Disk space issues with air 11'

[e-r-a-n]

I updated my macbook air mid 2011 to 10.8.2 yesterday together with smc update for powernap support
I think there's something wrong with my disk behavior.
I have 42gb free at the moment, and even i deleted few gb's from the disk (few tv episodes), and yes, i removed
it from trash too, the free space remains 42GB.
As I was still troubled from the issue where my storage is going to, I used findspace from the appstore to see
what is using my storage. I saw that 11gb is used my mail app alone. so I changed the app behavior to save only mails without attachments.
I was hoping it will remove any attachments already saved, but it didnt really happen.
Im also a bit troubled with behavior of iphoto - I used the import feature to add few albums to the app, does it mean i can delete the first copy of my photos? because it seems like it uses it own database for all images in it, and im not sure if i can delete the first copy of my photos.

The disk space is same if looking at "Macintosh HD" or istat menus

 

[simsaladimbamba]

To find out, where you storage capacity is being used, you can use the following free applications:

• DiskInventory X
• OmniDiskSweeper
• JDisk Report
• GrandPerspective

Maybe try a combination of several, if you still can't find the "missing" capacity.

What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating up my space? by theSeb

 

[e-r-a-n]

Could it be something else?
I took 12episodes, aprox. 3.5gb and deleted it and yet the space didnt change a bit

 

[simsaladimbamba]

Could it be something else?
I took 12episodes, aprox. 3.5gb and deleted it and yet the space didnt change a bit

I do not know, thus my reply with the links to tools to help you find it.
If you have deleted the Trash, the 3.5 GB should be available.
If you set iPhoto to copy the imported photo into its own library, you can delete the originals.
Also make sure you have a backup system in place.

And the "OTHER" link is for disabling the local Time Machine backups, if you employ Time Machine.

Time Machine FAQ

 

[e-r-a-n]

I just checked again with disk inventory x.
it shows macintosh hd contains 47.7GB, while istat menus / finder shows 72GB used, 40GB free

What could it be than?

 

[GGJstudios]

If you're wondering what "Other" category in the Lion/ML storage tab is about, this may help explain:

What is this "Other" in the storage tab? What is eating my space​

For space issues not explained by the above, there are a few things you can try, some of which may or may not apply:

• Begin by restarting your computer as a first step. This sometimes resolves issues.
  
  
• For Time Machine users on notebooks running Lion or later, space may be consumed by Time Machine local snapshots, which can be disabled.
  
  OS X: About Time Machine's "local snapshots" on portable Macs​
  
  
• Check to see if some of the space is being used by your sleepimage file.
  
  
• Check the System Memory tab in Activity Monitor to check page outs and swap used. If swap used is significant, restart your computer and track that value under your normal workload. If you have significant page outs under normal use, you could benefit from more RAM.
  
  
• Search with Finder to see if the space is being consumed by a very large file or several large files. Adjust the 50GB in the illustration to whatever size you deem appropriate.
  
• Use OmniDiskSweeper, JDisk Report, Disk Inventory X, DaisyDisk or GrandPerspective to see how space is being used on your drive. Some of these apps may show more detail than others, so try several.
  
  
• Check your drive with Disk Utility: Using Disk Utility to verify or repair disks
  
  
• Try re-indexing your drive: Spotlight: How to re-index folders or volumes

Here are a few resolutions found by others with the same question:

• Encrypted drive
• Time Machine backup files and needed disk repair
• App filling log file
• App or file was 89GB
• Drive needed to be re-indexed
• Time Machine backup file
• Large app cache file
• Garageband files and video podcasts
• Oversized email being duplicated
• Another email issue

Freeing up space in Mac OS X

How OS X and iOS report storage capacity

 

[simsaladimbamba]

I just checked again with disk inventory x.
it shows macintosh hd contains 47.7GB, while istat menus / finder shows 72GB used, 40GB free

What could it be than?

Maybe try a combination of several, if you still can't find the "missing" capacity.

Did you restart and emptied your Trash yet (not in that order though)?

 

[e-r-a-n]

unfortunately it didn't help at all.
i have already tried rebooting, and trash is already empty.
i forgot to mention but i did tried the second app as well - grandprespective.

 

[e-r-a-n]

i also noticed battery won't charge to more than 99% since upgraded.
health is 92% and it had 130 charge cycles.
could it be better if i'll just make a fresh install rather than upgrade?
can i make time machine backup and later, after a fresh install, just restore apps + data?
about storage, Thats the situation:

 

[theSeb]

i also noticed battery won't charge to more than 99% since upgraded.
health is 92% and it had 130 charge cycles.

That is pretty normal. Often letting the battery run down to around 85-90% and then charging it again restores it to 100%. Either way that is not a concern.

could it be better if i'll just make a fresh install rather than upgrade?
can i make time machine backup and later, after a fresh install, just restore apps + data?

