Lost disk space after deleting files, trash, hidden trash, etc.
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Lost disk space after deleting files, trash, hidden trash, etc.
Hello,
Forgive me if this is repetitive, but I've searched online all day and haven't been able to find a solution to this problem. Please feel free to point to other threads if applicable.
My Configuration:
I have an external hard drive (1TB, HFS formatted, called "BACKUP") connected via USB 2.0 to a G4 PowerPC running Ubuntu 9.10. I've set this computer up to be used as a file server using samba and netatalk (afpd). My BACKUP drive is shared and I regularly connect to it from my other OSX 10.4.11 mac (using AFP) for backing up files, and it's been pretty flawless.
My Problem:
Because the BACKUP drive is so big, I've only just recently noticed that I'm running out of space. After mounting the BACKUP drive over the network to my other OSX mac and deleting several large files, there was no change in the amount of available space on the drive (checked this in the Gnome desktop as well as typing "df -h" from terminal). However, when I delete a file using the Gnome desktop, space reappears. I've tried emptying the trash on my mac and the Ubuntu machine with no success, checking for large, hidden files, etc. Unfortunately, the files are gone, so I cannot "re-delete" them, but the space they occupied is still unavailable.
Every post I read mentions checking the trash, which I've done several times but unsuccessfully. When I check the "Properties" of the BACKUP drive from the Gnome desktop, it tells me that the contents of my drive totals 717.7 GB, but 904.1 GB is used and only 27.3 GB is free.
Is this a bug? Am I missing something? Any and all help is greatly appreciated. I'm a bit of a novice.
What filesystem version do you use?
Try to delete files with shift+delete, look for hidden files or just wait, maybe files are in use and will be deleted afterward.
Well, the Filesystem I'm using for the G4 PowerPC is Linux Ext 3 (version 1.0), but the filesystem on the external BACKUP drive is Apple HFS+. I tried using the shift-delete combo, but even then, deleting from the Gnome desktop doesn't seem to be an issue. This only has happened after deleting from the BACKUP when it is mounted over the network via AFP.
I suppose a workaround for now is to always delete from the Gnome desktop, but I'm still currently missing roughly 200GB of space that I'd like to have back. Thoughts?
EDIT: Also, additional info - I have rebooted several times and physically unplugged/plugged in the drive to see if that was the problem - no luck.
Last edited by themacguy; 06-28-2010 at 02:16 PM.
Reason: additional info
...the filesystem on the external BACKUP drive is Apple HFS...
Just a thought, as I'm reading more and more through various posts on various websites, I'm starting to think this problem may be related to the HFS catalog file. I might have a lead somewhere else using fsck.hfsplus, but I haven't tried yet.
Anyone have any experience with recovering disk space on an HFS file system?
Try running Disk Usage Analyzer to see what is where. I had a similar problem on a Mac, and traced it to WD backup software that came with the drive, and created a hidden partition.
For anyone who is having the same problem (or just interested), I was able to fix my drive, although I still don't know how the problem occurred in the first place.
I removed my drive from the linux machine and physically plugged it into my mac. At that point, I was able to run Disk Utility and it fixed the problem. The log file reported the following after it successfully repaired it:
-----
Verify and Repair disk “BACKUP”
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
Invalid volume file count
(It should be 44906 instead of 44816)
Invalid volume directory count
(It should be 3762 instead of 3709)
Invalid volume free block count
(It should be 55541680 instead of 7144996)
Repairing volume.
Rechecking volume.
Checking HFS Plus volume.
Checking Extents Overflow file.
Checking Catalog file.
Checking Catalog hierarchy.
Checking Extended Attributes file.
Checking volume bitmap.
Checking volume information.
The volume BACKUP was repaired successfully.
Mounting Disk
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