Can't Delete Some Files or change permissions

Slydude

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I am trying to delete about 5 GB of files from my Time Capsule but can't do so. Every time I move the folder to the trash it tells me I do not have sufficient permissions.

Initially I thought this was because the files are copies of files that came from the wife's old Windows box but I am having the same issue with an audio file that was never on the PC. It is also not strictly a Time Capsule issue - the same files on an eternal drive are causing the same problem.

Can't seem to change file permissions from the Get Info window. Also can't add myself as a user to the list. No matter what I enter Finder says it is an invalid name. Current file permissions are as follows: Listed Users are Unknown, Staff, and Everyone. Permissions are read / write for everyone.

Have tried deleting as root and get the same behavior. None of the listed users for these files are admin users I've created and none of my admin users is in the list.

Have not tried Terminal due to my epic aversion to that program.
 

vansmith

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It is also not strictly a Time Capsule issue - the same files on an eternal drive are causing the same problem.
If it's an eternal drive, that might be why since eternal means forever. :p

Current file permissions are as follows: Listed Users are Unknown, Staff, and Everyone. Permissions are read / write for everyone.
Why isn't your user listed there? That's not right. Click the little plus sign, add yourself, give yourself r/w permissions and try again.

Have tried deleting as root and get the same behavior.
Root or admin? I only ask because root has absolutely no restrictions when it comes to manipulating files.

Have not tried Terminal due to my epic aversion to that program.
Now where's the fun in that? ;)
 
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Slydude

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LMAO did not notice I had an eternal drive till you pointed it out. Good thing I have my TM backup on that drive.

I have tried to add myself to the user list before posting and can't. If I click the plus sign and attempt to enter my admin user OS X complains and won't complete the process. I tried making changes as an admin user (normally run that way) and that did not work. Cannot delete the files that way either. Also tried as root user and got the same results. I enabled root through Users/Groups and running the Directory Utility. That shouldn't matter should it?

These files have been a problem for a while and just got around to trying to fix it.
 

vansmith

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Alright, we're going to do the command line route for a moment (sorry!).

Open up terminal, type ls -l, press space and then drag a problematic file into the Terminal window. Press enter and you should get what might appear to be a non-sensical response. Paste that line here and let's see what we're working with.
 
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Slydude

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Here you go. As you can see I included the command just so you could see whether it was entered correctly. The output in bold is from a problem file on my external drive. The other listing is the output for the same file on my Time Capsule.

ls -l /Volumes/Media\ Backup/Bone\ Walker.aif\ 1
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 Slydude staff 12582912 Jun 23 2006 /Volumes/Media Backup/Bone Walker.aif 1


ls -l /Volumes/Cape\ Canaveral/Bone\ Walker.aif\ 1
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 Slydude staff 12582912 Jun 23 2006 /Volumes/Cape Canaveral/Bone Walker.aif 1

BTW my e-mail program put the notice of your previous post in the junk folder. Apparently my phobia of the Terminal is worse than I thought.
 

vansmith

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Here you go. As you can see I included the command just so you could see whether it was entered correctly. The output in bold is from a problem file on my external drive. The other listing is the output for the same file on my Time Capsule.

ls -l /Volumes/Media\ Backup/Bone\ Walker.aif\ 1
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 Slydude staff 12582912 Jun 23 2006 /Volumes/Media Backup/Bone Walker.aif 1


ls -l /Volumes/Cape\ Canaveral/Bone\ Walker.aif\ 1
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 Slydude staff 12582912 Jun 23 2006 /Volumes/Cape Canaveral/Bone Walker.aif 1
Well, according to that, you indeed do have full r/w permissions (in fact, everyone does).

Let's try something else. Execute the following to remove one of these from your external (if this works, this will delete the file permanently so just a heads up):
Code:
rm -f /Volumes/Media\ Backup/Bone\ Walker.aif\ 1
If this fails, hopefully it tells us a little more than "insufficient privileges" (which doesn't make any sense given what ls is telling us).

BTW my e-mail program put the notice of your previous post in the junk folder. Apparently my phobia of the Terminal is worse than I thought.
Evidently your email client doesn't like me. Shall I "fix" it? ;)
 
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Slydude

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That seems to have fixed it on both the Time Capsule and the external drive. What change do I need to make to apply it to the folders that are showing the same behavior. Those folders / subfolders were on a PC at one time.

Next I get to figure out why none of my admin accounts are in the list.
 

vansmith

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That wasn't a fix as much as it was using a different tool to remove the file. You could do what I did above for each file (if there aren't many). If there a lot, you could put them all into a folder, enter the following, drag the folder to the Terminal window and press enter:
Code:
rm -rf
So, if the folder was located at /Volumes/Media\ Backup/DeleteMe/ (I'm not very creative, haha), the command would look like this:
Code:
rm -rf /Volumes/Media\ Backup/DeleteMe/
 
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Slydude

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I think I will remove the folders with the command above. There are enough files there for this to be an enormous pain if done file by file.
 

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