Unable to delete directories

freeair · 07-01-2004, 17:57

I use FTP Commander to manage my NTL webspace but Have noticed that I cannot delete directories I have created. The status bar of FTP Commander says 'Invalid argument'.

I can delete the files within the directories but not the directories themselves, could anyone suggest a solution Please?

I am not familiar with Unix commands so have no idea if the permissions shown next to the directories are correct, or if I can change them.

TIA

danielf · 07-01-2004, 19:04

Have you tried logging into your webspace using IE?

07-01-2004, 19:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by freeair

I use FTP Commander to manage my NTL webspace but Have noticed that I cannot delete directories I have created. The status bar of FTP Commander says 'Invalid argument'.

I can delete the files within the directories but not the directories themselves, could anyone suggest a solution Please?

I am not familiar with Unix commands so have no idea if the permissions shown next to the directories are correct, or if I can change them.

TIA

I'm just wondering if this may be a side effect of the problems reported with NTL webspace.......

Quote:

http://homepage.ntlworld.com (Resolved)
7 January 2004 13:24

ntlhome internet customers may experience difficulties accessing their ntlworld homepage content, this is due to a technical fault.
Our engineers are aware and currently working towards a resolution.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

This issue is now resolved

- have you been able to delete directories before, or was it the first time you have tried?

08-01-2004, 10:34

I have some problems with mine. I'm looking into it elsewhere and should be able to find a resoloution of some description. My problems began before the outage described above.

I'll keep you posted.

freeair · 08-01-2004, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by homealone

I'm just wondering if this may be a side effect of the problems reported with NTL webspace.......

- have you been able to delete directories before, or was it the first time you have tried?

Not related to recent outage, I have not been able to delete them for maybe 2 or 3 months.

In the past I have been able to delete them, unfortunately I cannot determine when I was last able to delete directories and therefore what has changed since - I know that's not much help :o

I have changed OS from Win98 to Win XP but I think I have been able to delete directories since that change. At one time I was using CuteFTP but again cannot be certain if this error happened since changing to FTPCommander.

Jon M · 08-01-2004, 10:53

have you checked the "CHMOD" permissions.. you may need to change them before you can delete it.

also, you may need to delete everything within the folder before it will let you delete the folder itself.

Sociable · 08-01-2004, 11:52

Just wondering if the change to XP could be part of the problem as by default certain "Protected" files are not allowed to be viewed in XP even when you have changed view settings to show "Hidden" files.

This could mean a single file is sitting in the directory not being seen and so not deleted when you clear the rest of the files before deletion. This could effect the right to delete the folder itself as it would not be completely empty.

Easy way to check would be to change your view settings in the main Explorer "Folder options" from the tools menu in "My Computer" to allow protected system files to show and check if this is the case.

No idea if this is the problem or even a workable solution but thought it could be worth checking out.

Jon M · 08-01-2004, 12:09

You could be on to something there bearded one.
If he is using an FTP client I doubt the XP folder options will affect the remote view.. but, I use FileZilla which has "show hidden files" as an option in it's view menu.
You might want to check FTP Commander for something like that freeair.

**Mick** · 08-01-2004, 12:22

Could it be that the FTP client is using a cached list of directories and the directory is already deleted I know that certain FTP clients use a cache?

semitone · 08-01-2004, 13:32

The FTP part of Dreamweaver has problems if Zonealarm and the XP firewall are both running. Are your problems caused by the same thing? If you are running a firewall try disabling the XP firewall and see what happens.

08-01-2004, 14:03

Quote:

Originally Posted by semitone

The FTP part of Dreamweaver has problems if Zonealarm and the XP firewall are both running. Are your problems caused by the same thing? If you are running a firewall try disabling the XP firewall and see what happens.

Setting the client to passive ftp should resolve most firewall/router problems though shouldnt it?

I get errors in Dreamweaver, Terrapin and (M$)Explorer.

altis · 08-01-2004, 16:02

I usually have no probs using PowerDesk Pro (configured for passive mode). But, sometimes it has probs deleting non-empty directories. I've found the best solution is to select all the files in the directory; delete them all; go and do something else; come back and delete the directory.

Another gotcha was when I managed to create a directory with a name that started with a space character. Nothing would get rid of it. Eventually, BeetWoot (NTL employee) had to go in and zap it.