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I use Ubuntu Studio 18.04.2 LTS (64 bit Linux).

In one of the PCs I use with this OS, I found an issue: there is a folder which the system refuses to erase because, according to the system, it isn't empty.

But... The folder IS empty!!!

I tested with full sudo privileges and the command rm -f but... The system refuses to erase that folder, any time I ask it.

Any command I know to see if there is some file inside that folder shows me that the folder is empty.

The output of the command ls -la /path/to/folder is:

total 56
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root  4096 ago 16  2016  .
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root  4096 ene 15  2016  ..
drwxrwxrwx 1 root root 49152 ene 15  2016 'Noemí paredes cyrus o'

What can we do in a situation like this?

Is there another way to erase that folder?

I think I found the reason because this issue is present here (I don't know if this should be write as an official answer):

There is a problem with that HDD files table (this is an old MS-Windows NTFS disk partition). I discovered this because I used gparted to try to fix any problem the HDD would have and... The verifytools told me that there are a lot of inconsistences in the files table.

GParted 0.30.0 --enable-libparted-dmraid --enable-online-resize

Libparted 3.2

Verificar y reparar el sistema de archivos (ntfs) en /dev/sdb1  00:00:09    ( ERROR )
calibrar /dev/sdb1  00:00:00    ( ÉXITO )
ruta: /dev/sdb1 (partición)
inicio: 63
fin: 976767119
tamaño: 976767057 (465.76 GiB)

comprobar errores en el sistema de archivos en /dev/sdb1 y (si es posible) arreglarlos  00:00:09    ( ERROR )

ntfsresize -i -f -v '/dev/sdb1'  00:00:09    ( ERROR )
ntfsresize v2017.3.23 (libntfs-3g)
Device name : /dev/sdb1
NTFS volume version: 3.1
Cluster size : 4096 bytes
Current volume size: 500104733184 bytes (500105 MB)
Current device size: 500104733184 bytes (500105 MB)
Checking for bad sectors ...
Checking filesystem consistency ...

Cluster 19313449 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319777 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319778 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319779 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319780 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319781 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319782 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319783 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319784 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319785 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319964 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319965 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319966 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319967 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319968 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319969 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319970 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319971 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319972 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319973 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319974 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319975 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319976 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319977 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319978 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319979 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319980 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319981 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319982 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319983 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319984 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319985 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319986 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319987 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319988 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319989 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319990 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319991 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319992 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319993 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319994 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319995 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319996 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319997 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319998 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116319999 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320000 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320001 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320002 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320003 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320004 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320005 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116320006 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321070 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321071 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321072 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321073 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321074 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321075 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321076 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321077 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321078 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321079 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321080 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321081 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321082 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321083 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321084 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321085 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321086 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321087 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321088 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321089 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321090 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321091 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321092 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321093 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321094 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321095 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321096 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321097 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321098 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321099 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321100 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321101 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321102 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321103 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321104 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321105 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321106 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321107 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321108 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321109 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321110 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321111 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321112 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321113 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321114 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321115 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321116 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321117 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321118 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321119 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321120 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321121 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321122 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321123 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321124 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321125 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321126 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321127 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321128 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321129 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321130 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321131 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321132 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321133 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321134 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321135 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321136 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321137 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321138 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321139 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321140 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321141 is referenced multiple times!
Cluster 116321142 is referenced multiple times!
100.00 percent completed
ERROR: Filesystem check failed!
ERROR: 126 clusters are referenced multiple times.
NTFS is inconsistent. Run chkdsk /f on Windows then reboot it TWICE!
The usage of the /f parameter is very IMPORTANT! No modification was
and will be made to NTFS by this software until it gets repaired.

Unfortunately, I don't have any device with MS-Windows installed here. Is there some Linux tool to fix this?

Juan
  • 1,797
  • Try rm -Rf folder to remove it. – Terrance May 15 '19 at 20:48
  • 1
    Did you check for hidden dot files? Maybe it really isn't empty. – Jason K Lai May 15 '19 at 20:48
  • See if any of the answers on this Q&A help : https://askubuntu.com/q/268203/295286 – Sergiy Kolodyazhnyy May 15 '19 at 20:57
  • fyi: Ubuntu Studio 18.04 was NOT an LTS release. The main Ubuntu release notes stated "Ubuntu Studio 18.04 will be supported for 9 months. All other flavors will be supported for 3 years." (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/BionicBeaver/ReleaseNotes) as did the Ubuntu Studio release notes. Have you enabled extended support? (https://ubuntustudio.org/2019/04/ubuntu-studio-18-04-extended-support/) – guiverc May 15 '19 at 22:19
  • Yes! I have enabled extended support – Juan May 15 '19 at 23:38
  • Please edit your question to show us the complete output of ls -la /path/to/folder – user535733 May 15 '19 at 23:48
  • I think I find the reason because this issue is present here (I don't know if this should be write as an official answer): There is a problem with the files table (this is an old MS-Windows NTFS disk partition). Unfortunately, I don't have any device with MS-Windows installed here. Is there some Linux tool to fix this? ??? – Juan May 16 '19 at 00:06
  • Your ls -la /path/to/folder command shows that a directory called 'Noemí paredes cyrus o' is in the folder, therefore it is not empty. Delete that directory and try again – Andrew May 16 '19 at 01:05
  • No, Andrew. That directory is not there, that's the problem! I can see it with thunar, with sudo privilieges and the hidden folders and files capability. Also, when I type dir in the "Niños" folder, I get nothing (empty folder). I think this issue is related with the NTFS corruption of that HDD. Unfortunately, I don't have any MS-Windows installation here to use fsck. I don't know if there is some powerful tool IN Linux to do that (I tested with ntfs-3g but... There was not some solution). – Juan May 16 '19 at 01:56
  • 'dir' ignores entries starting with . (dot) (i.e. hidden folders). Try dir -a which should show everything – Andrew Aug 24 '19 at 21:32

3 Answers3

1

If you want to remove a directory you need to use -r flag with rm.

For example:

rm -r directory

From rm manpage:

  -r, -R, --recursive
         remove directories and their contents recursively
Comar
  • 1,485
0

You could use:

rmdir --ignore-fail-on-non-empty folder1/

Extra: If you want control over which sub-directories you want to delete, and don't wan't to just recursively delete, using it with the -p flag will remove nested directories, opposite to mkdir -p folder1/folder2/ which creates nested directories.

jackw11111
  • 794
  • I doesn't work in this case. All the times it tells me the same: "Folder is not empty" – Juan May 15 '19 at 23:48
  • man rmdir says --ignore-fail-on-non-empty, ignore each failure that is solely because a directory is non-empty. So it's perhaps throwing the error for another reason... – jackw11111 May 15 '19 at 23:52
0

Try:

rmdir /directory/sub-directory/sub-sub-directory

Or better yet:

cd /one/level/above/directory/
rmdir sub-directory

Also in your question it is best to copy and paste your screen output with command entered and error messages (if any) reported by system. An added benefit is posted answers can use real directory names instead of made up ones.

WinEunuuchs2Unix
  • 102,282