file won't delete on usb stick

[fleamailman]

hi, how do I delete a file on a USB key, it refuses to delete

[dibl]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

Deleting requires the same privileges as writing -- can you save files on that stick? Sounds like a permissions problem if you can see it but not delete it. If you're using Konqueror or Dolphin, right-click on the icon for the stick and choose "properties" and then click the "permissions" tab and see what the permissions are set to. You might need to run Konqueror or Dolphin as root "kdesu konqueror" and change the permissions so that your user can read and write on that device.

[marshallbanana]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

If its just a one off delete on something where you don't want to change permissions the other option is to open a command line there and use
sudo rm filename
(note, there is something you can put between rm and filename to make it request confirmation before deleting it, I think it may be '-i', but can't check right now, however type 'rm -help' and it will give you a list of options of which requesting confirmation will be one of them).

[fleamailman]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

thanks, I am going to try it out, and will post back

[GS2]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

Could also try 'man rm' - give more detailed info than --help

Also to change ownership try chown - and file access permissions chmod - put 'man' before them all for the *nix manual pages .

Also check permissions on the the file where the USB is mounted, use sudo if needed

[Qqmike]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

And, to learn to talk like GS2, check out these handy sites:

Tuxfiles: http://www.tuxfiles.org/
(see her Index on the left side bar)
Bigpond, home: http://users.bigpond.net.au/hermanzone/
(find his filesystem page there)

[fleamailman]

Re: file won't delete on usb stick

thanks, bookmarked, appreciated