External Drive, can't empty trash, rm sees a file, but ls -la doesn't I was clearing a music folder in my external drive and found a directory I can't delete no matter what I try.

If I put it in trash bin via GUI


  The operation can’t be completed because the item “folder” is in use.


If I use rm -rf to remove it via terminal

$ rm -rf folder/
rm: folder/: Directory not empty


If I use ls -la to check its content

$ ls -la
total 512
drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  131072 Jan  3  2017 .
drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  131072 Jan  3  2017 ..


If I use rm -i * within the folder

$ rm -i *
rm: 03 - Ēlusion.mp3: No such file or directory


If I use sudo lsof +D folder/ to check if any files are opened

Nothing returns on program exit.

If I use Disk Utility to repair (first aid) disk and volume

Health check passed so no repair was initiated.

If I reboot macOS

The issue persists.

Additional info:


I can move the folder within the drive, but not to another drive.
I can rename the folder.
ls -i *.mp3 returns ls: 03 - Ēlusion.mp3: No such file or directory, same as rm -i *.mp3.
The file doesn't show up in Finder, that's confusing part, whatever filename display issue Terminal could have (I always set it to use Unicode - UTF-8), I think there are more force at play.


In response to questions, nope, ls -ib doesn't return anything.

$ ls -i
$ ls -ib
$ ls -laib
total 512
2762318 drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  131072 Jan  3  2017 .
2685260 drwxrwxrwx  1 user  staff  131072 Jan  3  2017 ..




So apparently there is something in it but ls -la couldn't see it, while rm -i is being weird with filename?

get info via GUI context menu did confirm there is 1 item in the folder, but with zero byte, and certainly doesn't show up in finder.

I am not sure what to do at this point. Help much appreciated!

(Using 10.13.4 + ExFAT on external drive)
The problem appears to be caused by a file named 03 - Ēlusion.mp3 located within the directory named folder.

Because Terminal.app is unable to render diacritical marks in file names--well, it is, but that's beyond the scope of providing the simplest solution for you--it hides its failure by hiding the filename (something unheard of by me before now; perhaps its High Sierra's changes to /.file, /.volfs and 64-bit inodes? Wait-- never mind; your edit to your question tell me I misunderstood you.) Anyway, the file's existence is known, along with the ironical contention by the Finder that it doesn't exist. Obviously, it does. Here's how to change that:

First, determine the file's inode number. In Terminal.app, cd to the directory "folder" and issue this command: ls -i *.mp3

Copy the number string of the inode provided in the left-hand column of the response, which will be something like

12345678  03 - E ̄lusion.mp3

--and put it into this command, which will rename it to something the terminal can render correctly:

find . -inum 12345678 -exec mv {} deletemenow \;

--giving you the file "deletemenow" in the folder "folder," both of which you may dispose of in whatever way best suits your fancy.