OS 13.6: can't enter password at terminal key prompt

[macmesser]

I hope this is the right place for this post.

I am trying to delete some files in Trash with terminal. In terminal I navigate to the Trash on the disk that contained the original files with the following command:

cd /Volumes/Untitled/.Trashes/

Then at .Trashes I enter this list command:

sudo ls 501/

which gives me a prompt consisting of "password:" immediately followed by a little key icon. Unfortunately, the prompt will not accept any text input for the keyword. I am logged in as an admin. What am I doing wrong? My next step will be to individually delete the listed files with the command:

sudo rm -rf 501/

immediately followed by the filename.

 

[jbarley]

Typing in a password in a Terminal window always appears to be doing nothing.
Just blindly type your password at the "Password" prompt and hit "Return"
and then tell us what happens...

 

[macmesser]

Typing in a password in a Terminal window always appears to be doing nothing.
Just blindly type your password at the "Password" prompt and hit "Return"
and then tell us what happens...

Typing in a password in a Terminal window always appears to be doing nothing.
Just blindly type your password at the "Password" prompt and hit "Return"
and then tell us what happens...

OK, I see now that I'm getting a new line. Thanks. As you can tell, I'm not a Unix guy, but I guess I'm starting my journey. I hardly ever use the command line and when I do, it's basically following instructions. Since I've hit a dead end, maybe you or someone else can help. I cloned my boot drive to an HD partition before replacing it (by cloning it again to a new SSD), "just in case." When I was done and booting from the new drive, I foolishly just dragged the cloned system from the partition into the trash and tried to delete it. The cloned system couldn't be deleted because it was "in use." The procedure outlined in my first post was something I found searching for ways to empty trash of stubborn files. The procedure did not work at first. I dabbled a bit with rm options and now have three empty folders in the trash: Applications, Library and System. There seem to be some hidden folders in the .Trashes folder, "201", "248", "501", "502", and I now get that the 501/ is part of the path. How do I delete the now empty folders "System", "Applications" and "Library"? Also, is the full nominal complement of "number" folders in .Trashes indeed "201", "248", "501", "502"? I'm hoping (I think not) I didn't delete any that need to be there. BTW, what is the meaning/purpose of the numbered folders?

ps- Actually the folders in Trash are not completely empty, at least I can't say for sure that they are. There is a "User Template" folder under "Library" which is from a program and I don't have permission to access. (It has a white minus sign with a red background on it.)