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Cannot delete Empty Folders from Trash on Mac 10.5

E

earthbourne

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jul 27, 2010
5
0
Please Help! I cannot delete EMPTY folders from my Trash ( mac 10.5) I read all the threads in Macforum. Tried every possible code in Terminal, external programs that were advised.
I found using
ls -alO
that one of my folder is hidden that's about it.
But I have 5 folders in the Trash ( Zero KB), notdeletable!

Please help, if you can!
Thank you in advance!
 
Could they be system files? Try to PUT BACK by right clicking them in the trash then click the PUT BACK button. Let us know if that worked.
 
earthbourne said:
Please Help! I cannot delete EMPTY folders from my Trash ( mac 10.5) I read all the threads in Macforum. Tried every possible code in Terminal, external programs that were advised.
I found using
ls -alO
that one of my folder is hidden that's about it.
But I have 5 folders in the Trash ( Zero KB), notdeletable!

Please help, if you can!
Thank you in advance!
Click to expand...

Tried this?
Code: 
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*
You'll need to enter your password; it will be invisible. Don't worry, just keep typing. :)
 
they are not system files

filmweaver said:
Could they be system files? Try to PUT BACK by right clicking them in the trash then click the PUT BACK button. Let us know if that worked.
Click to expand...

no, they are not system files, they are folders that I created in Windows and then transferred to Mac, then I deleted them, but they are still there, even though the contact was deleted:( please help
 
Didn't Work

Playgear said:
Tried this?
Code: 
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*
You'll need to enter your password; it will be invisible. Don't worry, just keep typing. :)
Click to expand...

Tried! Didn't work. That is actually the first thing I tried. I also moved folders into terminal and found out that they were created on the hard drive that I used on my old pc, what to do? ANYONE KNOWS HOW TO DELETE EMPTY FOLDERS CREATED IN WINDOWS FROM MAC?
 
terminal

GGJstudios said:
http://www.thexlab.com/faqs/trash.html
You can't empty the Trash or move a file to the Trash
Click to expand...

i tried in Terminal sudo chflags -R nouchg
then i dragged the nondeletable folder ("X") into Terminal window

here is the message

usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ...
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$ /Volumes/WD\ Passport/.Trashes/501/x
-bash: /Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/x: is a directory

so Volumes/WD\ is the hard drive that I used on PC and then connected to Mac, the folder "X" is Zero KB, but I cannot delete it!

I tried all the weapons listed on advised website, but non of them works.

Is it like forever, I will be having this empty folders in my Trash?!:((
 
earthbourne said:
d
so Volumes/WD\ is the hard drive that I used on PC and then connected to Mac, the folder "X" is Zero KB, but I cannot delete it!

I tried all the weapons listed on advised website, but non of them works.
Click to expand...

If you deleted files on the external drive, did you have the drive connected while you were emptying the trash?
 
earthbourne said:
i tried in Terminal sudo chflags -R nouchg
then i dragged the nondeletable folder ("X") into Terminal window

here is the message

usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ...
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$ /Volumes/WD\ Passport/.Trashes/501/x
-bash: /Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/x: is a directory

so Volumes/WD\ is the hard drive that I used on PC and then connected to Mac, the folder "X" is Zero KB, but I cannot delete it!

I tried all the weapons listed on advised website, but non of them works.

Is it like forever, I will be having this empty folders in my Trash?!:((
Click to expand...
Judging by the error messages, you entered the command wrong.

This message:
Code: 
usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ...
suggests that you entered the 'chflags ...' command without a file, then hit Return.

The subsequent command-line and message:
Code: 
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$ /Volumes/WD\ Passport/.Trashes/501/x 
-bash: /Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/x: is a directory
shows that you drag-n-dropped the name of the directory AFTER hitting Return, so the shell tries to interpret it as a command. Since a directory isn't a command, the shell responds with "is a directory".

If you're following the instruction on this web page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526
Read through the instructions very carefully BEFORE trying to perform the steps. Pay special attention at Step 1 where it says this:
Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet. [red hilite added]
​

If you still can't get it to work, post again, and copy and paste the exact commands you entered, in full, and any messages that appeared. Precision is important, and details matter.

Also copy and paste the following command EXACTLY, then post its output:
Code: 
sudo ls -alO "/Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/"
 
chown33 said:
Judging by the error messages, you entered the command wrong.

This message:
Code: 
usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file ...
suggests that you entered the 'chflags ...' command without a file, then hit Return.

The subsequent command-line and message:
Code: 
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$ /Volumes/WD\ Passport/.Trashes/501/x 
-bash: /Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/x: is a directory
shows that you drag-n-dropped the name of the directory AFTER hitting Return, so the shell tries to interpret it as a command. Since a directory isn't a command, the shell responds with "is a directory".

If you're following the instruction on this web page:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1526
Read through the instructions very carefully BEFORE trying to perform the steps. Pay special attention at Step 1 where it says this:
Note: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet. [red hilite added]
​

If you still can't get it to work, post again, and copy and paste the exact commands you entered, in full, and any messages that appeared. Precision is important, and details matter.

Also copy and paste the following command EXACTLY, then post its output:
Code: 
sudo ls -alO "/Volumes/WD Passport/.Trashes/501/"
Click to expand...

Hi, Thanks for the advice. This time I did follow exactly the instructions ( did type the space after "nouchg" and pressed return only after nondeletable items from Trash were drugged into Terminal. However with Step 6 ( in the instructions) I wasn't able to Empty Trash, computer keeps telling me that I don't have sufficient privileges to do it!!!

Here is the code that I got in terminal after I posted suggested by you code

total 512
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 07:18 .
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 _unknown _unknown hidden 32768 Jun 23 2008 ..
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:55 x2
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 24 2008 x3
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x4
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x5
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x6
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$

All this empty nondeletable files are from 2008, may be the hidden one is the one, but I don't know how to deal with it.
PLEASE HELP!
 
earthbourne said:
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 07:18 .
drwxrwxrwx@ 1 _unknown _unknown hidden 32768 Jun 23 2008 ..
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:55 x2
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 24 2008 x3
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x4
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x5
drwxrwxrwx 1 _unknown _unknown - 32768 Jul 28 06:57 x6
el-earthbournes-macbook-pro:~ ELENA$

All this empty nondeletable files are from 2008, may be the hidden one is the one, but I don't know how to deal with it.
PLEASE HELP!
Click to expand...
The hidden attribute is not the problem.

I can also see by the lack of attributes on the other folders, that a 'uchg' flag is not preventing them from being deleted.

Since you say you're getting a message about privileges, I tried a few things here, but could not replicate the problem. I was able to delete files I didn't own, files without write permissions, and so on, as long as the file was in the Trash.

I ran my tests on an external Mac-formatted disk drive.

Post the output from the following commands:
Code: 
mount
id
Also post the exact text of the message you see when the Finder tries to empty the trash but can't. Again, precision is important.
 
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