Not sure what you mean? The battery charge indicator? That's pretty normal so doing a clean install will just be doing something for the sake of doing it, but yes, you can do it like you've just described. There are instructions how to do a clean install around here somewhere.

about storage, Thats the situation:

Are you concerned that the one app is reporting 56 GB used and the other is reporting 71 GB? Since you're using TM, it's probably the local TM backups or document revisions. It could also be due to a bug where an app continues writing to /volumes after the drive has been disconnected manually by unplugging it.

Open the Terminal app (in Applications --> Utilities) and then type

sudo du -h -d1 /

Make sure to type the full line including the forward slash and then hit enter. Type in your password and hit enter again. Let it run until you see the prompt again, even if it looks like it is stuck. Then paste the output here or take a screenshot.

 

[e-r-a-n]

im kinda getting the clue where it all went away..
22G /.MobileBackups
is that TimeMachine local backups? Becauase I thought the 6G /private is the TM backups.
Im about to do the terminal line: sudo tmutil disablelocal in order to cancel it, is that the right way?
and /private 6GB, what about it?

Update: I couldnt help it..i ran that line and now:
according to finder, getinfo on macintosh hd says 77.33GB available out of 120.47GB, but about my mac: storage shows 53.87GB free, where other is 49.95GB. How come? Its in the process of erasing all the data..or what?
Other than that, the 6GB /private is still a mistery to me.
the output of sudo du -h -d1 is:

0B ./.config
9.9M ./.dropbox
48K ./.editrocket
680K ./.local
4.0K ./.rs
0B ./.Trash
16K ./Applications
68K ./Desktop
31M ./Documents
485M ./Downloads
726M ./Dropbox
11G ./Library
284K ./Movies
2.1G ./Music
5.7G ./Pictures
8.0K ./Public
20G .

 

[fisherking]

check the Mail Downloads folder (Option key/Go Menu>Library).
this is your USER library, and that's where you older email attachments are.

 

[theSeb]

im kinda getting the clue where it all went away..
22G /.MobileBackups
is that TimeMachine local backups? Becauase I thought the 6G /private is the TM backups.
Im about to do the terminal line: sudo tmutil disablelocal in order to cancel it, is that the right way?
and /private 6GB, what about it?

Yes, the MobileBackups folder is where the TM local backups are. It's all meant to go away when you connect the external drive, but not always.

Yes, "sudo tmutil disablelocal" will disable this feature

/private is your operating system. Leave it alone

Update: I couldnt help it..i ran that line and now:
according to finder, getinfo on macintosh hd says 77.33GB available out of 120.47GB, but about my mac: storage shows 53.87GB free, where other is 49.95GB. How come? Its in the process of erasing all the data..or what?

Finder does not count the local backups when you check that way. The storage tab does count it as "Other".

Other than that, the 6GB /private is still a mistery to me.

As I said, that is where your operating system resides. Leave it alone.

the output of sudo du -h -d1 is:

0B ./.config
9.9M ./.dropbox
48K ./.editrocket
680K ./.local
4.0K ./.rs
0B ./.Trash
16K ./Applications
68K ./Desktop
31M ./Documents
485M ./Downloads
726M ./Dropbox
11G ./Library
284K ./Movies
2.1G ./Music
5.7G ./Pictures
8.0K ./Public
20G .

You've ran this on your user account folder. As mentioned above by another poster, you can clean out the Library folder by deleting the old mails and there might be your iPad and iPhone backups in there. GGJStudio's post has links that will help you delete these.

 

[e-r-a-n]

ok thank you for the detailed post. its much clearer for me how things work here now.
but even tough i did disablelocal in terminal, about my mac:storage still shows 49~GB "Other".
I thought disablelocal will do the job but actually i still have 54.19GB free according to the about my mac window, but 77GB according to finder.
so the gap, 23gb, is for mobile backups, wasnt it supposed to go away once i did disablelocal?
the folder .MobileBackups is gone as well, so how come its still counted?

 

[theSeb]

Finder is reporting the correct current position. The storage tab does not get updated automatically - instead it uses your spotlight index info. If the mobile backups folder is definitely gone and there is definitely nothing in your trash, then you can simply wait for spotlight to reindex your drive or force it do it immediately using the command line. Spotlight runs periodically by itself.

In terminal type the following and hit enter


sudo mdutil -E /

 

[GGJstudios]

i also noticed battery won't charge to more than 99% since upgraded.
health is 92% and it had 130 charge cycles.

It's normal that your battery may stop charging between 93-99%. For details, read the CHARGING section of the following link. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.

Apple Notebook Battery FAQ​

 

[e-r-a-n]

thank you both for all the information.
I'll read that battery thread now.
Thanks.