Can't delete file in OS X 10.6.2

Hey everyone, I'm new here and have a problem I haven't been able to solve. I downloaded the emulator Sixtyforce a while ago but accidentally downloaded an old one first. so i threw the old one in my trash but it won't delete. I've tried holding option or shift-option and a few terminal commands that other people said worked for them but nothing has worked so far. Most of the stuff i found on google were from before Snow Leopard so I'm wondering if there are new commands. Thanks if anyone can help me.

Do you get an error when you try to delete it? That'd help

Well, the first thing I'd try is dragging it out of the trash. Then drag it into AppCleaner. AppCleaner is a free download and you should have it anyway. That might just do the trick.

might be as simple as the file being in use, in which case either a quick shell command (two actually) would resolve the situation.. or so would a reboot. I loathe bloat to resolve simple problems that have built in solutions

Sorry I didn't post the error message before but here it is...


"The operation can’t be completed because the item “sixtyforce” is in use."

I've restarted my computer probably over 20 times since i haven't been able to delete it and that doesn't help but I'll try the app cleaner.

App Cleaner can only do so much, but if it works, it works. Let us know!

App cleaner didn't work. didn't change anything. Any other programs that can help?

Hmm, sixtyforce... isn't that a N64 emulator?

Yes it is a N64 emulator. Does that make a difference?

Have you attempted to go into "Activity Monitor" and check to see if any iteration of that program is running ? If it is, you can force quit it from there. Or any other app that might be associated with it.

Also try fixing your disk permissions. I had a folder which used to reside on my external hard drive. This folder had mp3's inside of it, but I think I deleted the actual files. Yet the folder and something else inside of it, would not budge. And every time I plugged the external drive in, this folder would appear in the trash. But it could not be deleted. Strangest thing ever.

The only thing that got rid of it eventually, was upgrading to Snow Leopard. At one point, I didn't even care about it anymore. But it certainly was annoying.

Doug

I recall having an app that just wouldn't quit. I don't quite remember, but I think I ether found it in /System Preferences/Accounts/Login Items where I removed it, or In Utilities/Activity Monitor where I quit the associated process.

didn't get anything with the activity monitor. nothing that was obvious enough that i felt safe quitting it at least.

Open up terminal.. type the following

for i in $(lsof | grep -i sixtyforce|awk '{print $2}')
do
kill $i
done


lsof will list open files, the grep will parse the output for that filename. The awk statement parses out the second column, which is the PID.. and the do kills the owning PID (process ID). At that point you can delete the file. AppCleaner won't work, because the file is indeed legitimately in use, so the OS will not allow it to be deleted until the lock is cleared. Activity monitor, well.. that's great.. but it won't tell you what is using the file.

What is that supposed to do? I copy/pasted the first line so i dint make any mistakes, pressed enter, wrote do, pressed enter, wrote kill $i, pressed enter, wrote done, pressed enter. nothing else came up in terminal so i went to empty my trash but it did nothing.still says it is in use

Ok, do this.. post the output and I'll change the script for you

open terminal

ls -l ~/.Trash


We can also do this, if you'd like.



it should return to a prompt.. that's all the info you'd get from that particular script. If you want more you can do this

for i in $(ls ~/.Trash); do echo $i; p=$(lsof|grep $i|awk '{print $2}'); echo $p; kill $p; done

which will look like this

And after all is done in the terminal, what next? Do I empty my trash, does it delete it automatically? And also does the file need to be out of the trash? Thanks for all the help but I got to go to work so I will try when I get back in a few hours

At that point you should be able to empty your trash.

I've actually encountered this exact problem, and have no idea how to fix it. I'm a current computer science major, and i get the general idea of what you're trying to do, but your latest instructions just gave me a usage list for kill that i'm not sure what i'm supposed to do with. There is no sixtyforce process running in the activity monitor, so I'm confused as to how it's actually 'in use.' Multiple reboots have not fixed this problem, which leads me to believe that something is causing it to be 'in use' when the os loads, but i'm not sure. Any ideas?

You're not looking for a process named 'sixtyforce', you're looking for a process using the file you're trying to delete. The app lsof will list open files, hence the grep by file name originally. The second one will grep for any file in use in the ~/.Trash directory. If you're still having problems.. you can try booting in safe mode.. or in single user mode and deleting the file then

neither of the terminal commands worked. im gonna try starting in safe mode or something