Undeletable nested folders in Trash - Terminal expert please??

Kryten · Mar 29, 2015

I have an internal SSD called Work and since using Data Rescue 3 on my MacPro (10.6.8) there are some nested folders in the Trash that will not delete. I have done all the Verify disk, Repair permissions and I can't move the files out to the desktop, they simply Copy. Secure delete doesn't work either. The final nested folder is named < /v%9Esv%[%F1%AD%FA<M]%E3R%F4t >. I'm presuming Terminal is the only way to get shot of it, so any help would be much appreciated. I have tried Force Delete applications too.
Thanks for any help.
Howard

harryb2448 · Mar 29, 2015

Have you tried a reboot and/or Secure Empty trash? Can you tell us why you ran Data Rescue?

Kryten · Mar 30, 2015

Thanks Harry. I had lots of mp4 movies on an external SSD which my new TV tried to format when I wasn't paying attention. I used DR3 to recover most of the movies from this drive to the internal SSD called Work, the drive with the undeletables. Once I had those, I copied them to another drive and deleted them from Work. That was when these nested folders decided to sit in the Trash as undeletable. I get the system message "The operation can’t be completed because you don’t have permission to access some of the items." when I am the only user of the Mac and logged in as Admin. Any number of restarts and Secure Empty does not work either.
Thanks again.

gsahli · Mar 30, 2015

sudo rm -rf .Trashes/*
sudo means superuser Do - that's the admin user. It asks for your admin password, but it hides it from view as you type.
(rm = remove, -rf = recursive (all the files inside folders) and force (don't ask me "are you sure" for each))
Make sure you get the spaces in the right places (3 of them).

RadDave · Mar 30, 2015

gsahli said:
sudo rm -rf .Trashes/*
sudo means superuser Do - that's the admin user. It asks for your admin password, but it hides it from view as you type.
(rm = remove, -rf = recursive (all the files inside folders) and force (don't ask me "are you sure" for each))
Make sure you get the spaces in the right places (3 of them).

Just curious (and NOT a terminal expert - more an 'avoider'

) - but the command line after the 'rm -rf' should specify the home directory (unless the user is already there), and also just '.Trash', like ~/.Trash - correct me if I'm wrong - Dave

Kryten · Mar 30, 2015

Erm...... I think I'll wait for a response before I dare enter the Terminal...!

harryb2448 · Mar 30, 2015

Trminal is not something I muck about with - dangerous black magic. However I do follow Mike Seyfang's directions when necessary:-

https://mikese.wordpress.com/2014/05/10/osx-force-empty-trash-terminal-rm-r-does-the-trick/

cradom · Mar 30, 2015

RadDave said:
Just curious (and NOT a terminal expert - more an 'avoider' ) - but the command line after the 'rm -rf' should specify the home directory (unless the user is already there), and also just '.Trash', like ~/.Trash - correct me if I'm wrong - Dave

Absolutely correct! Easier to
cd ~/.Trash
and then
rm -rf *.*
That way you only delete what's in the Trash.

pm-r · Mar 30, 2015

gsahli said:
sudo rm -rf .Trashes/*
sudo means superuser Do - that's the admin user. It asks for your admin password, but it hides it from view as you type.
(rm = remove, -rf = recursive (all the files inside folders) and force (don't ask me "are you sure" for each))
Make sure you get the spaces in the right places (3 of them).

Hmmm…??? Almost the same Terminal command that a recent poster posted he was told to use:
" rm -rf ~/.Trash/* "

Followed by an appeal for help for how to recover all their user desktop stuff that had gone poof!!!

Kryten · Mar 30, 2015

Sorry - completely lost now.
K.

harryb2448 · Mar 30, 2015

Actually nowhere near the same the space is vital and I quote:-

"Then, type sudo rm -R followed by a space (don’t leave out the space character—it’s essential)."

Kryten · Mar 30, 2015

Sorry to be so pedestrian, but can you give me the complete Terminal text entry inc Returns once you're all agreed? I'm just not familiar with it and I can't afford to screw it. This Work drive is all my current work for all my clients. I do have Time Machine and SuperDuper backups but Restoring will only bring me back to square one.
Appreciate your input sincerely.
K.

RadDave · Mar 30, 2015

pm-r said:
Hmmm…??? Almost the same Terminal command that a recent poster posted he was told to use:
" rm -rf ~/.Trash/* "

Followed by an appeal for help for how to recover all their user desktop stuff that had gone poof!!!

Yes - the opening post quote below from HERE - I did not respond, but would have changed to the directory first (as suggested by Craig) and then used the 'rm' command so its actions would have affected only the Trash folder.

SO, maybe Craig or other 'terminal gurus' can chime in to explain why the order of this command line deleted more than the OP wanted? I suspect the 'rm -rf' ended up seeing more than the Trash. Dave

After running the command " rm -rf ~/.Trash/* " thru the terminal, all the desktop files, documents and the emails are missing from the Mac OsX. Please guide on recovering/retrieving the files.

pm-r · Mar 30, 2015

Kryten said:
Sorry to be so pedestrian, but can you give me the complete Terminal text entry inc Returns once you're all agreed? I'm just not familiar with it and I can't afford to screw it. This Work drive is all my current work for all my clients. I do have Time Machine and SuperDuper backups but Restoring will only bring me back to square one.
Appreciate your input sincerely.
K.

If you don't like the Terminal method and the uncertainty, why not try using a utility like Trash It!???

Free and good reviews…
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8214/trash-it

gsahli · Mar 30, 2015

RadDave said:
rm -rf' should specify the home directory (unless the user is already there), and also just '.Trash', like ~/.Trash - correct me if I'm wrong - Dave

Thanks for checking up on me Dave. I can't Believe I mistyped it as .Trashes instead of .Trash.

As the for the full pathway - I made a (somewhat) dangerous assumption - that the OP would be going to the Terminal, running the command, and leaving the Terminal. (So, he would be in the correct home directory.)

Thanks for everyone else that chimed in to straighten it out!

gsahli · Mar 30, 2015

RadDave said:
SO, maybe Craig or other 'terminal gurus' can chime in to explain why the order of this command line deleted more than the OP wanted? I suspect the 'rm -rf' ended up seeing more than the Trash. Dave

Sorry, but I suspect user error (it is easy to mistype)

Dysfunction · Mar 30, 2015

gsahli said:
Sorry, but I suspect user error (it is easy to mistype)

Yea, if you put a space in between ~/ and .Trashes you would have EXPLICITLY told the OS to recursively delete ~/ (your home directory) and .Trashes (which would normally be ~/.Trashes). So.. I (highly) suspect that this is what happened.

Dysfunction · Mar 30, 2015

btw, in this case.. I'd have removed the directory by inode, it's much safer.

Kryten · Apr 1, 2015

pm-r said:
If you don't like the Terminal method and the uncertainty, why not try using a utility like Trash It!???

Free and good reviews…
https://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/8214/trash-it

I tried this and it didn't work. I don't mind using Terminal, everything is backed up, I just need to know exactly what to type.

bobtomay · Apr 1, 2015

see Cradom's post # 8 above