I have a directory in the trash that cannot be deleted and it has no files in it. How can I force delete it?
The system under Terminal complains the directory is not empty, but no files appear there. On the GUI, it complains another program is using the directory, but nothing is running.
MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12.6)
Yes, it survived many restarts. Of course I used every option I knew, including option-delete in the finder. I am not a Unix novice. My techie son says it might have been a read/write error (the folder was on a micro-sd card) used in a camera. We solved the problem by re-formatting the card on my son's pc (My mac laptop wouldn't do it, Disk Utility would not dismount the drive), re-inserting the card into the camera, and letting the camera complete the re-format process. That cleared the device.
Yes, it survived many restarts. Of course I used every option I knew, including option-delete in the finder. I am not a Unix novice. My techie son says it might have been a read/write error (the folder was on a micro-sd card) used in a camera. We solved the problem by re-formatting the card on my son's pc (My mac laptop wouldn't do it, Disk Utility would not dismount the drive), re-inserting the card into the camera, and letting the camera complete the re-format process. That cleared the device.
This behavior survives a restart?
How did you check to see if the directory is in fact empty? Did you try the terminal command "ls -a" ?
how do I remove a directory the system thinks is not empty? OSX 10.12
