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)?


Jon

macOS 11.7.10, iMac Retina 5K 27-inch, late 2014, 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 1 TB fusion drive, 16 GB RAM, Epson SureColor P600, Photoshop CC, Lightroom CC, MS Office 365
Re: opening an alias folder
jaybass #48616 04/22/18 12:56 PM
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I know this is obvious, but sometimes we neglect the obvious — Have restarted your computer?


If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?

— Albert Einstein
Re: opening an alias folder
jchuzi #48619 04/22/18 06:16 PM
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jaybass Offline OP
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I ran disk warrior and everything was good. Also ran TTP and with the same result.

Thanks for your suggestion.

Jaybass


OS 13.6.4 iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2017, 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 24 GB RAM, 2400 MHz DDR4. SuperDuper. 1 TB Lacie HD
Re: opening an alias folder
jaybass #48620 04/22/18 06:31 PM
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A similar thread recently might have something relevant to your situation (?) . . .


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

Last edited by MG2009; 04/22/18 06:32 PM. Reason: OR NOT :0)
Re: opening an alias folder
jaybass #48628 04/23/18 04:16 PM
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Also obvious, but did you move the original file/folder to a different location?


On a Mac since 1984.
Currently: 24" M1 iMac, M2 Pro Mac mini with 27" BenQ monitor, M2 Macbook Air, MacOS 14.x; iPhones, iPods (yes, still) and iPads.
Re: opening an alias folder
Ira L #48633 04/23/18 04:33 PM
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As opposed to symbolic links, aliases follow their targets around when they're moved or renamed.

Or perhaps jaybass has used the wrong term.


The new Great Equalizer is the SEND button.

In Memory of Harv: Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. ~Voltaire
Re: opening an alias folder
artie505 #48640 04/23/18 07:30 PM
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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.



I work for the Department of Redundancy Department
Re: opening an alias folder
Ira L #48647 04/23/18 08:48 PM
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jaybass Offline OP
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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


OS 13.6.4 iMac (Retina 5K, 27", 2017, 3.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 24 GB RAM, 2400 MHz DDR4. SuperDuper. 1 TB Lacie HD

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