bjmyers
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Trash on external drive

I have over 6000 files in my trash when I connect to my Maxtor OneTouch external drive on my iMac. When it's connected to my laptop, there's nothing. I've tried to delete (empty the trash) but it doesn't do anything (for days). I've tried to put the trash folders back onto the Maxtor, but it's now copying them back to the drive. Ugh. Please help since I 1) need to connect to my Maxtor for backups and 2) I will need to empty the trash on my iMac from time to time.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.3.x), External drive

Posted on May 15, 2015 8:16 AM

by etresoft,Solvedanswer
etresoft etresoft
Level 7 (29,325 points)
Mac OS X
A:

bjmyers wrote:

 

The files were backed up with Time Machine and I ran out of room so I started deleting files I didn't need - one of them being a Library folder - which I didn't need backed up.

Hello bjmyers,

Time Machine is a backup system. It does not do archives. If you delete files from a device being backed up, eventually they will also be deleted from your backup. Depending on the health of your system, you may be able to change your mind and restore files that have been accidentally deleted. But if your system starts exhibiting problems, and especially if you try to fix them from the command-line, all bets are off. Your data is at risk of permanent loss.

 

At this point, I think you should begin an inventory of all of your files that you want to keep. Turn off Time Machine and unplug the drive. Any file that is on your Time Machine drive or in the trash should be considered lost for the time being. Since your Time Machine drive was too small to being with, purchase a bigger one. Then, perform a new backup of your disks. Using your inventory, your old Time Machine drive, and your external drive, try to recover the files you can. Then, erase the old Time Machine drive and the external drive. Use them for archives and/or additional Time Machine backups.

Posted on May 18, 2015 9:49 AM

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bjmyers

Q: Trash on external drive

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  • Helpful answers

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 15, 2015 8:21 AM in response to bjmyers
    Level 6 (8,175 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2015 8:21 AM in response to bjmyers

    if your trying to delete that much it may take a few moments before the trash begins to syc up with the OS dialog telling you stuff is being deleted. In the mean time you can try from the terminal

    open the terminal (spotlight, type "terminal" or go to Macintosh HD:Applications:Utilities:Terminal)

    and type

     

    sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*


    enter your credentials and press return

  • by baseballboyg,

    baseballboyg baseballboyg May 15, 2015 8:21 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (57 points)
    May 15, 2015 8:21 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    The code given is correct, this should clear all of that trash from your hardrive.

  • by bjmyers,

    bjmyers bjmyers May 15, 2015 8:29 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2015 8:29 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    I just tried using Terminal and still, nothing is happening. The strange this is that the trash is not there when I connect to my laptop. Any other suggestions?

  • by bjmyers,

    bjmyers bjmyers May 15, 2015 8:52 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2015 8:52 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    I went into Terminal to see all the invisible files (since nothing is showing up in the folders in the trash) and they are all "." files. If I renamed all of the folders, to you think this would work? They look like old system stuff I backed up then deleted. ??

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 15, 2015 9:04 AM in response to bjmyers
    Level 6 (8,175 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2015 9:04 AM in response to bjmyers

    the "." files are file resources, not data files. is your drive write protected or are you sharing it by either direct connection to another computer or over the network?

  • by bjmyers,

    bjmyers bjmyers May 15, 2015 9:11 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2015 9:11 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    It is not write protected and I'm not sharing it. Interestingly, I changed the names on the (invisible) folders and it's now deleting ... when before it would hang up and not empty. 6574, 3, 2 ... files to go. I see a bunch of other files on this drive. What's .trashes for?

     

    Screen Shot 2015-05-15 at 11.08.57 AM.png

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 15, 2015 9:17 AM in response to bjmyers
    Level 6 (8,175 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2015 9:17 AM in response to bjmyers

    to the best of my knowledge it's a file that tells the OS what files are in the trash so the OS can show them in a list.

    when your done deleting check your drive for errors.

     

    1. Launch Disk Utility, found within the /Applications/Utilities folder
    2. Select the Mac hard drive from the left side menu and click on the “First Aid” tab
    3. Click on “Verify Disk” in the lower right corner and let it run

  • by bjmyers,

    bjmyers bjmyers May 15, 2015 9:16 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 15, 2015 9:16 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    Regardless of this other stuff and what I did or didn't do, the Trash is now emptying. Something worked.

     

    Thanks for your assistance!

