TIP: free space wasted by root trash

[dbbolton]

If you're using GNOME, run this command:

gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/'

you might not see anything, or, if you're like me, you'll see about 2 000 files. you'll probably want to delete them or simply "empty" the trash.

i suppose that anything you delete while running nautilus as root goes there. like an idiot, i had assumed that such things would just go in '~/.Trash'

i've been using ubuntu for about a year now, and just realised this. it may seem like common sense, but if it could happen to me, it could happen to you.

EDIT:

If you're using Xfce, run this:

gksudo thunar

Then click on "Trash."

[sehe]

noli me castigare baculo; nec te videtus ero

[westoncampbell]

Wow... I also did not know this. I'm glad that you started this thread.

Fortunately, I only have 28 files there, totaling at about 80 MB.

[mhenriday]

When I entered the command and pressed «Enter», the following appeared on my terminal screen

mhenriday@mhenriday-desktop:~$ gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/' (nautilus:19211): GnomeUI-WARNING **: While connecting to session manager: Authentication Rejected, reason : None of the authentication protocols specified are supported and host-based authentication failed. Initializing gnome-mount extension Launching a SCIM daemon with Socket FrontEnd... Loading simple Config module ... Creating backend ... Loading socket FrontEnd module ... Starting SCIM as daemon ... GTK Panel of SCIM 1.4.4 ALSA lib confmisc.c:670:(snd_func_card_driver) cannot find card '0' ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device ... ALSA lib pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default mhenriday@mhenriday-desktop:~$ gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/''

i e, about thirty lines of what looked to me very much like «trash», while at the same time a small window opened which informed me that 'root/.Trash/' couldn't be found and that I should check the spelling. When, nevertheless, I repeated the command without changing anything, I got the same message, but none of the «trash» seen above appeared on my terminal screen. Am I justified in assuming that I have in fact, all these messages to the contrary, succeeded in emptying the trash ?...

Henri

[dbbolton]

Originally Posted by mhenriday When I entered the command and pressed «Enter», the following appeared on my terminal screen i e, about thirty lines of what looked to me very much like «trash», while at the same time a small window opened which informed me that 'root/.Trash/' couldn't be found and that I should check the spelling. When, nevertheless, I repeated the command without changing anything, I got the same message, but none of the «trash» seen above appeared on my terminal screen. Am I justified in assuming that I have in fact, all these messages to the contrary, succeeded in emptying the trash ?... Henri

i was able to duplicate this problem. apparently, the directory /root/.Trash/ isn't created until the first time you delete something while using nautilus as root. so, in other words, your "root trash" didn't exist yet. as soon as you delete something as root, it will be created automatically.

[mhenriday]

Originally Posted by dbbolton i was able to duplicate this problem. apparently, the directory /root/.Trash/ isn't created until the first time you delete something while using nautilus as root. so, in other words, your "root trash" didn't exist yet. as soon as you delete something as root, it will be created automatically.

My impression was that by the very act of entering the command

gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/'

I was, in fact, deleting something as root. Is this a misunderstanding ? In that event, how can I then «delete something while using nautilus as root» ?...

Henri

[dbbolton]

Originally Posted by mhenriday My impression was that by the very act of entering the command gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/' I was, in fact, deleting something as root. Is this a misunderstanding ? In that event, how can I then «delete something while using nautilus as root» ?... Henri

that command just launches Nautilus as root, and opens root's trash folder.

as a general rule, you should NOT delete things while root, as you could damage your system. if you don't have the permissions to delete a certain file, and must delete it as root, then you can launch 'gksudo nautilus', browse to the file, and right-click on it and delete it. then, it will be an the /root/.Trash/ folder.

this is tip was intended for people who have deleted things with nautilus as root, then didn't know that the "deleted" files were still on their computer/where they had gone. it was NOT intended to tell people to start using nautilus as root to delete things.

[mhenriday]

Thanks, dbbolton, for the explanation ! If you don't mind, I'd like to pursue this matter a bit further. The files that appear on my terminal after executing the command are mainly of the following type :

ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device
ALSA lib confmisc.c:391:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings
ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such device
ALSA lib confmisc.c:1070:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name
ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such device
ALSA lib conf.c:3968:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such device
ALSA lib pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default

and look very much like trash to me. Can they be safely removed by right-clicking and then deleting them and are there any advantages - saved space, etc - to doing so ?...

Henri

[dbbolton]

Originally Posted by mhenriday Thanks, dbbolton, for the explanation ! If you don't mind, I'd like to pursue this matter a bit further. The files that appear on my terminal after executing the command are mainly of the following type : ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:391:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:1070:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such device ALSA lib conf.c:3968:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such device ALSA lib pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default and look very much like trash to me. Can they be safely removed by right-clicking and then deleting them and are there any advantages - saved space, etc - to doing so ?... Henri

does nautilus open at all after you type the command?

[mhenriday]

Originally Posted by dbbolton does nautilus open at all after you type the command?

Three things happen when I type the command into a terminal.

1. The following appears in the terminal :
   

   mhenriday@mhenriday-desktop:~$ gksudo nautilus '/root/.Trash/' Initializing gnome-mount extension Launching a SCIM daemon with Socket FrontEnd... Loading simple Config module ... Creating backend ... Loading socket FrontEnd module ... Starting SCIM as daemon ... GTK Panel of SCIM 1.4.4 ALSA lib confmisc.c:670:(snd_func_card_driver) cannot find card '0' ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:391:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:1070:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such device ALSA lib conf.c:3968:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such device ALSA lib pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default ALSA lib confmisc.c:670:(snd_func_card_driver) cannot find card '0' ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_card_driver returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:391:(snd_func_concat) error evaluating strings ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_concat returned error: No such device ALSA lib confmisc.c:1070:(snd_func_refer) error evaluating name ALSA lib conf.c:3500:(_snd_config_evaluate) function snd_func_refer returned error: No such device ALSA lib conf.c:3968:(snd_config_expand) Evaluate error: No such device ALSA lib pcm.c:2145:(snd_pcm_open_noupdate) Unknown PCM default

2. A window showing files under root appears
3. A warning to the effect that "/root/.Trash" could not be found appears, and I am admonished to check my orthography.

On the other hand, when I click the nautilus icon on my upper panel, a window showing files under my home folder appears ! Thus I don't really know how to answer your question ; something certainly happens when I execute the command, but not exactly that which happens when I open nautilus by clicking the icon. I must confess that I find myself utterly confused - par for the course !...

Henri