Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uwm.edu!lakesys!macak
From: macak@lakesys.UUCP (James Macak)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: undeletable folder--help?
Summary: "Power user" tricks to delete folder
Message-ID: <1128@lakesys.UUCP>
Date: 25 Sep 89 19:32:08 GMT
References: <3762@blake.acs.washington.edu> <17630@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: macak@lakesys.UUCP (James Macak)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Lake Systems - Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Lines: 117

In article <17630@pasteur.Berkeley.EDU> c8s-an@franny.Berkeley.EDU.UUCP (Alex Lau) writes:
>In article <3762@blake.acs.washington.edu> rowen@blake.UUCP (Russell Owen) writes:
>>I have a folder I simply cannot delete. When I try, it says
>>"The trash couldn't be emptied (a file was busy or a folder was not empty)"
>>I have tried the following several times each:
(Several lines deleted.)
>>I can simply initialize the disk and rebuild, but would rather not
>>just for one stupid folder, at least until I've heard from the net.
>>Any suggestions?
>>
>>Thanks
>>-- Russell Owen
>>internet: owen@phast.phys.washington
>>bitnet: owen@uwaphast
>
>Well, you've done just about everything right. Congratulations.
>
>I've been hearing a lot of these problems lately. It's related to
>a bug in the Finder that, at times, leaves a resource open in a
>folder (don't ask me how or why) and leaves it undeletable. At
>times, files in the folder disappear, although they're still
>really there. The files are recoverable by SUM, but it's still
>quite distressing. I think it has to do with a corrupted disk
>directory, but I don't know for sure and I don't know how to
>find out for sure.
(Several lines deleted)
>
>The only way to get it off completely and with confidence is
>by backing up, reformatting and restoring. Sorry to be the 
>bearer of bad news, but hey - try humming the National Anthem
>anyway. It's kind of fun.
>
>--- Alex
>UUCP: {att,backbones}!ucbvax!franny!c8s-an
>INTERNET: c8s-an%franny.berkeley.edu@ucbvax.berkeley.edu
>FIDONET: Alex.Lau@bmug.fidonet.org (1:161/444)

I ran across some messages on FidoNet's EchoMac some time ago regarding this
problem, and saved them in case it should ever happen to me.  Well it did, and
after some moments of perspiration, I was able to delete the folder by using
the info in the messages.  So, I'll repost them here...

Be careful, though.  I imagine you could really ruin your disk directory or
whatever if you goof when doing this, so best to be sure your disk is backed
up before trying the following.


--------------------

From:    Chuck Shotton 
To:      Andy Shaw                                31-Jan-89 08:31am
Subject: Re: RE:help! Undeletable Fold

I posted a message about getting rid of undeletable folders a few days ago,
but I'll repeat the main points. The undeletable folders usually pop up when
running Multifinder, but there is a definite bug somewhere in the bowels of
Finder itself that causes folders to end up with a file count that is non-zero
(positive or negative) when the folder is really empty.

The easy way out of this problem is to take a tool like FEdit or MacSnoop and
set the count in the directory to zero. If you're not familiar with the
directory structure, play around with a floppy first by making a folder or
two, putting a known number of files in each one, and then searching the disk
for these values.

The easiest way to find the correct area on the disk is to search for the
folder name first, then look for the file count number. Once you get this
technique down on a floppy, just do the same thing for your undeletable folder
on your hard disk. You'll know the proper offset from the name field, so it
shouldn't be hard to find the right bytes. Remember what the original byte(s)
were that you changed, in case you screw up. Besides, you probably won't be
any worse off after the edit than before, given that the folder is trashed
already.

I've used this technique successfully on 4 "empty" folders which contained 3,
-1, -6, and -2 files respectively. After setting the file count to zero, all
were deletable. One word of caution. Make ABSOLUTELY sure that there are no
hidden (off the screen) or invisible files in the folder before you set the
count to zero.
             Chuck
---
 * Origin: Brain In A Pan, Houston TX, (713) 480-7422. Mac Developers Here!
(Opus 1:106/260)


From:    Steve Zopfi 
To:      Andy Shaw                                31-Jan-89 03:14pm
Subject: RE:help! Undeletable Fold

I finally found out how to destroy it.  First rename the folder something like
FolderFromHell to distinguish it from the rest of your desktop.  Open up the
Volume using MacSnoop.  Search the  disk for FolderFromHell (there may be
multiple occourances).  In the hex section of the window  you will see a
string that looks something like this:

0000 0100 XXXX where XXXX contains the number of files in the folder in Hex.
Change XXXX to 0000.  Make sure you do this to all occurances of
FolderFromHell.  Write the Block to the disk.  Go back to the desktop and
trash the folder and empty.  It should go away.  I am not sure what caused the
problem originally.  I believe it was linked to the power going out during a
download from a BBS.  Yours may have happened the same during a Disk I/O in
Sum or whatever if the power Glitched.  Good luck and let me know if it works.


--- Tabby/Mansion 1.8
 * Origin: Sea/Mac  *Mansion/Tabby* (206-725-6629) HST (1:343/31)

--------------------

I hope this helps.  Good luck!

Jim

-- 

macak@lakesys.lakesys.com (James Macak)
      << All my own opinions. >>