What are these ._files that show up and will not play from my USB flash drive in my Civic?

goflyakuite · Feb 6, 2016

What are these ._files that show up and will not play from my USB flash drive in my Civic?

Problem Description:
I play most music from a flash drive (aka USBstick, Thumbdrive). The formats are a mix of straight .mp3 and .m4a (non-DRM AAC). I had a flash drive with tons of music that I used in my 2013 Accord which played without any problem. Using the same flash drive in my new Civic Touring, I would get many errors appearing that said “unplayable file”.

Problem Details / Analysis:
In looking closer at the music files inside the different folders on the flash drive from the infotainment system, I quickly noticed that a file that had the filename as the music file but included a period and underscore and then the filename ._filename was visible. These were the files that were being reported “unplayable”. In addition if I attempted to skip to the next file (song) using the right arrow on the steering wheel, I would get very unpredictable results. Sometimes doing nothing, sometimes advancing to the next song and sometime advancing to the next folder.

The flash drive is formatted in FAT32 and 32GB in size. I am a Mac user. This flash drive has been attached to both Mac OS X and Windows systems over time. So I guessed that the Mac OS was somehow involved. Spending some time googling the dot + underscore in the filename gave me the answer in a short period of time. Typically in Mac OS X all files that include ._ are hidden to the OS by default. These “._filename” files are what is known as a resource file. So when I copied the music files to the FAT32 formatted drive the hidden files were copied also. Windows appears to place nice and ignore these files entirely. Our Civic Infotainment system… not so much. It sees them and tries to play them.

The resolution:
The resolution is to delete the hidden files on the flash drive and only leave the actual music files (.MP3, ,m4a, etc.). With your flash drive attached to your Mac and open a Finder window. Note the name of your flash drive as it appears on the left hand sidebar. Mine is named “MUSIC”. If yours has a space in the name, you may want to rename it to something without a space.

Next open up a terminal window and enter the command that is shown in bold -
<Where MUSIC is the name of your flash drive> This command will query your flash drive and list out all of the files it sees on your flash drive with the dot + underscore (._) extension.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f

If the list looks correct, then proceed with the command again shown below in bold that will then delete the hidden problem files on your USB flash drive causing you grief on your Civic infotainment system.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f -delete

Eject your flash drive from your Mac and enjoy!

lightthief · Feb 6, 2016

goflyakuite said:
What are these ._files that show up and will not play from my USB flash drive in my Civic?

Problem Description:
I play most music from a flash drive (aka USBstick, Thumbdrive). The formats are a mix of straight .mp3 and .m4a (non-DRM AAC). I had a flash drive with tons of music that I used in my 2013 Accord which played without any problem. Using the same flash drive in my new Civic Touring, I would get many errors appearing that said “unplayable file”.

Problem Details / Analysis:
In looking closer at the music files inside the different folders on the flash drive from the infotainment system, I quickly noticed that a file that had the filename as the music file but included a period and underscore and then the filename ._filename was visible. These were the files that were being reported “unplayable”. In addition if I attempted to skip to the next file (song) using the right arrow on the steering wheel, I would get very unpredictable results. Sometimes doing nothing, sometimes advancing to the next song and sometime advancing to the next folder.

The flash drive is formatted in FAT32 and 32GB in size. I am a Mac user. This flash drive has been attached to both Mac OS X and Windows systems over time. So I guessed that the Mac OS was somehow involved. Spending some time googling the dot + underscore in the filename gave me the answer in a short period of time. Typically in Mac OS X all files that include ._ are hidden to the OS by default. These “._filename” files are what is known as a resource file. So when I copied the music files to the FAT32 formatted drive the hidden files were copied also. Windows appears to place nice and ignore these files entirely. Our Civic Infotainment system… not so much. It sees them and tries to play them.

The resolution:
The resolution is to delete the hidden files on the flash drive and only leave the actual music files (.MP3, ,m4a, etc.). With your flash drive attached to your Mac and open a Finder window. Note the name of your flash drive as it appears on the left hand sidebar. Mine is named “MUSIC”. If yours has a space in the name, you may want to rename it to something without a space.

