Problem copying file from Windows PC to QNAP NAS

Windows 10 22H2 to a QNAP TS-464 (though I've also tried it from a brand new Inspiron i7-14700 over the network to the QNAP)

I'm trying to move a large number of files from a Windows 10 "Server" (it has some RAIDed drives) to a QNAP NAS. The main folder, used as an office backup, has 1.1 TB of files from several Macs from a printing/graphics company. I'm trying to move all the files over to a new QNAP, but running into a problem I've rarely seen. There are a significant number of files that won't copy over because Windows "Can't find the file" apparently, even though I can view it in explorer, and can open some of them, like some TIF files.

I use an app called Beyond Compare to move files, because the graphical interface is convenient to see if anything was not copied. Although the problem also occurs just using Windows Explorer.

I have a hunch it has something to do with files with strange attributes: name or size or something from the Mac computers. I'll attach a couple of screenshots. The files may be 0 bytes, or they may not be. That doesn't seem to affect the issue.

Legacy MacOS supported the HFS filesystem, which exposed file metadata as Resource Forks. Resource Forks manifest as "dot files" in the filesystem, and under HFS aren't considered distinct files but part of the original file.

When the data was captured from a Mac, your Windows host may have tried converting them into a plain file. If your job is to preserve those files with the highest integrity, I would suggest using 7-Zip or WinRAR to backup the Mac folders, and keep them stored in archive form. That way, you've done every effort to preserve the original filesystem as you found it. Instead of relying on an unreliable remote file copy.

Berton said:

When working with files from my older 2010 MacBook Pro with OS X [died when trying to upgrade to the new macOS] stored on my NAS then accessing from Windows I just deleted all those files whose name started with ._ [period underscore]. Didn't seem to make any difference to the actual files they were associated with.

One process that may work would be to compress a group of files into one file first, would also point out any error with files it couldn't compress.

Click to expand...

Hi there
Not sure about OSX but filezilla (works on Windows and Linux) uses sftp protocol and can copy all files with '.' as the first character -- no probs. Install also from "add optional features" on Windows the openssh-server and enable it. On the NAS simply ensure that SSHD is up and running.

Then you can either SSH directly into your NAS from windows or use filezilla to access files both ways.

You can delete or do whatever you want with those files.



cheers
jimbo

Ok, that makes some sense.
The client has been using this method of archiving their work folders since about 2010. Someone else set up the Windows box as an archive and the users just dragged and dropped their YEAR-named folders right into the "SERVER". So what's on the old SERVER seems to have the dual files (file and metadata "file")
ie:

• On the original \\SERVER\archive there are folders with fonts that look like: "._Bembo (h)" and "._Bembo. (h)" as well as "Bembo" and "Bembo."
• On the QNAP, I'll see only "._Bembo (h)" but not "._Bembo. (h)".... as well as "Bembo" but not: "Bembo."

My ignorance about the Mac file structure makes me ask:

Q1: If the client needed one of these folders which they moved to the server, would these "forked" files work and read properly if they copied them back to the Mac to work on them? They use InDesign and Adobe, etc - the usual graphic designer stuff. So these folders have all of the design elements- jpgs, tifs, pdfs, fonts, text etc for each print job they create. Sounds like maybe no?

Q2: Now that I've already copied all 1.1TB to the QNAP, and these forked files, rendered by Windows as a filename with a DOT, and those DOT files are missing on the QNAP, will those archived (copied) folders not work for them on their Mac if they copied them back to the Mac, ie: the HFS file was split and the dot file is missing in the copy on the QNAP. I guess if the answer to Q1 was no, then Q2 is also a no, but if Q1 is a "yes"?

So you're saying the best method for preserving the folder and file structure is have them ZIP or RAR up the "2024" folder first on their Mac and transfer that to the QNAP?

RickNCN said:

My ignorance about the Mac file structure makes me ask:

Q1: If the client needed one of these folders which they moved to the server, would these "forked" files work and read properly if they copied them back to the Mac to work on them? They use InDesign and Adobe, etc - the usual graphic designer stuff. So these folders have all of the design elements- jpgs, tifs, pdfs, fonts, text etc for each print job they create. Sounds like maybe no?

Q2: Now that I've already copied all 1.1TB to the QNAP, and these forked files, rendered by Windows as a filename with a DOT, and those DOT files are missing on the QNAP, will those archived (copied) folders not work for them on their Mac if they copied them back to the Mac, ie: the HFS file was split and the dot file is missing in the copy on the QNAP. I guess if the answer to Q1 was no, then Q2 is also a no, but if Q1 is a "yes"?

So you're saying the best method for preserving the folder and file structure is have them ZIP or RAR up the "2024" folder first on their Mac and transfer that to the QNAP?

Click to expand...

I'm not a Mac person either, but here's some research I found:

Other research indicates the MacOS versions of tar and rsync are fork-aware, and may be able to "reassemble" the forks when copying back in the other direction from a non-Mac filesystem. I imagine the QNAP has rsync support, so you could do no worse than try that.