Error code -36 When Emptying Trash

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Error code -36 When Emptying Trash

My trash has something called "iPhoto Library" stuck in it and I can't get it out. The file is 0 kb and doesn't show an icon so I don't think it's real. When I try to delete it, I get, "The Finder cannot complete the operation because some data in "" could not be read or writting. (Error code -36)". I can't find this error anywhere - Apple.com lists hundreds of error codes but no 36. The silly file won't get out of my trash - it's the only thing in there and it's really bugging me! I like a clean trash, myself.

I should mention the error only occurs when I securely empty the trash. a standard empty seems to go OK - except this silly iPhoto file is stubbornly left behind.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot.

Message was edited by: Canadian Eh

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.5), Time Machine, iPod Touch, iPhone, Legacy PC

Posted on Feb 9, 2009 8:02 PM

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Answer 1

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Limnos

Level 10

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Feb 9, 2009 8:33 PM in response to Canadian Eh

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1618

See Charles Minow's posts here:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1601941&tstart=120

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/03/30/mac-os-tip-for-error-c ode-36/

http://fuzzy.wordpress.com/2006/12/10/ioerror-36/

[Apple Discussion with useful information|http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=8467699#8467699 ]

Does this file exist or did it exist on a drive with a different format?

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Answer 2

Canadian Eh Author

Level 1

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Feb 10, 2009 7:28 PM in response to Limnos

Thanks for the great resources. I don't know any Unix but I'm sure <delete> will be simple.

By the looks of it, the file exists, however it's 0KB in the trash (my "real" iPhoto library is 20+GB). By all accounts the "dummy" file seems real enough.

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