I use FreeFileSync in one direction to backup my data files from my Fedora 33 computer onto a USB hard disk.

It has worked well on thousands of files for years. However, a bit ago, FreeFileSync could not update five files on the USB hard disk. They do NOT have unusual characters in their filenames.

When FreeFileSync updates a file, it appears to delete the previous version at the target location, then copies the new version across. It could not do that. I get this message:
Unable to move "/run/media/u/My Passport/FedoraBoxMirror/Documents/quotes.odt" to the recycle bin.
G_IO_ERROR_NOT_FOUND: Unable to trash file /run/media/u/My Passport/FedoraBoxMirror/Documents/quotes.odt: No such file or directory [g_file_trash]

The five target files can be seen on the Fedora 33 Files Manager, they open in LibreOffice, but can not be deleted because supposedly I do not have permission. But, looking at permissions for the files, I do.

So, I tried to use terminal. I changed to root user. I CD'ed to the directory on the USB hard disk, the files come up on "ls", but when I try "rm", the system says there is "No such file or directory".

Does anyone have any ideas how to resolve this?

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how about to unmount and run fsck?

Could there be non-printable characters in the filenames? ls -b displays them.

Or there is corruption, as suggested by sasongko.

For the directory with the problem files, could you post the output of:
and:
And for the problem file, post the output of:
Also, how is your backup drive formatted, eg ntfs, vfat, ext4?

I have a number of USB sticks died like this, at one point it goes read-only and that's it. Nothing can do. RIP. Often they show also much less capacity, only a few MB, I suspect this is the area where file descriptors are held, while the storage area itself is gone. This would explain why it is read-only.

I don't think he has a flash drive. He describes it as a disk and it's mounted on "My Passport" which would indicate a Western Digital external hard drive. But to test if it's mounted read only, with the drive mounted check the output of:
If the entry for the drive has an "ro" in it, it's mounted read only.

Yes, my bad, I see now "hard drive" in initial post. Filesystem corruption will cause read-only mount.

They are probably links to a file, when in the computer file system the link works, in the backup drive with a different path they are broken but LibreOffice is being protective or something. Check those files in Fedora to get the scoop.
Been a while since u updated your profile?

Nope, no non-printable characters.
The five files have very simple names.
When the files ceased being backed up, I added a "+" to each of their names, and those copies are the files are consistently backed up without difficulty.

I tried to run fsck, but it did not work.
It seemed to want an ext2 or ext3 or ext4 file system. But the USB hard disk is a fuse filesystem.

The full text is:
[u@lenofedo /]$ fsck /run/media/u/'My Passport' -a
fsck from util-linux 2.36.1
fsck.ext2: Is a directory while trying to open /run/media/u/My Passport
/run/media/u/My Passport:
The superblock could not be read or does not describe a valid ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem. If the device is valid and it really contains an ext2/ext3/ext4
filesystem (and not swap or ufs or something else), then the superblock
is corrupt, and you might try running e2fsck with an alternate superblock:
e2fsck -b 8193 <device>
or
e2fsck -b 32768 <device>

The USB backup drive is "fuse" file format.

Context for the following outputs:
Four of the five files which will not update/delete are in this directory.
You will see four files with a "+" at the end. It is the files with the same name as these BUT WITHOUT THE "+" which will not update/delete.

[root@lenofedo Documents]# ls -l
total 1288
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 8192 Feb 21 16:23 accounting
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 21891 Oct 5 09:35 addresses.ods
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 30039 Jan 28 2017 allchileforum.odt
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Jan 16 18:00 andrew
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 63102 Nov 28 20:22 BooksMoviesMusic.ods
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Sep 13 19:03 business+work
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Oct 19 2019 corporate+BASes
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 May 2 2020 ebooks
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Feb 21 16:23 familia
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 24576 Apr 26 2020 GX280SavedData
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 May 26 2019 investment
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 13555 Dec 19 20:29 KnowledgeAustralia.odt
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 39519 Feb 6 11:22 knowledgeGeneral+.odt
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 39641 Mar 12 2020 knowledgeGeneral.odt
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 168448 Feb 21 17:39 lists+.xls
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 164864 Mar 29 2020 lists.xls
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Jul 5 2020 music+videos
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 20480 Jan 16 18:00 pend
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 8192 Nov 23 2019 PublicDocumentsOnWin7box
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 161577 Feb 21 16:48 quotes+.odt
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 137931 Mar 29 2020 quotes.odt
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 24386 Oct 31 08:36 residences+workcontracts+overseasTrips.odt
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Feb 21 16:23 shares
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 8192 Jul 5 2020 slates
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 20480 Feb 21 16:23 technology+websites+OurHardwareSoftware+Items+Receipts
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Jul 26 2020 torrents
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 8192 Sep 13 19:03 trading
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 48126 Mar 29 2020 URLsDesde1201.ods
-rwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 49534 Feb 13 00:58 URLsDesde1201+.ods
drwxrwxrwx. 1 u u 4096 Feb 21 16:23 ViajeTravel
[root@lenofedo Documents]#

You can see that the permissions of those with the "+" are the same as the permissions of those which will not update/delete, without the "+".

[root@lenofedo Documents]# lsattr
lsattr: Invalid argument While reading flags on ./music+videos
. . . with the same output for the entire directory.
(Reading the lsattr man page, it appears it is only for ext2 file systems, which this is not.)

[root@lenofedo Documents]# getfacl lists.xls
# file: lists.xls
# owner: u
# group: u
user::rwx
group::rwx
other::rwx
[root@lenofedo Documents]#

Based upon the sizes of the five files which will not update/delete, they are not links. They are the previous versions of the files themselves.

Thanks for bringing my outdated profile to my attention; I updated it.

Fuse isn't a filesystem format; it's a software interface typically used to mount and access ntfs formatted partitions. See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filesystem_in_Userspace
Your passport drive came formatted ntfs and unless you formatted it to something else, it's still ntfs. As Emerson suggested, it may be mounted read only due to some filesystem corruption. Check this possibility by running:
with the drive mounted. That will list all mounted drives. Find the entry for your Passport drive and post the output here. It should look something like this:
The important thing is the "rw". If yours has "ro" instead, the drive is mounted read only which would explain why you can't delete the files.
There are tools to check and repair ntfs filesytems in linux but I think you are better off doing that in windows if you have access to a windows OS.

Many, many other files are updated (i.e. deleted then more recent files written) on the USB hard disk.
It therefore is not an issue with the permissions for the entire drive.

I still have the issue:

I can open the files using OpenOffice.

The files appear when using the "ls" command.

But the files are supposedly not there when using the "unlink" and "rm" commands. See below:

[u@lenofedo shares]$ cd ..
[u@lenofedo Documents]$ rm -rf shares
rm: cannot remove 'shares': Directory not empty
[u@lenofedo Documents]$ cd shares
[u@lenofedo shares]$ ls
SharesUnrealisedProfits.ods
[u@lenofedo shares]$ unlink Shares*
unlink: cannot unlink 'SharesUnrealisedProfits.ods': No such file or directory
[u@lenofedo shares]$

I am dubbing these "Schrodinger files".

Can you make a minor change using OpenOffice and save the files?