Easy fix for ERROR 1010 (HY000): Error dropping database

Question : I'm trying to drop a database in MariaDB with the following command : DROP DATABASE mydatabase, but getting an error message :

ERROR 1010 (HY000): Error dropping database (can't rmdir './mydatabase', errno: 39 "Directory not empty")

What is stopping the database from being dropped?

Answer:  MariaDB represents a database in the data directory. When you're executing the DROP DATABASE command - you're making a request to delete the table files - followed by removal of the directory.   

The DROP DATABASE command - does not drop non table file - therefore it cannot progress to the remove directory step.

That's the error message you see i.e unable to remove directory ERROR 1010 (HY000): Error dropping database (can't rmdir './mydatabase', errno: 39 "Directory not empty")

To fix this issue : Remove the non-table files and then attempt the DROP DATABASE command

Read more on MariaDB backup & restore 

How to do a MariaDB Restore

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