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willed · Dec 12, 2003, 05:01 PM

I wanted to d/l and install iPod software 2.1, which is apparently a 16MB file. Software Update doesn't allow me to though since I only have about 270MB free HD space. I've since downloaded it direct from Apple.com and it's worked fine. Why does Software Update need all this space?

Turias · Dec 12, 2003, 05:14 PM

http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/

Why do you have so little disk space, anyway? How big is your drive and how much RAM do you have? Running OS X with such little disk space is asking for trouble...

willed · Dec 12, 2003, 05:26 PM

Originally posted by Turias:
http://www.apple.com/macosx/feedback/

Why do you have so little disk space, anyway? How big is your drive and how much RAM do you have? Running OS X with such little disk space is asking for trouble...

Yeah I know - I've only got a 10G drive. I've already got rid of all my games and non-essential apps. The rest is taken up mainly by my music and digital photos. I'm seriously considering keeping my MP3s only on my iPod, but can't imagine what I'd do if it broke/I
lost it. I've thrown away pretty much everything I can already.

cpac · Dec 12, 2003, 06:09 PM

couple reasons - it might download and then be expanded, and then copied, etc.

If you have that little free disk space I'm shocked you're not experiencing other problems - lost preferences, corrupt files and things.

dtriska · Dec 12, 2003, 10:03 PM

I don't know about Software Update, but I do know that Installer always screws up the needed disk space. I assume Software Update uses the same mechanism, so send some feedback.

You really need to spend $50 and get an 80 gig hard drive or something. If you hit only 250 MB free, you'll start having major problems. Not just lost preferences, but also overlapped extent allocations (aka disk corruption).

CharlesS · Dec 12, 2003, 10:59 PM

Originally posted by dtriska:
I don't know about Software Update, but I do know that Installer always screws up the needed disk space. I assume Software Update uses the same mechanism, so send some feedback.

No, I've had this exact same problem, and downloading the update to disk and running the installer manually always works. Dunno what's up with Software Update.

If you have trouble finding available disk space even when using this method, try mounting the iPod installer's disk image remotely, and running the installer over the network - this way you won't have to download the garbage file. To mount the image remotely, start the download, then stop it. Copy and paste the URL from the Download link into the location bar, and replace "http://" with "disk://".

Xeo · Dec 13, 2003, 12:28 AM

Keep your music on your iPod like you are thinking. Make a backup copy of all your music onto CDRs and store them in a safe place. Then, if your iPod takes a dive, you still have a copy of your music. If you store only up to 700 MB of MP3s on your HD, then backup every time you hit the limit, you'll do well at keeping your HD clean but always having more than one copy of the music.

willed · 04:37 PM

Originally posted by Xeo:
Keep your music on your iPod like you are thinking. Make a backup copy of all your music onto CDRs and store them in a safe place. Then, if your iPod takes a dive, you still have a copy of your music. If you store only up to 700 MB of MP3s on your HD, then backup every time you hit the limit, you'll do well at keeping your HD clean but always having more than one copy of the music.

Haven't got CDR, but I think this or a FWHD will be my Xmas present to myself!

PS dtriska - where can I get an 80G HD for anything approaching $50?? In the UK FWHDs are upwards of �110 (ie about $170ish). Anyone from the UK got any recommendations?

dtriska · Dec 13, 2003, 06:52 PM

Whoops, sorry, man. I glossed over your signature and didn't realize you were on an iBook.

Xeo advice is good, but if you do want a FireWire hard drive, you might be able to pick up a drive from some place mentioned on Price Watch for cheap, and buy a FireWire enclosure for it.

International shipping and taxes are other issues.

philzilla · Dec 14, 2003, 10:22 AM

Originally posted by willed:
where can I get an 80G HD for anything approaching $50?? In the UK FWHDs are upwards of �110 (ie about $170ish). Anyone from the UK got any recommendations?

try here for some seriously cheap stuff

absmiths · Dec 15, 2003, 09:41 AM

Originally posted by Xeo:
Keep your music on your iPod like you are thinking. Make a backup copy of all your music onto CDRs and store them in a safe place. Then, if your iPod takes a dive, you still have a copy of your music. If you store only up to 700 MB of MP3s on your HD, then backup every time you hit the limit, you'll do well at keeping your HD clean but always having more than one copy of the music.

Do you mean to just delete all music from iTunes? If I do that, and I ever plug my iPod back into the computer, won't it delete all the music?

JKT · 11:34 AM

Originally posted by willed:
PS dtriska - where can I get an 80G HD for anything approaching $50?? In the UK FWHDs are upwards of �110 (ie about $170ish). Anyone from the UK got any recommendations?

You can get an external FW enclosure kit from RL Supplies for between �40 and �50 inc. VAT (e.g. this one) and then buy yourself a hard drive from e.g. dabs.com of 40GB or 80GB for between about �40 and �60 depending on size, rpm speed, cache size etc. to put inside it. Put it together yourself (really not at all difficult) and you could save some money.

N.B. Don't forget to include delivery charges when working out how much it'll cost you - you may not end up making any savings if you don't!

P.S. I haven't used RL supplies so can't comment on them (however, the prices look good for the kits and the one I link to is the one I got from FireWiredirect.com in the states). Dabs.com are very good in my experience.