Cannot delete folder in use--please help

[yanksphish]

I have 2 folders on an external HD attached to my airport extreme that I cannot delete. When I try to delete them it says they are in use. They both look empty. I'm not familiar with terminal, but I've tried a few different commands I've found on these forums. I've tried sudo rm -rt and similar commands and they all say the directory is not empty. Any ideas on how to delete these folders will be very nice.

Thanks
Joe

 

[GGJstudios]

Try closing some applications, such as Preview or any other you've used on files on that drive. Then try deleting the folders.

 

[yanksphish]

i get the same message saying the directory is not empty. I'm not sure why it won't delete it. I don't have any programs running.

 

[GGJstudios]

Did you reboot? Rebooting cures a lot of things.

 

[Gregg2]

Can you change the name of the folder before you put it in the Trash? Give that a try.

 

[ViViDboarder]

Instead of rebooting you can usually just logout.

There are also other ways to see what process is actually using the drive. I don't remember them though. Something from the command line using 'lsof' I think.

 

[Jason Beck]

Yah it happens once in a while, even on windows, just logout and login.

 

[drag0nfly]

same problem; but none of previous solutions works

So, I have an - apparently - empty [directoryname1]/[directoryname2] sitting on my storage raid. no files n either directory. double checked using xray. nada. Neither directory is locked; I have gone in using finder and term window; have verified permissions and ownership; I am admin.


i cannot delete [directoryname1]/[directoryname2] or cd into [directoryname1] and just delete [directoryname2]

However! I can change the names of either directory without the system fussing at me.

in all cases, I am told forbidden to delete tho cause they are "in-use" I have no apps running on them, rebooted, etc....I have specifically ran NORTON against them to look for a bit of clever hack code. If it is there, it is more clever than Norton, which was verified updated yesterday.

completely, utterly frustrated and stumped.

 

[sridvijay]

Try doing a secure erase.

 

[liljake119]

Same problem. Weird circumstances

I am trying to delete a folder from my Macbook Pro with retina 13 running 10.8. Its just a normal user created folder. It has no contents (none hidden either) and I cannot change the name of the folder, but I can rename its parent directory. I have tried the above solutions with no luck. I even upgraded to Mavericks and it still tells me the folder is in use.

Any ideas?