Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

I got rid of my old PPC iMac G5 2 years ago, but kept the hard drive.

I have been trashing stuff, but I can't seem to empty the trash. I'm getting this message:


User uploaded file

There is no clue as to what I was doing before that came up, so I don't know what to do to fully empty the trash. I do wish the system would give me some kind of clue as to what I was ACTUALLY doing/did so that I could correct the situation.


The hard drive is encased in a caddy and connected to my current iMac via a USB 3 connecting cable.


Any help would be appreciated. Be advised: I don't get on well with technical 'jargon'. The key phrase is: keep it simple, please!

iMac (20-inch Early 2008), OS X Mavericks (10.9), HP3310 A-I-O

Posted on Jan 22, 2014 12:44 PM

Reply
10 replies

Jan 22, 2014 1:04 PM in response to sapper

Generally any program running at startup of the machine could be using that file.


Mind you, Mac OS X 10.9.1 which your profile has can't run applications from PowerPC days. That means any program such as Appleworks will have to have its documents converted to Intel Mac compatible formats BEFORE importing to your 10.9.1 machine.


If you have been indiscriminately trashing documents that you don't recognize, you may have to have someone with a PowerPC Mac rebuild your compatibility with the old documents so you can convert them.


You shouldn't trash anything you don't know anything about.

It might be better since you are averse to jargon to wait until you can talk directly to someone in a usergroup or genius bar.


http://www.apple.com/usergroups/


There are methods of running PowerPC applications, but for the jargon averse, it might be too hard. It would be better to have someone with technical computer skills set it up for you. Here's the tip if you can find someone:


http://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-2295#ROSETTALION

Jan 22, 2014 1:42 PM in response to a brody

I've had a look through the trash, and yes, there are items that were originally on the old drive such as Epson

printer instructions in the form of gif's, but what I can't find are the backup files that I trashed, i.e. the ones with the umbrella icon.

For what it's worth, when I bought my current machine, it was already bundled with Mountain Lion, but a few months ago, I updated to Mavericks (10.9.1) which you correctly identified.


A large quantity of the stuff I trashed were photos. Surely those shouldn't make any difference? In fact, some of the photos that were on the old hard drive, seemed to safely migrate to the current machine without any problems.


Admittedly, there were some applications that wouldn't open because they were created in Tiger. If I trash those, would they be the reason why I can't empty the trash i.e. Tiger applications in a Mavericks Trash bin?'


Here's a screenshot from the trash of the folder 'Applications'. Notice the greyed out 'No Entry' logo over most of them. Those were from Tiger-based creations. One final question: would it be any easier just to have the hard drive totally purged and start afresh?


User uploaded file

Jan 24, 2014 12:35 PM in response to sapper

The trash folder is really a combination of several trash folders.


I suggest trying this:

--shutdown and power off machine.

--detach external hd

--boot up machine.

--empty trash -- problem might not be trash on external hd.

--attach external hd

--empty trash


combine with shift key suggestion above in case of problems.


There are some force empty of trash. I am not sure about them. I have not tried.

Jan 25, 2014 5:27 AM in response to sapper

Well that's because your iMac doesn't have USB 3, it has USB 2. You really should have put it in a Firewire case. Firewire 800 and 400 are easily connected together, as there are cables with 6 pin on one end, and 9 pin on the other end. http://www.macsales.com/ has a bunch of those cases. When lacking for Thunderbolt, Firewire is a far better option than USB.

Jan 25, 2014 3:42 PM in response to a brody

Thanks, I think I should have explained that the caddy that the old HD is housed in, is only connectable via the current USB 3.0 cable.


yes, the actual iMac has both a Firewire 400 and 800 ports (according to specs). My problem is getting a cable that will connect from the existing USB3.0 socket to one of the Firewire ports.

I got rid of my old PPC iMac G5 2 years ago, but kept the hard drive.

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.