Deleting Non-existent Files

teedoff087teedoff087
Posted:
in Genius Bar edited January 2014
Hello, all. I am trying to delete some files through the terminal. These files seem impossible to delete. They are currently in the trash on my external HD (formatted FAT32). They contain special characters in the filenames. When I click on the files in Finder, they disappear. When I attempt to remove them through the terminal, it says they do not exist. However, when I "ls" to view the contents of the folder, all the files are listed. I have attempted to reboot into single user mode and safe mode to delete the files.



This screenshots below show you what I'm seeing:











My main question is, how can I delete files that do not exist? I can't even check the permissions.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 4
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,324moderator
    Probably just FAT32 (or at least Apple' implementation) not liking the funny characters. Have you tried removing the folder? The OS will just replace any folders it needs.
  • Reply 2 of 4
    teedoff087teedoff087 Posts: 348member
    I tried cmd-dragging the folder onto my desktop, but I get this message:







    Also, moving the folder anywhere else doesn't make a difference.
  • Reply 3 of 4
    teedoff087teedoff087 Posts: 348member
    Ho-diggity. I fixed it by repairing the volume with Disk Utility. Works a charm.



    Thank you anyway for the help.
  • Reply 4 of 4
    teedoff087teedoff087 Posts: 348member
    The solution was to delete the .Trashes folder from a Windows machine. I believe you were correct. Apple FAT32 implementation can't handle the funny characters I guess.
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