Can't Empty Trash In OSX

only way i can think of is logging in as root
and emptying it. maybe there's another way. when i wanted to delete some codecs in library/quicktime dir, it didnt let me cause of priviliage violation so just loged in as root, and was able to trash something i wasnt able to as admin.

No! No! No! A thousand times no! :o
Never suggest to a newbie that they have to log in as root! There's too great a risk of screwing up other things...

If you don't have the permissions to delete something, you can use the terminal to delete these items. Hopefully there will be a fix for the Finder in the future that will allow you to authenticate to empty the trash in these cases.

You can use this command in the Terminal, but be careful to copy it exactly as it appears. [code]sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash/
</pre><hr></blockquote>You may get a message asking for a password. Enter your admin password there.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</p>

Download batchmod from versiontracker. No need for sudo'ing or anything. Neat little program that works well.

here's the link: <a href="http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12057&db=mac" target="_blank">http://www.versiontracker.com/moreinfo.fcgi?id=12057&db=mac</a>

[quote]Originally posted by starfleetX:
<strong>No! No! No! A thousand times no! :o
Never suggest to a newbie that they have to log in as root! There's too great a risk of screwing up other things...

If you don't have the permissions to delete something, you can use the terminal to delete these items. Hopefully there will be a fix for the Finder in the future that will allow you to authenticate to empty the trash in these cases.

You can use this command in the Terminal, but be careful to copy it exactly as it appears. [code]sudo rm -Rf ~/.Trash/
</pre><hr></blockquote>You may get a message asking for a password. Enter your admin password there.

[ 12-19-2001: Message edited by: starfleetX ]</strong><hr></blockquote>

starfleet, that command is a lot more dangerous than logging in as root. sudo rm -Rf ~/ oops, I hit the enter key instead of the period. See ya later home directory. Or sudo rm -Rf / d'oh, I needed a ~ before the /, lemme fix that. Oops, dang enter key... buh-bye HD. This is a dangerous thing that we've got here. We should not have to use the terminal to do this stuff unless we know what we're doing...

[and, yes, I know you said that he should copy it exactly. But what if he tries to do it from memory down the road? I'm pretty familiar with the shell and I accidently typed sudo rm -rf /Library when I meant to type sudo rm -rf Library/. It wasn't pretty ]

[quote]Originally posted by torifile:<hr></blockquote>That's why I put emphasis on copying it exactly as shown. If he tries it by memory and screws up, well, too bad. Most people should only use the terminal when A) you have to and B) you know what you're doing. Now, I admit that I should have put that disclaimer in the previous post. My mistake.

However, remember that just as much damage can thoretically be done if you start using root. If your average Joe finds out he can empty his trash or move a file easier as the root user, he may just decide to keep on using root. What's so bad about that? whoosh!! That's the sound of all the protective goodness flying out the window that OSX's multiuser environment had previously provided.

In the end, we Mac users shouldn't be bothered by nonsense like this. As I said before, Apple needs to eliminate dependence on root and the terminal... [quote]Hopefully there will be a fix for the Finder in the future that will allow you to authenticate to empty the trash in these cases.<hr></blockquote>

i dont see any big problem logging in as root unless say you start ircing ;B. as long you dont mess with system files no biggie. yeah, now i remember the sudo cmd. been trying to use osx but god it's so slow, eating up so much memory also. i just hope apple gives us the option to turn off eyecandy stuff like transparency. that's one thing i like about XP, option to turn off resource hoggin features.

I had the same problem when I first installed X. I've not yet gotten 10.1, but I also haven't used X since my initial experience with it. I found it pretty absurd that I wasn't allowed to empty the trash, and I don't know anything about all this root this and sudo command that. Anyway, I intend to get 10.1 sometime in the next couple weeks. I don't know what my point is, I'm just rambling, but yeah, anyway, I'm aoing to go now...

Geeze... Force quit your finder, and then you should be able to empty your trash.

