Can't transfer a big disc image?

maffrewmaffrew
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
I'm having trouble at the moment! I've got a dmg file that is just over 6gb, and i'm trying to back it up by transfering it to my external hdd. However... it won't let me. I've tried several times, and it just keeps blasting an error at me.



Any ideas? Is there a limit to the size of a file you can transfer?

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,172moderator
    It depends on the format. Fat32 has a limit of about 4GB or something. I can't remember what HFS limit is. If it's HFS+, there should be no problem.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    maffrewmaffrew Posts: 166member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    It depends on the format. Fat32 has a limit of about 4GB or something. I can't remember what HFS limit is. If it's HFS+, there should be no problem.



    That'll be why then. The External HDD is formatted with FAT32 because it's shared with a windows system. Grr, that's a bummer, i need to back it up really. I tried using StuffIt to split it into smaller chunks, but that keeps failing too.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,172moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Maffrew View Post


    That'll be why then. The External HDD is formatted with FAT32 because it's shared with a windows system. Grr, that's a bummer, i need to back it up really. I tried using StuffIt to split it into smaller chunks, but that keeps failing too.



    Avoid Stuffit if you can, it's not really a reliable tool. The best idea for dmg would be to just put it in segments as the format supports this. There is an app called chop DMG:



    http://freespace.virgin.net/jeremy.d...utilities.html



    You just drag a DMG to the first box and you can choose your external HD as the output ( it will be /Volumes/<HD name>/path ) then choose the size or the number of chunks. You should get away with 2 chunks but it depends. Some fat32 implementations only give you a 2GB file size limit. So, if it fails again, try using 3 or 4 chunks.



    The advantage with the DMG chunks is that you don't have to join them up to mount them. You just double click the first chunk and it mounts as normal.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    maffrewmaffrew Posts: 166member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Marvin View Post


    Avoid Stuffit if you can, it's not really a reliable tool. The best idea for dmg would be to just put it in segments as the format supports this. There is an app called chop DMG:



    http://freespace.virgin.net/jeremy.d...utilities.html



    You just drag a DMG to the first box and you can choose your external HD as the output ( it will be /Volumes/<HD name>/path ) then choose the size or the number of chunks. You should get away with 2 chunks but it depends. Some fat32 implementations only give you a 2GB file size limit. So, if it fails again, try using 3 or 4 chunks.



    The advantage with the DMG chunks is that you don't have to join them up to mount them. You just double click the first chunk and it mounts as normal.



    Excellent, thanks
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