Error Code -50

Sometimes you'll run across this handy error message while trying to copy something to a drive. I have no idea what it means. But I do know that the Finder thinks the drive is still in use by something when in reality it's not.

- lsof | grep in the terminal reveals nothing.
- Using an app like WhatsOpen reveals nothing.
- Relaunching the Finder doesn't help.
- Repairing the drive with Disk Utility won't work because...
- You can't eject the drive.

You have two options in my experience.

A. Force Eject the drive.
B. Restart.

Ejecting Hard Drives

Would it be so difficult for the Finder to let us know which drive's cord was tripped over at a live event?

It couldn't be that hard to just name the volume that vanished right?

The Big List of Ejecting Stuck Discs

Ever burn a disc and after it's burnt it seemingly vanishes? No noise, no icon in the Finder...nothing?

I've mentioned it before but there are a few things to try (even some from Apple) when you can't eject a disc from your optical drive.

Here's a list:

01) Hold the Eject key on your keyboard for a few seconds.
02) Drag the disc to the Trash
03) Highlight the disc and hit Command + E
04) Right-Click on the disc in the FInder and select "Eject [disc name]"
05) Launch the Terminal and type "drutil eject" and hit Return. You can also try "drutil tray eject".
05.1) Type in "drutil list" and then after you ID the optical drive you want to eject type "drutil tray eject 1" where the number is the number matching the optical drive.
06) Launch Disk Utility and highlight the disc and then the Eject button at the top of the window.
07) Restart and while booting keep the mouse button held down but may not work with all wireless mice (this worked on the Mac 128K for floppies, btw...I'm old)
08) Intel Only - Boot while holding Option down, then hit Eject on the keyboard. (Holding Menu on your remote while booting may also bring you to the Option menu)
09) Boot while holding the Eject key on the keyboard until disk ejects. (Likely won't work for Bluetooth keyboards)
10) Use FREE 3rd-Party software like DiscEject.
11) IF your Mac supports Open Firmware boot with Command + Option + O + F held down, then type in "eject-cd"
12) You can try your F12 key to see if that does anything. (It can be the eject key on some keyboards/Macs).
13) Navigate to System/Library/CoreServices/Menu Items/Eject.menu and double click it to enable a menu eject item. (Tip: Command drag it out of hte menubar to get rid of it)
14) AT YOUR OWN RISK: If you hear the disc spinning seemingly endlessly, put something in the drive to stop it form spinning and it should, in theory, eject.
15) AT YOUR OWN RISK: If it's a Mac Mini you can gently press down on top of the computer to stop the disc from spinning but this is probably a very very bad idea.
16) If it's a bay-mounted disc burner/reader you can try the physical eject button a few times.
17) It it's a bay-mounted disc burner/reader you can gently but firmly push an unbent paperclip into the eject hole. You may hear some scary sounds if the disc is spinning while you do this.

Note: Disk generally means Hard Drive/Disk and Disc generally means Optical Discs...who knew?

Disk is in Use and You Can't Eject It

Ever had a hard drive you can't eject because the Finder claims it's in use even though no project is open on it, no file is open, no anything is anything on the drive?

Usually the culprit is FCP which sometimes doesn't want to be left all alone and desperately clings to any last vestiges of its former usefulness. There's a Terminal command to find out what is using the drive (or at least what file is open on it) but it's the Terminal and that's not very Mac-Like.

So, recently a free application called WhatsOpen appeared and it's perfect for finding out what's going on. Give it a try and donate something if you like it and find it useful.

This is different from when the Finder just decides to leave a properly ejected drive's icon in the sidebar which does happen on occasion. Those you can just drag out of the sidebar and enjoy the poof of smoke.

If you really want to know the Terminal command it's:

lsof | grep /Volumes/Stubborn-Hard-Drive

Where Volumes/Stubborn-Hard-Drive is the path to the hard drive in question. To make it a little easier just type:

lsof | grep

into the Terminal, then drag in the stubborn hard drive from the Finder and hit return. You'll see what file is "in use" on the drive. lsof, btw means LiSt Open Files.