OT: Yet another Mac question...

[jd11365]

On my wacked out desktop that I've replaced with my blessed iBook, all the icons on the desktop are locked. I need to delete a lot of stuff, but can't drag anything to the trash...it won't go. Thoughts?

[LD92599]

Start up in OS 9, navigate to the desktop, locate your files, click once, file -> get info. Click to unlock. Trash 'em. Empty Trash. Voila!

Laura
mom to William

LKibala at optonline dot net

http://lilypie.com/pic/050530/616a731.jpg[/img][img]http://lilypie.com/baby3/030305/1/2/0/-5/.png

[jd11365]

When I try to start OS9, it won't let me.

[ykc]

My Mac geek husband:

"It sounds like you are not able to put those files in the trash because the ownership of the files has gotten messed up. The easiest way to deal with this is a unix command.

Open the Terminal program and type (without the quotes) "sudo rm -i " note the space after the "i". Don't hit return yet. Next, take the file you want to delete and drag it into the terminal window. This will automatically type the full file path for you (it doesn't actually move the file anywhere). Then hit return. You will be prompted for the administrator password and the file should be deleted.

There are shareware programs that can do this without you having to go to the unix terminal, but this is fastest."

HTH.

[jd11365]

"Messed up" is not the word for this computer, so I take his word.

One question, what is the terminal program, and how do I open it?

Thank you...and your Mac geek husband, for the help!

[ykc]

It's in Applications --> Utilities --> Terminal.

Let me know if it doesn't work.

[jd11365]

It won't let me drag any items from the desktop. None of them will move. :(

[ykc]

Bummer! How annoying!

My husband will ponder your problem. :) I'll send you an email to let you know if he comes up with something useful, and spare the rest of the board.

[ykc]

ETA: my husband posted this before he realized that I posted the previous response from a different computer. If you need more help, feel free to email me.

Very strange! A few other options. . .

Try holding down the option key while you click and drag to the trash. Does that help?

Are the items locked? Single-click on one of them and choose Get Info from the File menu. If the Locked check box has an X, remove it. Then try to trash the file.

Or, try double-clicking on your hard drive icon and navigating to Users --> your username --> Desktop. Can you move stuff to the trash from there?

Back to unix commands using the Terminal program. If you can't drag the files into the Terminal window, you can type out everything. Try opening Terminal, then type "cd Desktop" (no quotes, here or for the other commands). This will take you to the Desktop folder. Then type "ls". A list of all the files on the Desktop will appear. To delete a file, type "sudo rm filename.ext", where filename.ext is the full file name including the extension. If the names of the files have spaces, you have to type "\ " to represent the space. For example, if you have a file called "My Schedule.doc", you should type "sudo rm My\ Schedule.doc".

Lastly, if you have a firewire cable, you can try this. Power down the desktop. Connect the firewire cable from the desktop to your iBook. Then hold down the T key while you start up the desktop. You should see a firewire symbol appear on the monitor for the desktop, which is your signal to let up on the T key. Then, an orange hard drive icon will appear on your iBook's screen. Open that drive, navigate to Users --> your username --> Desktop and delete away.

HTH