Can't empty trash because 'Error code -36'

[BraveNewMalden]

Hello there. I wonder if anyone can help stop me from pulling my hair out?

I tried to move a bunch of about 500 photos and a few iPhone videos onto my Western Digital external hard drive. For some reason they wouldn't just slide across. I found that it worked if I moved one photo to the desktop first, and then to the folder on the EHD. So I tried doing that with all of the photos. Big mistake. It was taking AGES to move them from the desktop to the EHD, so I stopped that operation and instead put them all in the trash and turned everything off then drank wine and went to bed.

This morning I thought I'd have another go. First up: empty the trash. I found that I can't because of 'error -36'. The photos can't be 'read or written' so they're not being deleted. I tried googling the problem, which led me to try the Terminal feature. That took a while and didn't work either.

Is there anything else I can try? I'm using Sierra 10.12.6. I can't write code and try not to delve too deep into my Mac's inner workings. I am but a poor writer. Any help would be very welcome.

Kevin

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Hi, you can try the script that's found on the linked page from the forums here, put together by our own Walrus666

https://www.mac-help.com/threads/101-snippets.313/#post-18939

It's called 'ForceEmptyTrash' & you'll find it in Post#18

The zip file will download & just double-click the zip to open it then double-click the file to open it in Script Editor. Click the play button to run it & your Trash should empty.

 

[BraveNewMalden]

Thanks. Trouble is, this:
try
do shell script "rm -r ~/.Trash/*" with administrator privileges
on error error_message
beep
display dialog error_message buttons {"OK"} default button 1
end try

...is Greek to me. I haven't a clue where to start.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

just press the play button in the Script Editor window to run that script ...

 

[BraveNewMalden]

just press the play button in the Script Editor window to run that script ...

Ah, I see. OK I did that and it says of the Trash folder 'no such file or directory'

 

[BraveNewMalden]

'rm: /Users/KevinMills/.Trash/*: No such file or directory'

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Try rebooting your Mac

 

[BraveNewMalden]

That worked! Thank you.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Terrific! Glad it's sorted

 

[BraveNewMalden]

I spoke too soon. Next time I look, the Trash has the same contents back again. The only one that isn't a photo is a Text document called 'iNode4357836'. This is getting ridiculous!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

can you create a new folder on the desktop & then drag the Trash's contents into this folder?

 

[BraveNewMalden]

Yes, but then they double up, with one set in the desktop folder and the other remaining in the Trash.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Oooops, try Select All in the Trash then press Command C then go to the folder & press Option Command V

 

[BraveNewMalden]

More information that might help. As I mentioned, I tried to move loads of photos onto my external hard drive. Those that did transfer show the same symptoms as those in the Trash. They can't be moved into the Trash because of the error -36.

Ah, right, I'll try that. Thanks for being patient!

 

[BraveNewMalden]

No, it's not having it. I'm just getting twice the number of undeletable files and folders.

I COULD reformat the EHD but then I'd lose all the photos that reside there and nowhere else.

So there are files in both the trash and the EHD, and now on the Desktop, that just don't want to be deleted.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Has your ext HD been connected to your Mac all this while?

 

[BraveNewMalden]

*thinks back* No, I unplugged it when I rebooted the Mac.

 

[BraveNewMalden]

Aha! See what you're getting at. I unplugged the ext HD and the trash is suddenly empty!

So it's the ext HD that's the problem, or rather the corrupted files on it.

I'm trying to use Terminal and the solution you pointed to right at the start, i.e. typing 'sudo bash', 'rm -rf' etc, then dragging photos from the ext HD into Terminal.

But each one shows up like this:
rm: /Volumes/EXTERNAL PHOTOS HD/IMG_7863.jpg: Input/output error

I'll let it run its course, then reboot (after unplugging ext HD) but don't hold out much hope.