how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

Bruce1956 · 2018-10-26 23:20:59

Hi folks,

I ran into errors while loading mp3 files onto an SD card. Files would show up, including file size, but were not readable by multiple mp3 paying apps. Eventually, I erased those that would not play and rewrote them. They all play now. I'm curious why the system would not play files that showed up as being valid, full-sized files, but that is not my main question here.

I wound up with a directory that I could not delete, because it was not empty. I got this weird result over and over when I searched for the file it claimed to contain:

find . -type f -size 0
find: ‘./\035\032\023~"/\032\021.MP3’: No such file or directory

Searches for this output and subsets thereof were not fruitful.

A zero-byte file does exist in the directory, according to my Android phone via Total Commander, but it contains some invisible characters, possibly spaces, and ends in ".mp3". I'm guessing the output is using ascii code to identify the invisible characters, but why would it do that and then claim that no such file exists? There was a visible tilde and forward slash in the file name.

I cannot delete the directory recursively which should remove any files it contains, but this is what I get:

[bbraley@archlinux-lenovo-g780 Peter Gabriel - So]$ cd ..
[bbraley@archlinux-lenovo-g780 Music]$ sudo rm -R "Peter Gabriel - So"
rm: cannot remove 'Peter Gabriel - So/'$'\035\032\023''~"/'$'\032\021''.MP3': No such file or directoryl - So]

As you can see, I was just in that directory, backed out of it, and attempted to delete it, but "No such file or directory," which is obviously not the case.

Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Bruce

Last edited by Bruce1956 (2018-10-27 07:01:52)

mpan · 2018-10-26 23:23:49

Damaged/dying flash memory?

Bruce1956 · 2018-10-26 23:43:00

I don't believe so. It's relatively new, and I just formatted it. However, I am checking it now.

Bruce1956 · 2018-10-26 23:57:33

I'm using gparted to check. At first attempt, it aborted because it didn't like the label I'd given it: PHONESDCARD. After removing the label, I ran the check again. It completed, but in attempting to save the results to a file, gparted froze. So, I did the following in konsole:

$ sudo dosfsck -w -r -l -a -v -t /dev/mmcblk0 
fsck.fat 4.1 (2017-01-24)
Currently, only 1 or 2 FATs are supported, not 251.

Hmm...looks as if I need to do a format and start over. No idea how I ended up with more than one FAT!
Once I figure that out, maybe I should apply the same to my own belly!

Thanks, mpan!

Bruce

Bruce1956 · 2018-10-27 07:01:09

I wrote a long commentary that disappeared when I submitted it due to having been logged out while typing it. I'll spare you by not recreating it, as it was mostly speculation, anyway.

I wound up deleting the partition and letting my Android phone format the card, which is what I should have done when I first bought the SD card. The phone formatted it as exFAT, instead of the FAT32 I had been using. Transfer speeds are now excellent instead of pitifully slow, and as far as I can tell, I had no errors and I know I had no failed transfers in restoring the data.

I'm marking this [SOLVED] even though there are still unsolved mysteries (at least to me). 251 FAT's !!! At least, it appears that my SD card was not failing physically.

Thanks,

Bruce

mpan · 2018-10-27 08:59:53

Please use “Edit” option to edit posts, instead of creating a deluge of them.

Being new modifies chances of being damaged, not eliminates that possibility. And, as it happens, being new increases chances of failing, not the opposite. Since we’re talking about a single specimen and not a batch of them, you can’t draw any statistical conclusions, except probabilities. Even if the isue with a card would be improbable, you can’t deny the obvious: random data appear on the card, which is a clear indication of it being damaged.

One could hypothesize about the phone having a serious bug, but it’s very unlikely — you would already receive updates and internet would be filled with reports of that. If you believe your card is right, fill it with random data to the maximum of its rated capacity and see for yourself.

Arch Linux

#1 2018-10-26 23:20:59

how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

#2 2018-10-26 23:23:49

Re: how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

#3 2018-10-26 23:43:00

Re: how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

#4 2018-10-26 23:57:33

Re: how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

#5 2018-10-27 07:01:09

Re: how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

#6 2018-10-27 08:59:53

Re: how to delete empty file [SOLVED]

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