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View Full Version : Deleting a file that doesn't exist




Digital Hybrid
May 19, 2004, 08:16 AM
I'm having a hard time deleting a file which contains some weird characters. I can't copy these characters, so you have to take a look at the attached picture.

What I've tried so far:

Delete file via Finder (Returns error code -43, file does not exist)
Delete a folder containing the file via Finder (The folder and file gets moved to the Trash, but it's not possible to empty it. No error, just won't empty)
Terminal: rm filename (Returns that the file does not exist)
Terminal: rm -rf folder containing file (Returns that it can't be deleted cause the directory is not empty)
Terminal: sudo rm filename (Returns the same as rm)
Terminal: sudo rm -rf folder containing file (Returns the same as rm -rf)


Well I'm out of ideas...
I can move the file as I like, but I can't copy it nor rename it.

The file has a weird behavior on the network too.
With a Mac I can see a blank icon with no name, and it does not appear on a Windows machine!

Is this familiar to anyone? Any suggestions?

Edit: It's supposed to be Röyksopp instead of R??opp... I think



wrldwzrd89
May 19, 2004, 08:36 AM
I'm having a hard time deleting a file which contains some weird characters. I can't copy these characters, so you have to take a look at the attached picture.

What I've tried so far:

Delete file via Finder (Returns error code -43, file does not exist)
Delete a folder containing the file via Finder (The folder and file gets moved to the Trash, but it's not possible to empty it. No error, just won't empty)
Terminal: rm filename (Returns that the file does not exist)
Terminal: rm -rf folder containing file (Returns that it can't be deleted cause the directory is not empty)
Terminal: sudo rm filename (Returns the same as rm)
Terminal: sudo rm -rf folder containing file (Returns the same as rm -rf)


Well I'm out of ideas...
I can move the file as I like, but I can't copy it nor rename it.

Is this familiar to anyone? Any suggestions?

Edit: It's supposed to be Röyksopp instead of R??opp... I think
This is a classic character encoding problem. I believe the Finder is trying to interpret the strange characters as Unicode, but those aren't valid Unicode characters (or aren't valid in the system font); as a result, it is getting confused because the file has an illegal name. Have you tried 'sudo mv [drag offending file] [valid name].mp3' (where [drag offending file] means after typing 'sudo mv ', drag the file to the terminal window, and [valid name] is a placeholder for some valid file name, such as 'something'). If this works, you'll now have a file with a valid name. If it doesn't work, I'd suggest using a disk repair program that can fix illegal filenames (I don't know of one).