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Cannot delete folder in use--please help

Y

yanksphish

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