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Trash won't empty.

There is a thread ( http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=6060757) where people have about the same issue, but it says that it is solved. My issue is not resolved.

In my trash is an alias that looks like this: \\\õ\\.õ\ - however, the slashes are symbols that are the letters NUL staggered. There is also a character that is hiding before the first each set of NULs as well as the last one.

Okay, so here is the problem. This alias file won't leave the trash bin and it's not clear what this file is. I had help from Apple support - a phone call just short of 1 hour. As I already stated, this is still not resolved.

• Empty Trash doesn't work.
• Secure Empty Trash doesn't either.
• It can't be renamed.
• It can't be moved.
• Any combination of Shift, Option, and Command while selecting Empty Trash makes no difference.
• Get Info is the only function that, while it does nothing really, makes the Trash icon change to empty. Once Trash is opened, it reveals that the alias is still in Trash, and the Trash icon changes to full again.

Safe boot did nothing. The support agent had me enter Safe boot and send the Caches from my Home/Library folder. Then I was instructed to do Empty Trash. This deleted Caches and left the unwanted alias.

Next thing I tried with him was to create a different Administrator account and log into it. Trash under this account was empty, even after opening Trash.

At the end of the call, his superior recommended to either reinstall Leopard completely, or via the option "Archive and Install." I thought about this and decided to "Archive and Install." Nothing is different.

␀␀␀õ␀␀.õ␀


This drives me nuts. I just hope that someone will be able to help.

Oh, on a side note, I wish Apple would have better informed agents. This tech said that there is no anti-virus software for Mac because Macs don't have viruses.

MacPro, Mac OS X (10.5.1)

Posted on Dec 15, 2007 7:05 PM

Reply
18 replies

Dec 15, 2007 8:23 PM in response to scb

I forgot to mention before that the agent already told me to Repair Permissions in Disk Manager.

Delete It doesn't even display anything in my .Trash folder where it should be. FileXaminer is a different program I tested, and it was able to display the file in an open dialog but returned an error on Get Info option, as if the file wasn't available anymore.

I'm not all that experienced when it comes to OS X, but I tried other things suggested online. I tried opening Terminal for this:

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*
and
sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash

I tried to paste the title of the alias into sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/, but it changes it to ␀␀.õsudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/␀␀␀õ. It's strange. If I paste first, without hitting return, terminal simply says Logout.

Thanks for the reply and suggestion. If you or anyone else have more ideas I'd love to hear it.

Dec 15, 2007 9:48 PM in response to Woop

From the macworld link that doesn't seem to work:

Start by creating a new user in the Accounts System Preferences panel. It doesn’t really matter what name or access level you give the new account; it’s going to have a very short existence. Once the account is created, move the troublesome file from the trash into the /Users/Shared folder. Now (via Fast User Switching or a traditional logout/login), log in as the new user. Open the /Users/Shared folder, and move the troublesome file into the new user’s trash.
Now logout of the new account and log back into your main account. Return to the Accounts pane in System Preferences, select the account you just created, and click the minus sign (or just hit Delete). The system will put up a dialog box asking if you’re sure you want to do this, with three options: Cancel, OK, and Delete Immediately. Select Delete Immediately, and the troublesome file (along with the new user and the disk space they used) will disappear. (If you just press OK, the files from the deleted user will still reside on your drive.)
It may seem a bit time consuming to delete a file in this manner, but it’s very safe (much safer than the Unix solution), and will work on files that seem immune to all other solutions.


Joe
User uploaded file

Dec 15, 2007 10:53 PM in response to Woop

try this:
boot into your leopard dvd, click the language screen.

On the apple menu at top of screen under utilities open a terminal

#change directory to your user directory#:
cd /volumes/macintosh\ hd/users/<your user name>

#using the move command change name of directory#:
mv .trash mytrash

#recreate the .trash directory with make directory command#:
mkdir .Trash

exit

shutdown and reboot

After rebooting you will find the new "mytrash" directory in the root of your user directory.

Open up the mytrash directory with finder and see if you can rename the stubborn file
---------------------------------------------------------------------

sorry about the dead url:
here is a good one for whoever needs it:

http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxhints/2006/09/ultradelete/index.php

Dec 16, 2007 1:47 AM in response to Woop

Try using fsck to repair the illegal characters.

1. Reboot the OS X and during the start-up, press and hold both 'Command‘ and ‘s‘ keys, this will boot your Mac into the ’single-user mode ‘.

2. Then you will be presented with a terminal-like environment, then type ‘fsck -f‘.
note: (fsck: filesystem consistency check and interactive repair)
3. When fsck finishes, type ‘reboot‘ to restart your Mac.

If this doesn't work, a third party utility like disk warrior will repair the illegal characters.

Dec 16, 2007 10:06 AM in response to Woop

Maybe try with a Terminal window:
First, make it so you're positioned in the Trash directory (folder):
cd ~/.Trash

Then display the name of all files in the Trash:
ls

It should show just the one file, "xxx.yyy".
To delete that one file:
rm -i xxx.yyy

The "-i" makes it ask for confirmation: "remove xxx.yyy?"
Type "y" (yes).


Joe
User uploaded file

Dec 16, 2007 10:33 AM in response to macjack

Yes! That's the magic solution! Thank you for directing me to that thread, which I hadn't seen before.

Everything's good now.

I do in fact run Windows (Vista), but it is on an NTFS volume. I set up a large FAT32 partition for my games and for transferring files from OS X to Vista. I didn't pay attention to the .Trashes in there, but that was the problem. There was a file that appeared to be something like ¬ or ¬. Strange, yes, however a simple permanent delete of the 501 folder seems to do it. I ran a Chkdsk /F /X just in case, which returned no errors.

Thanks so much everyone who helped me through this. I hope others will the same problem will have an easier time finding the solution now.

I don't know if Apple support would be able to help if they even knew about this issue. Anyway. Case solved.

Trash won't empty.

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