Next open up a terminal window and enter the command that is shown in bold -
<Where MUSIC is the name of your flash drive> This command will query your flash drive and list out all of the files it sees on your flash drive with the dot + underscore (._) extension.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f

If the list looks correct, then proceed with the command again shown below in bold that will then delete the hidden problem files on your USB flash drive causing you grief on your Civic infotainment system.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f -delete

Eject your flash drive from your Mac and enjoy!

They are "invisible" files that show up when you format fat32 on a Mac.

Your Mac uses the little bits of data on them for some reason I don't recall but ignores them.

Everything else will read them as files.

You can use a tool that renders invisible files visible and delete them.
Or look up how to make invisible files visible with the command line.

goflyakuite · Feb 7, 2016

lightthief said:
They are "invisible" files that show up when you format fat32 on a Mac. Your Mac uses the little bits of data on them for some reason I don't recall but ignores them. Everything else will read them as files. You can use a tool that renders invisible files visible and delete them.
Or look up how to make invisible files visible with the command line.

Thanks for not fully reading the post but trying to reply to a problem where the post posed a problem that was asked and answered. The original post shows the command required to delete the files in question and solve the problem. Your post added zero value.

I am beginning to remember why I never stick around long on these community forums.

lightthief · Feb 7, 2016

You're correct, I didn't read your post in its entirety.
I read a chunk of it briefly on my cell phone on a lunch break and responded to what is set up to read like a common question.

But hey, if that's how you respond to everyone trying to help I doubt any forum you've left misses you much.
No need to be prickly.

goflyakuite · Feb 7, 2016

I was a bit thorny. Sorry it's been a very long week.

lightthief · Feb 7, 2016

It's cool.
Now if you figure out how to get the thing to actually search by artist rather than track name do tell.

USB for me seems to play by artist in alphetcial order, rather than playing my file name, but then that's it.

hoppy359 · Jun 12, 2016

lightthief said:
They are "invisible" files that show up when you format fat32 on a Mac.

Your Mac uses the little bits of data on them for some reason I don't recall but ignores them.

Everything else will read them as files.

You can use a tool that renders invisible files visible and delete them.
Or look up how to make invisible files visible with the command line.

Thanks so much for this...works great in my Touring

Angela1256 · Jun 13, 2016

Thanks for your post! I decided to use a USB for my music and I noticed this problem>_> Unfortunately I cannot get this command or similar commands I've found online to work:-(

kenji.i · Jun 13, 2016

Angela1256 said:
Thanks for your post! I decided to use a USB for my music and I noticed this problem>_> Unfortunately I cannot get this command or similar commands I've found online to work:-(

I am the same situation and using '/usr/sbin/dot_clean' command on El Capitan to delete "._filename" files. You can use it as followings on the top directory of USB flash:

dot_clean .

I fell this command is faster than 'find' command.

Angela1256 · Jun 14, 2016

kenji.i said:
I am the same situation and using '/usr/sbin/dot_clean' command on El Capitan to delete "._filename" files. You can use it as followings on the top directory of USB flash:

dot_clean .

I fell this command is faster than 'find' command.

Thanks! That did something but I still have the files >_>. I think it's just that my computer is old (it's an '07). It finally reached the point this weekend where I'm ready for a new one. I'll maybe get a new one this weekend ^_^

angela_chieng · Aug 28, 2016

goflyakuite said:
What are these ._files that show up and will not play from my USB flash drive in my Civic?

Problem Description:
I play most music from a flash drive (aka USBstick, Thumbdrive). The formats are a mix of straight .mp3 and .m4a (non-DRM AAC). I had a flash drive with tons of music that I used in my 2013 Accord which played without any problem. Using the same flash drive in my new Civic Touring, I would get many errors appearing that said “unplayable file”.

