My Mac will not open .zip files with Stuffit expander. What does Error message 1 mean?

September 10, 2006 2:26 AM

I have some video .zip files that I have downloaded into Tiger desktop latest OS X. I then downloaded the latest version of Stuff it expander. I continue to get the error message: "Unable to unarchive "name of file" into "desktop". (Error 1 - Operation not permitted." What does this mean? I've looked in all the Mac help forums and can find nothing. Also, what do you think is the best place to get simple Mac help with quick responses?
posted by Jenna Roadman to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Dunno what your problem with StuffIt is, but OSX comes with a builtin unzip capability. Open a terminal and (assuming the zipfiles are on your desktop) type in the following:
cd ~/Desktop
unzip filename.zip
If that fails, it should give you a more meaningful error message. Your disc isn't full is it? You haven't been fiddling with permissions or anything silly?
posted by polyglot at 3:22 AM on September 10, 2006

"Unable to unarchive "name of file" into "desktop". (Error 1 - Operation not permitted."

This is not a StuffIt Error; it is a BOMArchiveHelper (Mac OS X service) error. As suggested, try the Terminal unzip. If that doesn't work, add the -j flag:

cd ~/Desktop
unzip -j filename.zip

(Again, assuming your stuff is on the Desktop.)
posted by Mikey-San at 4:14 AM on September 10, 2006

These video files you've downloaded... could they be password protected? Since the BOMarchivehelper [a fancy way of saying Finder can just open Zip files] doesn't allow that, it might be throwing that message out.

You might be able to open them with

unzip -P [whatever the password is] filename.zip in terminal from the Desktop folder.

Unless you don't know the password. Then you're screwed. Usually, the site where you got the files or the torrent will have the password.

Or the file you downloaded could be corrupt. Try downloading them again.

The last thing is to throw the files onto a flash or disk and open them on a friend's Windows PC.
posted by birdherder at 7:00 AM on September 10, 2006

Let me repeat something from above: "This is not a StuffIt Error; it is a BOMArchiveHelper (Mac OS X service) error."

Since you have it and went to the trouble of updating it, Try using StuffIt Expander (launch Expander, drag the file to it) instead of BOMArchiveHelper (which you get from double-clicking the file).

BOMArchiveHelper breaks on some zip files, even those without passwords. It's better than nothing, but still a pretty lame service.
posted by majick at 7:46 AM on September 10, 2006

I had the same problem twice. Try creating a new folder, then move the file you want to to uncompress to the folder, and try it again. It has worked for me.
posted by clearlydemon at 12:17 PM on September 10, 2006