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bac2mac · 09:08 AM

Admittedly, I have been running out of space on my MacBook recently, but I have been very good about keeping 10gb (of 120gb) free on my HD. However, after a reboot this morning, I got a "Startup Disk Full" message, only to find out that the 10gb had been reduced to 100mb. That's odd, I thought, but I was busy so I cleared up 2gb for the time being and went back to work. After rebooting again a couple hours later, it took 10mins and I get the same "Startup Disk Full" message and Finder wouldn't even load. When I finally got it to load in safe mode, I was down to under 100mb yet again. In safe mode I can clear out space, but I want to make sure this won't keep happening before I do.

Note: The reason I keep rebooting is to go back and forth between my OS X and Windows XP partitions via Bootcamp.

Questions:
1. How does 10gb of disk space just disappear? I don't know of any software updates that would require that kind of space, plus, we have a really slow internet connection (I am working in Kabul) so I doubt 10gb worth of updates would download without notice.
2. What does it keep happening? During both instances described above I was rebooting from my Windows partition, but I have been doing so for the last 8 months without prior incident.
3. How do I fix it?!

Thanks!

Computer:
2Ghz Intel "BlackBook"
120GB HD, 2GB RAM
OS X 10.6.2

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 09:42 AM

Use OmniDiskSweeper - Products - The Omni Group to find out what's using up the space.

My hunch is that this has to do with Virtual Memory, which OS X needs in order to function.
VM is used as you boot up and start working, but partially cleared out after a reboot.

-t

bac2mac · Apr 5, 2010, 11:29 AM

Okay, I deleted more stuff to clear up another 2gb of space, and rebooted in regular mode to try and install OmniDiskSweeper, but the same thing happened and now it won't even boot in Safe Mode.

What the heck is happening??

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 11:32 AM

Uhm, did you just move the stuff to the Trash bin, or did you *empty* the trash ?

-t

bac2mac · Apr 5, 2010, 11:48 AM

I emptied the trash and checked via "get info" that the space was made available on the drive.

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 11:52 AM

It could be some background app gone wild, writing tons of data in a log file.

Hard to find, but OmniSweeper will help.

Don't know how this could have caused the whole OS o go ballistic.
Can you boot from another drive, and then run OmniSweeper ?

-t

bac2mac · Apr 5, 2010, 12:03 PM

Since I am currently away from home, all I have is my external time machine backup HD. My optical drive doesn't work either...

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 12:08 PM

Originally Posted by bac2mac

Since I am currently away from home, all I have is my external time machine backup HD. My optical drive doesn't work either...

When's the last time you ran TM ? Is the backup current ?

If yes

* restore from TM
* run OmniSweeper, delete stuff
* if you have space: create a clone of the OS (w/o data) to the TM volume - use Carbon Copy Cloner
* run the cloned OS from the TM volume to examine / work on the actual HD.

-t

bac2mac · Apr 5, 2010, 12:11 PM

Yes, the TM is up to date. How do I restore a TM backup if i can't boot the machine? Is it possible to boot off a TM backup drive?

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 12:16 PM

Originally Posted by bac2mac

Yes, the TM is up to date. How do I restore a TM backup if i can't boot the machine? Is it possible to boot off a TM backup drive?

No, you need to boot from a OS X disc first.

Only alternative is to run from a separate bootable Mac Volume that can Run Apple Disk Tools/Time machine.

-t

bac2mac · Apr 5, 2010, 12:23 PM

Well since my optical drive doesn't work, can you elaborate on this part:

Originally Posted by turtle777

Only alternative is to run from a separate bootable Mac Volume that can Run Apple Disk Tools/Time machine.

Thanks for the help, btw!

turtle777 · Apr 5, 2010, 01:35 PM

You would need two external HDs: the one with the TM volume on it, and one with a bootable OS X install.

If your optical doesn't work, then the above is your ONLY option.

Sounds like you are stuck at the moment.

-t

reader50 · Apr 5, 2010, 01:44 PM

Boot into single-user mode. Hold down command-s during boot. It will boot to a text login prompt, where you type in your short username. Press Return, then type in your password.

Assuming you have an admin account, you can then cd to assorted Logs folders and find the big files. Then rm them one at a time. If you aren't an admin or run into permission issues, you'll have to su to root (or sudo each rm command).

When done type "reboot" followed by Return - no quotes of course.

If you are not comfortable with working from a text prompt, then don't try this.

Art Vandelay · Apr 5, 2010, 02:07 PM

Originally Posted by reader50

Boot into single-user mode. Hold down command-s during boot. It will boot to a text login prompt, where you type in your short username. Press Return, then type in your password.

Um, there's no login prompt with SUM. You are already root.

The safest way to free some space is to do the following after you follow the directions regarding verifying and mounting the drive.

rm -rf /Users/yourusername/Library/Caches/*
reboot

That can free up a few hundred MBs or more to get you limping along so you can really clean up with OmniDiskSweeper.

bac2mac · Apr 6, 2010, 12:47 AM

In SUM I deleted the Cache successfully via:

rm -rf /Users/yourusername/Library/Caches/*

But it wasn't enough. I have tried deleting other stuff using the "rm -rf" and "rm -fr" commands but I keep getting "override 501" and "read-only" errors...?

Big Mac · Apr 6, 2010, 02:15 AM

You have a pretty big hard drive. You shouldn't feel compelled to scrounge around your user folder deleting cache files in order to make enough room. There must be large files elsewhere you can get rid of or archive on an external drive.

bac2mac · Apr 6, 2010, 02:20 AM

Update: I was able to delete some music and videos (probably about 20gb worth) after doing

Code:
chflags

and

Code:
/sbin/mount -uw /

but when I rebooted, I get the same "Startup disk full" message and Finder will not load. It still won't boot in Safe Mode either.

This isn't looking good.

reader50 · Apr 6, 2010, 02:33 AM

Something is filling your drive up, probably with log files. And it's doing it incredibly quickly. That, or your volume data is damaged. Unless you're fully backed up elsewhere, you should stop using the drive until you get to another Mac for diagnostic work.

I'd recommend mounting it in FireWire target disk mode to another Mac and checking with Disk Utility + OmniDiskSweeper. Assuming the drive is healthy, find out what file is clogging it. Then peek inside that file to see what all the error messages are.

pendragon · Apr 9, 2010, 07:42 AM

Might you be using TechTool Pro v5.0.6?
If so, read this thread: TTP & Directory Backup, MMT Please Help - FineTunedMac

Depending on your settings, copies of the Directory are continually being made and eating up your HD space.

Look in: /Library/Application Support/TechTool Protection/(name of hard drive)/Directory Backup. There should only be three copies of the Directory.

MicroMat has apparently fixed this issue with v5.0.7 (but the old directories must still be discarded)