Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!texbell!nuchat!buster!brain!root
From: root@brain.UUCP (Chuck Shotton)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: My machine is possessed - Folder from Hell
Message-ID: <200@brain.UUCP>
Date: 8 Feb 90 00:50:08 GMT
References: <15543@orstcs.CS.ORST.EDU>
Organization: BIAP Systems
Lines: 40

yang@mist.cs.orst.edu (Sherry Yang) writes:

>I am not sure if this subject has been discussed on the net before or not, but
>I have discovered this problem recently and hope someone out there can help me.
>We have discovered a folder on one of the MacIIs in our lab that has nothing 
>in it, but it will not let us throw it away.  It kept coming back with a 
>"File busy or folder not empty" message.  ResEdit and MacTools don't do the 
>trick either. Does any of you have any ideas on how we can throw the possessed 
>folder away?  Until then, it's appropriately named "Satan" on the harddisk.  

>Thanks advance for your help,

>Sherry
>yang@mist.CS.ORST.EDU

>Computer Science Department
>Oregon State University

I've had this problem before and it's VERY hard to fix. Here's what happens.
The author of Finder incorrectly assumes that a non-zero number of files in a
folder indicates it isn't empty. Unfortunately, negative numbers are non-zero,
and this is the problem. Bugs in programs like Stuffit and the Finder itself
cause the file count to become negative, creating "folders from hell."

I can consistenly create a folder from hell by Stuffing an entire folder under
Multifinder with the option to delete after stuffing activated. It helps to 
have one of the files in the folder be busy (a running app, or open document.)

Anyway, using FEdit you can track down the offending folder's directory entry
and set the negative file count back to zero. This is the HARD part. You have to
know where the file count shows up in the directory entry. I don't know off the
top of my head. Anyway, set it to zero, and you can delete the folder.

(Actually, I shouldn't blame the bug on the Finder author. I'm sure it's one of
the HFS traps that's refusing to clean up the malformed directory. However, some
combination of Multifinder and/or Stuffit is a definite cause.)

Chuck Shotton
cshotton@girch1.hsch.utexas.edu
...!buster!brain!root