Mac OS X Recycle Bin

Hi to all, at first I wanna say, that I´ve searched the whole forum and I found no solution for my problem.

I´m using the actual version of MacOS 10.4.8 and there is a prblem with my recycle bin. After deleting a file, i can see that the recycle bin is filled, of course. But after deleting the items from the bin, it nevertheless shows it filled and after opening it in the finder, the files are still in the recycle bin. after clicking on each they disappear and after clicking on the last, the bin is really empty.

This is happening only sometimes. In 50% of all cases it works, and in the other 50% it doesn´t.

Does anyone know, why the bin reacts like this? Is this a known problem?

My config: MacBook 2GHz, 1GB RAM, 60GB HDD, actually updated OSX 10.4.8

At last: please excuse my english, I´m German

Thx in advance...

#432335

Hmm. Suggestions:

In the menubar, go to Finder-->Empty Trash. See if that works.

Also, I suggest restarting Finder (go to the Force Quit menu, select Finder, and press Restart. Make sure you take note of your open Finder windows if you want to go back to them).

-NC

#432423

whenever i have a weird osx problem, i always go straight to 'repair permissions.' doesn't always work, but it's a good, easy place to start. you'll find it in disk utilities. good luck.

#432468

Thx for your fast answers.

@nightcrawler1089: In the finder, it´s the same like using the bin in the dock. But after restarting the finder (I use TinkerTool that adds a "Quit Finder" or in german "Finder beenden" to the findermenu) the bin always behaves in the correct way. But where is the fault in the system? It solves the problem but what leads to this wrong behaviour of the rec bin???

@shmengie: Yes, that was also one of my first attempts to solve the problem after asking a friend, a Mac specialist. Unfortunately the recycle bin was unimpressed.

Maybe there´s no solution for it. Maybe the Leopard recycle bin works correctly and so i have to wait until spring 2007 for a working bin.

Further ideas and suggestions are welcome.

#432523

Do you have an external hard drive you deleted files on and didn't empty the trash?

Are other programs using the files in the trash can?

In both cases, if the problem persists, just use Tinker Tool's force empty trash.

#432538

Thx for your answer, but no, no external drive.

There are always different file types and never a running app belonging to them. I handle it the same way like on my windows system. There it is also not possible to delete files, while they´re used by an application.

I searched for a "force empty trash" function in my TinkerTool but I didn´t find it. Are you sure you mean Tinker? If yes, where can I find it?

#432544

I am still a bit confused....

So when you empty the trash no error message appears, it just doesn't delete them?

Are they the same files in your trash or new ones?

I presume you have tried 'Secure empty Trash'

The bit that confuses me the most is the fact the system isn't telling you there is a problem, (file in use unable to delete/empty etc.)

When you ran repair permissions did you do it from disk utility on the startup disk or your Mac OSX System disc ?

:confused:

edit:- Are you or have you run Boot Camp and Windows on your MacBook?

Force the Trash to empty using the Option key

Press and hold the mouse button on the Trash icon in the Dock. The context menu for Trash will display. Press and hold the Option key. Select Empty Trash from the context menu for Trash.
Release the Option key.

Force the Trash to empty using Terminal

This technique uses a Terminal command to fore the Trash to empty. Perform the following steps in the order specified:

1.Launch Terminal, located in the Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities folder.

2.At the Terminal prompt, type the following command exactly as written:

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

Note that:

There is a single space after each of the terms sudo, rm, and -rf in the command.
VERY VERY IMPORTANT MAKE SURE YOU ONLY TYPE WHAT IS ABOVE AND MAKE SURE ITS CORRECT I WON'T BE RESPONSIBLE IF YOU ERASE YOUR HDD :slant:

3.Press Return.

4.Type your Admin password when prompted, then press Return.

The files in the Trash are now deleted.

#432628

Thx celticsun, but with your trick with terminal I erased my HDD!

No, I´m just kidding, thx for your detailed answer. There is indeed no message by the system and the files seem to stay in the trash. It´s only in 50% of all cases emptying the trash, the other half the trash works fine.

Short description again: I delete a file. I click on the trash, "empty trash" (or similar, in German "Papierkorb leeren") and after that, no paper-sound appears and the trash is still filled. I open the trash in the finder and there are my deleted files. I click on each file and every file i clicked on disappears, seems that Mac OS now realizes that the files are deleted yet.

You see, there´s always a possibility to empty the trash. Restarting the MacBook or only the Finder doesn´t change anything. the files are still in the trash until clicking on them as described. Sometimes the trash works fine. The problem stays although made every update (actual 10.4.8).

Ah yes, I´ve BootCamp (most actual version) and WinXP installed on my MacBook (Mac OS 30GB, WinXP 25GB).

The permission repair was made from system disk and startup disk. Like I said, unimpressed trash.

Hope, my description can help you and so me. Thx for making such an effort, celticsun and all the others.

#432658