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 15, 2015 2:46 PM in response to bjmyers
    Level 10 (208,005 points)
    Applications
    May 15, 2015 2:46 PM in response to bjmyers

    Of all the computer-illiterate fake advice that circulates on this site, the advice to empty the Trash in the shell (Terminal) is the worst and most dangerous. Not only are the instructions you were given completely wrong, they put you at risk of losing every bit of data you have, potentially including all backups. Never empty the Trash or delete any files in the shell.

  • by etresoft,

    etresoft etresoft May 15, 2015 5:56 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT
    Level 7 (29,325 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 15, 2015 5:56 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

    JimmyCMPIT wrote:

     

    if your trying to delete that much it may take a few moments before the trash begins to syc up with the OS dialog telling you stuff is being deleted. In the mean time you can try from the terminal

    open the terminal (spotlight, type "terminal" or go to Macintosh HD:Applications:Utilities:Terminal)

    and type

     

    sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*


    enter your credentials and press return

    Hello JimmyCMPIT,

    Please do not suggest a command like that. It is extremely dangerous even under the best of circumstances. It is a single typo away from erasing everything on the startup drive, all attached external disks, and all network drives. It has only been a couple of months since I encountered someone here on Apple Support Communities who made such a typo. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it by then.

     

    The trash is an object of the Finder. It can only be manipulated in the Finder. It cannot be safely used with normal file system commands in the Terminal.

     

    Judging from the files listed in that screenshot, I've got a bad feeling about this...

  • by JimmyCMPIT,

    JimmyCMPIT JimmyCMPIT May 18, 2015 6:02 AM in response to etresoft
    Level 6 (8,175 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 18, 2015 6:02 AM in response to etresoft

    Thank you for pointing out my error and clarifying it.

    I'll will keep that in mind going forward.

  • by bjmyers,

    bjmyers bjmyers May 18, 2015 6:36 AM in response to Linc Davis
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 18, 2015 6:36 AM in response to Linc Davis

    Morning Linc - thanks for watching out for us non techies. I'm somewhat familiar with terminal and I had read about the solution "jimmyCMPIT" provided when I searched online. The Trash contains files that are on my external back up - it's not a start up disc. They only show up in the Trash when I have the drive connected to my iMac - but not on any other computer. The files were backed up with Time Machine and I ran out of room so I started deleting files I didn't need - one of them being a Library folder - which I didn't need backed up. About half (3000+) of the files still remain in the Trash and now the Trash has an error saying something about "missing files". I've verified the drive and it's ok - did not need repairing, etc. At this point, I'm thinking I need to throw my back up files into the cloud and either erase the drive or ? Thoughts?

  • by Linc Davis,

    Linc Davis Linc Davis May 18, 2015 7:45 AM in response to bjmyers
    Level 10 (208,005 points)
    Applications
    May 18, 2015 7:45 AM in response to bjmyers

    You should never delete backup files. Time Machine manages space automatically. If it reports that it's out of space, that means you need a larger backup drive.

     

    Put the drive aside and start a new backup on another storage device. When you're sure you'll no longer need the data on the first device, erase it and start over.

  • by etresoft,Solvedanswer

    etresoft etresoft May 18, 2015 9:49 AM in response to bjmyers
    Level 7 (29,325 points)
    Mac OS X
    May 18, 2015 9:49 AM in response to bjmyers

    bjmyers wrote:

     

    The files were backed up with Time Machine and I ran out of room so I started deleting files I didn't need - one of them being a Library folder - which I didn't need backed up.

    Hello bjmyers,

    Time Machine is a backup system. It does not do archives. If you delete files from a device being backed up, eventually they will also be deleted from your backup. Depending on the health of your system, you may be able to change your mind and restore files that have been accidentally deleted. But if your system starts exhibiting problems, and especially if you try to fix them from the command-line, all bets are off. Your data is at risk of permanent loss.

     

    At this point, I think you should begin an inventory of all of your files that you want to keep. Turn off Time Machine and unplug the drive. Any file that is on your Time Machine drive or in the trash should be considered lost for the time being. Since your Time Machine drive was too small to being with, purchase a bigger one. Then, perform a new backup of your disks. Using your inventory, your old Time Machine drive, and your external drive, try to recover the files you can. Then, erase the old Time Machine drive and the external drive. Use them for archives and/or additional Time Machine backups.