I have a FMP (12.0v4) DB that is about 1.5 MB in size on my Mac.

 

I tried to move it to a 8GB portable disk but it stops working.  As soon as I tried to enter any data it tells me there is not enough space on the disk (see message below).  Is there a way to fix this?  Or does FMP need loads of space to work?

 

Message:  There is not enough room on the disk to complete this operation.  Make more room on the disk, then try again.

check the OS-level permissions on the file, your account probably does not have rights to modify the file

nope, sorry, I have full rights (Me) to both the disk and the file.

Secondly if I copy it to an other disk I can make changes.  

What's the name of the disk? Does the name contain a "/" character?

no, only upper and lower case.  same for the FMP file. 

The message usually means that FMP cannot reach a file via it's path but it is there somehow. 

 

The second case I remember is a mismounted volume. This can happen by unmounting a volume and having an app open that tries to save stuff on the now missing volume. The result will be a real folder in /Volumes like

 

/Volumes/MYVOLUME/somedata.txt

 

and the next time you mount that volume, it will be mounted on 

 

/Volumes/MYVOLUME/

 

So please check your /Volumes folder with the Terminal like this:

 

ls -al /Volumes

 

 

and check the output for multiple lines with your volume name.

not sure if I can see what you mean there.  here is the message. the 4th is the disk in question. 

 

 

total 8

drwxrwxrwt@  7 root  admin   238  3 Aug 16:07 .

drwxr-xr-x@ 48 root  admin  1700  1 Aug 20:17 ..

drwxrwxr-x@ 57 e     staff  2006 31 Jul 16:33 Data E

drwxrwxrwx@  8 e     staff   340  3 Aug 15:34 Hanuman

drwxrwxrwx   0 root  wheel     0  3 Aug 16:08 MobileBackups

lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin     1  3 Aug 07:04 OS E -> /

drwxrwxr-t@ 44 root  admin  1564  3 Aug 08:30 OS E BU

Automatic message

This topic has been moved from "User Group Central - Sponsored by FMPug.com" to "Member Lounge".

 

The user group topic areas are for their announcements and not for asking how-to questions.

I am sorry Lee, thanks. 

 

lrwxr-xr-x   1 root  admin     1  3 Aug 07:04 OS E -> /

 

Looks like permissions...

 

You are not 'root' (the owner), but you are possibly a member of 'admin' (the group).

 

'admin' does NOT have write permissions (r-x), only 'root' has write permissions (rwx).

 

Was the disk pre-formatted? (I presume this is a USB stick) Try reformatting the stick.

Have a look at the persimmons shot (attached) I think you could be right, but think not.  What do you think? 

anybody? 

Is this the Get Info for your file on your HD or the portable one? 

 

Not that it has an effect in this case, but why do the "everyone" have higher level than "staff"?

Because I tried to see if that made a difference.  

How full is the 8GB disk?

the FMP database is the only thing on it and that is 1.5 MB

use something like BatchMod to set the permissions.  It's more granular than Get Info.  Or do the same thing from terminal.  BatchMod is easier.

I tried your suggestion, it makes no difference.  still het the same message.  see pic

Just for clarity, exactly what are you doing before you get the message?

 

Most often I see this message when trying to export to an invalid file path.

trying to change one letter in the DB.  or create a new entry, or...  Anything but reading will bring this on. 

can you post a screenshot of the batchmod screen with your changes applied?

enclosed of both, the file and the disk

Create a NEW database on the USB stick and conduct similar tests.

 

I'm thinking broken database.

Toggle on the execute rights on the file for all 3 entities and use the clear ACLs feature.

I don't think FileMaker likes the setup.

 

I have never tried to edit a file on a thumb drive, but I don't think that kind of activity is supported. It would be educational to see if others have had success doing this.

 

Lee

well I experimented, and it is happy to work on a flash-drive of 4GB.  

Create a NEW database on the USB stick and conduct similar tests.

 

I'm thinking broken database.

tried same result

Toggle on the execute rights on the file for all 3 entities and use the clear ACLs feature.

same result 

I tested running a file from 3 different USB sticks ( 2GB, 4GB, 16GB ). They all worked fine.

 

If that file is working else where, then something is amok with the USB stick.  It may be converting it to a read-only file on the stick, even though the permissions are showing you as Read/Write.

 

Is it one of the thumb drives that has an OS on it ( like U3 )?

 

well I experimented, and it is happy to work on a flash-drive of 4GB.  

 

Thanks to all for testing this, good info to know for future questions. This seems to point at the original drive as having the problem.

I tested running a file from 3 different USB sticks ( 2GB, 4GB, 16GB ). They all worked fine.

 

If that file is working else where, then something is amok with the USB stick.  It may be converting it to a read-only file on the stick, even though the permissions are showing you as Read/Write.

 

Is it one of the thumb drives that has an OS on it ( like U3 )?

 

no OS on it.  

 This seems to point at the original drive as having the problem.

 

could be, however, I can put other things on it and they work fine, it is only the FMP file that gives me grief.  

 

Just did a test and out on a FMP database with no data in it (300kb), and that too refuses to work.  

I did mention much earlier in this topic to try reformatting the drive. Use a native OS X format.

 

Maybe the stick is presently formatted FAT-16 (Windows) and the Mac FMP does not like that?

I did mention much earlier in this topic to try reformatting the drive. Use a native OS X format.

 

Maybe the stick is presently formatted FAT-16 (Windows) and the Mac FMP does not like that?

 formated as Mac.  I thought I had reported that already 

You addressed the permissions issue. Nothing said about the formatting. 

 

 formated as Mac.  I thought I had reported that already 

 

So the main question...did you REFORMAT the thumb drive? If not, I would definitely try that. On Windows, the only time I've every run into Read-Only issues like this was when I was using an OSX formatted drive, and copied Windows files onto it.  But it is definitely odd that other stuff is working and the FM file is not.

 

It could also be an OS thing, potentially blocking the communications between the OS and external drive.

You addressed the permissions issue. Nothing said about the formatting. 

 

 

So the main question...did you REFORMAT the thumb drive? I

 

 

  yes I did, I started with that b4 I posted.  sorry I thought I mentioned it.

 

 

 

It could also be an OS thing, potentially blocking the communications between the OS and external drive.

it could, but I do not know where or what. 

And sadly, I'm a PC guy.  So one of the Mac guys will need to take over on that. lol 

 

it could, but I do not know where or what. 

And sadly, I'm a PC guy.  So one of the Mac guys will need to take over on that. lol 

o well thanks for helping anyway.