TechSpot - PC Technology News and Analysis

Hi guys,

another problem. A file I sent to the trash won't delete. I right-click on the file, say "delete from trash" and get an error "permission denied"...

I even tried logging in as root: opened up a terminal, typed sudo su, left the terminal open, and tried to delete the file as I did above. That didn't work.

Scanned with AVAST. No viruses.

What to do...

-'Mage

Somehow a file owned by root is probably in there.

Open a terminal and do:

sudo rm -rf ~/.Trash/*

Note: Please read up on what this command actually does before running it. rm is a dangerous command when run as root or with sudo.

Sudo only works within the terminal you have opened until it is closed or until the sudo session expires.

Ubuntu is a Linux distribution and this is a simple permissions issue, why are you scanning for viruses on a Linux box??!!

Hi caravel,

I just tried that exact command. The file won't go away. I even tried logging in as sudo su and deleting it, error received is:

"There was an error deleting temp.linux-i686-2.5. Error removing file: permission denied."

The program these files came from was a botched installation of listen-0.5.

-'Mage

Update on this problem:

buried in the listen-0.5 folder is the build folder, in that is the mmkeys folder. In the mmkeys folder there are these two folders:

lib.linux-i686-2.5
temp.linux-1686-2.5

It's these two folders that can't be deleted (even while in sudo su)... Right-clicking on them the "Delete from Trash" option is grayed out. Even trying to change their permissions I get the following error:

"Sorry, couldn't change the permissions of "temp.linux-i686-2.5": Operation not supported by backend".. same error for that lib.linux file. Can't change them even while under sudo su...

What to do??

EDIT: More strangeness... output of rm command:
rm: cannot remove `/root/.Trash/listen-0.5/mmkeys/build/lib.linux-i686-2.5': No such file or directory
rm: cannot remove `/root/.Trash/listen-0.5/mmkeys/build/temp.linux-i686-2.5': No such file or directory

Problem is it still shows up that in the trash I have an item (graphically) even though according to this no item exists....


-'Mage

You're trying to remove it from the root user's .Trash. Remove it from your .Trash. Do the following:

sudo nautilus

Go to your home folder and CTRL+H to show hidden files and folders. Go into the .Trash folder and clear it out.

Awesome, that worked!

Thank you!

-'Mage

When installing packages on Linux, the process typically goes like

1. cd xxx
2. ./configure
3. make
4. make install

If you no longer want that package, or wish to reverse the install, the process usually is

1. cd xxx
2. make uninstall

TRASH is a Windows concept, not a Linux concept and suggest,

When in Rome, do as the Romans do

gnome has a deleted files applet known as the .Trash applet. It is useful for those that might accidentally delete something, because they can restore it later. In Windows it's known as the "Recycle Bin" and is not a Windows concept as even very early versions of Amiga OS had the "Trashcan" which is basically the same thing. The recylce bin was introduced into Windows 95 whereas the Amiga OS Trashcan existed long before.

The package listen-0.5 is actually in the Ubuntu repositaries, so no need to do a manual install.