Hi Eric, >From the file name you mentioned in your system message, the problematic file >is a Time Machine backup file that was moved to the trash in the middle of its >backup activity, and the reason that you are having difficulty getting your >Trash to empty completely is that your Mac considers this to be file that is >still open by an active process. The default behavior is not to let you empty >the Trash when such files are still open and being worked on by active >applications, because this could potentially be something you want to keep -- >or else why wouldn't you have closed the application?
The instances where this kind of behavior can be confusing include when you are trying to eject a volume or shutdown, when you're told it is still active or a file is in use, or when something is being accessed by Time Machine backups, since it's easy to forget that this process may be running in the background. In the first case, which usually happens when you mount a USB memory stick and either navigate into folders because you want to transfer files between the memory stick and your computer, the solution is to check your Finder windows to make sure you're not in a folder or sub-directory of the device you're trying to eject. As long as you're in the file structure, even if you're not actively playing an MP3 file or quick looking a file, or editing text on the mounted volume, that device is considered to be "in use" and can't be ejected, so either close that Finder window or navigate up to the top level of the device with Command+Up arrow. In the case of your Time Machine backup, it sounds as though you "deleted" a .InProgress file by moving it into the Trash, but can't empty the Trash because the file is on an attached disk drive. You'll need to open Terminal, and use the command line "cd" command to change to your Time Machine drive, then use the "rm" command to remove your ".Trashes" file. Depending on how the drive is set up, and the response you get to trying to do these commands, you may also have to first change the permissions in the directory so that you can remove the files with a "chmod" command. Travis, or someone else familiar with the permissions status of these files can probably assist you if you run into a glitch here. I"d try something like the following: 1. Open a Terminal window. (I keep Terminal in my dock, but you can launch it from Finder by pressing Command-Shift-U to move to your Utilities folder, then press "T" to navigate to "Terminal", and Command+Down Arrow to launch the app). 2. In Terminal, type: cd /Volumes/<name of your time machine drive> and press Return after typing the line. You need to type the name of your Time Machine drive. An easy way to do this is to navigate to your Computer in a Finder window by pressing Command-Shift-C. Then navigate to the entry for your Time Machine volume, and press Command-C to copy the path to that location. Command-Tab back to the Terminal window, type: "cd" (without quotation marks) at the start of the line, press space bar, then press Command-V to paste in the path to your Time Machine drive, then press Return. The command line might look like: cd /Volumes/Time\ Machine Then, on the next line, type either: rm -rf .Trashes followed by a press of the Return key, or else sudo rm -rf .Trashes followed by a press of the Return key. I suspect that you may have to use the second line, which requires you to supply your Admin password with superuser privileges in response to the prompt. It should take a short time to remove the file, depending on how large the backup file was. I don't have a system that I can run a test check right now, so someone else may be able to fill in the details. HTH. Cheers, Esther On Nov 13, 2011, at 09:06, Eric Caron wrote: > Hello helpful listers, > > For several months now I have not been able to get my trash to > completely empty. Now things seem even worse. When I now attempt to empty > my trash I'm asked if I want to delete unlocked or all items. No matter what > I choose the next message that comes up is, > > "The operation can’t be completed because the item > “2011-09-19-163521.inProgress” is in use." > > This happens even after I restart my mac book and have not opened a program. > > This is a new problem as in the past I could at least empty the unlocked > items. > > Suggestions would be greatly appreciated! > > eRic Caron <--- Mac Access At Mac Access Dot Net ---> To reply to this post, please address your message to [email protected] You can find an archive of all messages posted to the Mac-Access forum at either the list's own dedicated web archive: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/mac-access/index.html> or at the public Mail Archive: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/>. Subscribe to the list's RSS feed from: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> The Mac-Access mailing list is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free! Please remember to update your membership options periodically by visiting the list website at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/mac-access/options/>