Do it like this:

Deleting locked files
In previous versions of Mac OS, you could press the Option key while emptying the Trash to delete locked files. This is not a feature of Mac OS X.

If you are unable to delete an item because it is locked:
1. Select the item.
2. Choose Show Info from the File menu.
3. Click Locked to deselect that option.
4. If you have multiple affected items, leave the Show Info window open and repeat steps 1 and 3 for each additional item.
5. Choose Empty Trash from the Finder menu.

If the item still cannot be deleted, try creating a new folder and placing the item in it. Drag the folder to the Trash and empty the Trash. If you still cannot delete the item, start up your computer from the Mac OS X CD-ROM and choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu of the first screen. Use Disk Utility to verify and, if necessary, repair your disk.

Note: When started up from CD, do not click Continue. Disk Utility is only available in the first screen. If you click Continue, restart the computer from the CD.
Advanced technique: deleting locked files
If there are several locked files in the Trash, you can unlock them all at the same time at the command line.

Follow these steps:
1. Open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities).
2. Type: chflags -R nouchg
Important: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet.
3. Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
4. Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
5. Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.
Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present.
6. Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
7. Empty the Trash.
If the Trash does not empty or if you see a message in Terminal that says "usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file..." you most likely did not type the text in step 2 as indicated or did not leave a space. Repeat the steps if this happens.

Copied from AppleCare Knowledge Base Article 106272.

If this will not work, your last resort is really to enable root. login as root, and empty the trash.

The OS X trash files can be found via 9, but they are invisible and there is a folder called .500 or something like that.. deleting the stuff in that made X's trash go away, though it's prolly not the best way to do it.

CD

[quote]Originally posted by Kate:
<strong>Do it like this:

Deleting locked files
In previous versions of Mac OS, you could press the Option key while emptying the Trash to delete locked files. This is not a feature of Mac OS X.

If you are unable to delete an item because it is locked:
1. Select the item.
2. Choose Show Info from the File menu.
3. Click Locked to deselect that option.
4. If you have multiple affected items, leave the Show Info window open and repeat steps 1 and 3 for each additional item.
5. Choose Empty Trash from the Finder menu.

If the item still cannot be deleted, try creating a new folder and placing the item in it. Drag the folder to the Trash and empty the Trash. If you still cannot delete the item, start up your computer from the Mac OS X CD-ROM and choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu of the first screen. Use Disk Utility to verify and, if necessary, repair your disk.

Note: When started up from CD, do not click Continue. Disk Utility is only available in the first screen. If you click Continue, restart the computer from the CD.
Advanced technique: deleting locked files
If there are several locked files in the Trash, you can unlock them all at the same time at the command line.

Follow these steps:
1. Open Terminal (located in /Applications/Utilities).
2. Type: chflags -R nouchg
Important: Type one space (not pictured) after nouchg in the line above, so that it ends in "nouchg ". Do not press Return yet.
3. Double-click the Trash icon in the Dock to reveal the contents of the Trash. If necessary, arrange the Finder window so that a portion of the Terminal window is still visible.
4. Press the Command-A key combination to select all files in the Trash.
5. Drag the files from the Trash to the Terminal window.
Note: This automatically enters the pathname for each file. This eliminates the need to individually empty multiple Trash directories, particularly when multiple disks or volumes are present.
6. Press Return. No special text message will be shown indicating that the command was successful.
7. Empty the Trash.
If the Trash does not empty or if you see a message in Terminal that says "usage: chflags [-R [-H | -L | -P]] flags file..." you most likely did not type the text in step 2 as indicated or did not leave a space. Repeat the steps if this happens.

Copied from AppleCare Knowledge Base Article 106272.

If this will not work, your last resort is really to enable root. login as root, and empty the trash.</strong><hr></blockquote>

Kate, as lovely as you are, you sure are stubborn about how bad OS X is . You could do all that or you could just download batchmod like I suggested a few posts back.