Problem Details / Analysis:
In looking closer at the music files inside the different folders on the flash drive from the infotainment system, I quickly noticed that a file that had the filename as the music file but included a period and underscore and then the filename ._filename was visible. These were the files that were being reported “unplayable”. In addition if I attempted to skip to the next file (song) using the right arrow on the steering wheel, I would get very unpredictable results. Sometimes doing nothing, sometimes advancing to the next song and sometime advancing to the next folder.

The flash drive is formatted in FAT32 and 32GB in size. I am a Mac user. This flash drive has been attached to both Mac OS X and Windows systems over time. So I guessed that the Mac OS was somehow involved. Spending some time googling the dot + underscore in the filename gave me the answer in a short period of time. Typically in Mac OS X all files that include ._ are hidden to the OS by default. These “._filename” files are what is known as a resource file. So when I copied the music files to the FAT32 formatted drive the hidden files were copied also. Windows appears to place nice and ignore these files entirely. Our Civic Infotainment system… not so much. It sees them and tries to play them.

The resolution:
The resolution is to delete the hidden files on the flash drive and only leave the actual music files (.MP3, ,m4a, etc.). With your flash drive attached to your Mac and open a Finder window. Note the name of your flash drive as it appears on the left hand sidebar. Mine is named “MUSIC”. If yours has a space in the name, you may want to rename it to something without a space.

Next open up a terminal window and enter the command that is shown in bold -
<Where MUSIC is the name of your flash drive> This command will query your flash drive and list out all of the files it sees on your flash drive with the dot + underscore (._) extension.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f

If the list looks correct, then proceed with the command again shown below in bold that will then delete the hidden problem files on your USB flash drive causing you grief on your Civic infotainment system.

find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f -delete

Eject your flash drive from your Mac and enjoy!

angela_chieng · Aug 28, 2016

So I tried finding the files using code the code that you have provided: find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f, which worked! But when I tried to delete them with the second code it would say find: -delete: unknown primary or operator. What does that mean ?? and how do I fix it ? I change my flash drive to the same as yours MUSIC so it would make the process a lot easier.

goflyakuite · Aug 29, 2016

angela_chieng said:
So I tried finding the files using code the code that you have provided: find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f, which worked! But when I tried to delete them with the second code it would say find: -delete: unknown primary or operator. What does that mean ?? and how do I fix it ? I change my flash drive to the same as yours MUSIC so it would make the process a lot easier.

It implies that it does not know how to process -delete command line switch. What version of OS X are you running? I have used this on most revs of 10.11.xx

I just added some music to my USB thumb drive and the command worked flawless....

Last login: Mon Aug 29 13:27:36 on ttys000
rk91390156m1:~ rk9139$ find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f

## These are files identified:
/Volumes/MUSIC/BRING ME THE HORIZON/._01 Scars.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/BRING ME THE HORIZON/._01 Blank Space.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/RANDOM/._12 This Summer's Gonna Hurt Like a MotherF____r.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/RANDOM/._01 Another Way to Die.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/RANDOM/._01 Open Your Eyes.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/RANDOM/._07 Not Afraid.m4a
/Volumes/MUSIC/RANDOM/._15 Love the Way You Lie (feat. Rihanna).m4a

rk91390156m1:~ rk9139$ find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f -delete

## Deleted files matching the search string '._*'

rk91390156m1:~ rk9139$ find /Volumes/MUSIC -name '._*' -type f

## Running search again to verify they were removed
## No files found that match

Angela1256 · Aug 30, 2016

When I had my older Mac running on Mountain Lion (if I remember correctly), the commands didn't work. It eventually died and I bought a new Mac and just downloaded a free app called 'Clean My Drive.' It works amazingly to get rid of the hidden files but it only works on the newer versions I believe.

pookscivic · May 11, 2017

Thank you for posting this! Was driving me batty.

What are these ._files that show up and will not play from my USB flash drive in my Civic?

goflyakuite

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lightthief

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goflyakuite

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lightthief

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goflyakuite

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lightthief

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Angela1256

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