4 GB Private folder?!?

[killuminati]

So my computer has about 4gb of free space on the hd.

I leave for a few minutes, come back and see in the finder that there is 0KB! It also won't let me do anything, not even quit itunes because it says it can't save the library file. It's weird because the computer was idle, i'm pretty sure the only open app was iTunes.

So I restart the computer but nothing has changed. So I transfer a bunch of files to an external HD then delete them. So I now have free space. I want to know where the space went though??

I opened OmniDiskSweeper to see what's taking up space and I see this folder called "private" that I've never seen before. Where is this located and could this be the space that disappeared? I included a screenshot so you can see where the folder is.

 

[72930]

I think its virtual memory...you should always aim to keep a lot more than 4GB free, or get a lot more RAM...

 

[SC68Cal]

Get us some more info on that windowserver log. That is way too big. Way too big. Mine is 70kb

 

[killuminati]

Get us some more info on that windowserver log. That is way too big. Way too big. Mine is 7000 something bytes.

I don't know how. I can't actually find any of those files. If I search for any of them it comes up with nothing .

 

[SC68Cal]

I don't know how. I can't actually find any of those files. If I search for any of them it comes up with nothing .

It's right there:
/private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

put this in the terminal:
/private/var/log/windowserver_last.log > /dev/null

That truncates the file to 0 but keeps it intact for logging again.

 

[killuminati]

It's right there:
/private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

put this in the terminal:
/private/var/log/windowserver_last.log > /dev/null

That truncates the file to 0 but keeps it intact for logging again.

I just tried that but was told permission denied. And I am on an admin account if that matters.

 

[SC68Cal]

I just tried that but was told permission denied. And I am on an admin account if that matters.

Ok

sudo /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log > /dev/null

 

[killuminati]

I did that, it asked me for my password then it said "command not found". If I open a new terminal window and try again, i keep getting the same (but without asking for a password first). Forgive me if these are stupid mistakes I'm making, I don't usually use the terminal.

I really appreciate all the help you've given so far, sorry I keep running into all these little problems.

 

[SC68Cal]

EDIT: Don't rm it

1)

sudo -s

2)

> /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

3)

exit

 

[killuminati]

ok, just rm it.

sudo rm /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

I removed and my free space went from 7 up to 11 GB. Thanks for your help!

 

[killuminati]

Should I still follow your edited steps since I removed it already?

And what's going to happen now? Will it be a big problem?

 

[SC68Cal]

****

My bad

1)

touch /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

2)

chmod 640 /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

3)

chgrp admin /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

4)

sudo chown root /private/var/log/windowserver_last.log

 

[mkrishnan]

Isn't the _last version of the file just the result of rotation -- that is, on reboot, windowserver.log becomes windowserver_last.log? I'm pretty sure that you *could* actually just delete it without any adverse consequences, although the other suggestions are much more elegant.

Touch them other hitters cuz I'm down for my hitters...what?

 

[SC68Cal]

Isn't the _last version of the file just the result of rotation -- that is, on reboot, windowserver.log becomes windowserver_last.log? I'm pretty sure that you *could* actually just delete it without any adverse consequences, although the other suggestions are much more elegant.

Touch them other hitters cuz I'm down for my hitters...what?

Could be. Just putting things back the way the were before we rm'd.

 

[killuminati]

Ok, I've followed your latest steps and everything seems to be all good now.

Thanks for the help.

 

[SC68Cal]

Glad to help.

I really wonder how a log file could grow to that kind of size. That's crazy.

 

[duflung]

Final answer?

Do we remove it and forget it
or
do we remove it and then put it back the way it was ?
Please list the steps.
Thanks, bill