Can not defrag with SSD and HDD

[murdoc158]

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD. I keep getting the error:

"Unmount attempt failed for "Storage". The disk may be in use by an application. (disk0s2, Device is busy 0xC010)"

I've got OSX 10.7.2 installed on the SSD along with all my apps. I've got my user folder and all my music, photos, doctuments, etc. on the HDD. What do I need to do to get this to run?

Thanks!

 

[GGJstudios]

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD.

Why are you trying to defrag your drive?

About disk optimization with Mac OS X

You probably won't need to optimize at all if you use Mac OS X.

 

[nicfargo]

For the love of everything that is good and holy...do not defrag your SSD. They don't need it, and in all reality you might just be wearing it down faster then it should. Also, you don't need to defrag a disk in OS X. The journaling system is way better then FAT32 or NTFS, so you don't need defrag.

 

[brendanryder]

For the love of everything that is good and holy...do not defrag your SSD. They don't need it, and in all reality you might just be wearing it down faster then it should. Also, you don't need to defrag a disk in OS X. The journaling system is way better then FAT32 or NTFS, so you don't need defrag.

This.

Its just a waste

 

[murdoc158]

For the love of everything that is good and holy...do not defrag your SSD. They don't need it, and in all reality you might just be wearing it down faster then it should. Also, you don't need to defrag a disk in OS X. The journaling system is way better then FAT32 or NTFS, so you don't need defrag.

This.

Its just a waste

Somebody can't read...

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD

My reasoning for defragging was because my drive is just media. Itunes takes forever to import songs, Final Cut loads movies slowly, etc. I often get beach balls when importing as well.

Anyway, for those wondering I was able to start defragging by using the guest account. Since my user folder was on the disk I was trying to defrag, it couldn't unmount the disk. The guest folder is on the OSX disk (my SSD).

 

[GGJstudios]

My reasoning for defragging was because my drive is just media. Itunes takes forever to import songs, Final Cut loads movies slowly, etc. I often get beach balls when importing as well.

Fragmentation isn't likely to be your problem, since Mac OS X doesn't have a fragmentation problem like Windows does. It may be a permissions issue or another culprit, but defragging is rarely useful on Mac OS X, except in some cases when partitioning a drive.

 

[Macman45]

Say's It All

For the love of everything that is good and holy...do not defrag your SSD. They don't need it, and in all reality you might just be wearing it down faster then it should. Also, you don't need to defrag a disk in OS X. The journaling system is way better then FAT32 or NTFS, so you don't need defrag.

You WILL seriously mess up an SSD or a Mac hdd by trying to Defrag them. This isn't Windows. If you want a utility that will run what are called "Scripts" (your Mac will run these if lest idle and on anyway) but from time to time, if I happen to be away for a while and I shut my main iMac down I use this:


http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/11582/onyx

Use it with care and follow the instructions. It's free, but a donation is alway's nice to keep the guy's and Girl's on track.

 

[shardey]

Somebody can't read...



My reasoning for defragging was because my drive is just media. Itunes takes forever to import songs, Final Cut loads movies slowly, etc. I often get beach balls when importing as well.

Anyway, for those wondering I was able to start defragging by using the guest account. Since my user folder was on the disk I was trying to defrag, it couldn't unmount the disk. The guest folder is on the OSX disk (my SSD).

You probably have to create a bootable disc to defragment your startup disk. Also this is such a waste in wearability on a SSD and time.

 

[maflynn]

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD. I keep getting the error:

I've got OSX 10.7.2 installed on the SSD along with all my apps. I've got my user folder and all my music, photos, doctuments, etc. on the HDD. What do I need to do to get this to run?

Thanks!

People he's not asking to defrag his SSD but his HD

 

[dusk007]

Just unmount it in diskutility and remount it. Then it should work.
I am guessing some apps are using some data and have a lock on it.
Close all the apps that might do so.
Or restart on a fresh restart there can also be no lock on any files/folders.
If that still doesn't work try repair premissions.

Using diskutil in terminal with some force tags might help too although it is not the most elegant solution.

 

[Fishrrman]

"You WILL seriously mess up an SSD or a Mac hdd by trying to Defrag them"

Seldom on MacRumors have I seen a posting as ridiculous and uninformed as this one is.

Defragging DOES NOT "mess up" a drive with the Mac OS, and in some instances, is necessary to keep things running smoothly (specific examples: where large amounts of audio or video data are recorded, it's necessary to defrag so that large contiguous areas of the drive remain free to accept such data in continuous streams).

To the original poster:
I'm going to _guess_ that the reason that Drive Genius can't unmount the drive to defrag it, is because you have SOMEthing "open" or being accessed on the "target drive". So long as this remains open, the drive can't be dismounted, and you can't begin the defrag process.

Here's how I would try to do it (may or may not work):
1. Boot from the drive that DOES NOT have to be defragged, then
2. When you get to the finder, "manually dismount" the "target drive" by dragging its icon to the trash.
3. Now launch Drive Genius and go to the defragging panel
4. Does the dismounted target drive appear there? (again, it may or may not, depending on how Drive Genius "views" drives that are dismounted but still available "on the bus", so to speak)
5. If it DOES show up (even though it's not mounted), try defragging then.

I believe some other previous posters mentioned that defragging may not be advisable for solid-state drives. I've yet to own one, so I can't comment on that other to say that it might indeed be true (at least for _some_ SSD's), probably due to the way their controllers work. In that case, the best way to "defrag" the contents of an SSD would be to "dupe it" to another volume or partition, re-initialize it, and then "copy the contents back" with a "re-dupe". The files will be copied over contiguously, and the drive will then be effectively defragged.

I have defragged flash drives numerous times without problems.

 

[dusk007]

Seldom on MacRumors have I seen a posting as ridiculous and uninformed as this one is.

Really you aren't too much on here. I read them all the time.
When ever some actual technical understanding of some matter would be required many people here just repeat the same BS over and over.
This forum is good for questions like "Can it damage my computer if I sit in front of it", but for real question about 3/4 of the answers a close to worthless.

 

[GGJstudios]

This forum is good for questions like "Can it damage my computer if I sit in front of it",

The answer is yes, since most of the problems facing computers is the fleshy part between the keyboard and the chair.

 

[simsaladimbamba]

the answer is yes, since most of the problems facing computers is the fleshy part between the keyboard and the chair. :d

pebcak ftw?

 

[mape2k]

This forum is good for questions like "Can it damage my computer if I sit in front of it", but for real question about 3/4 of the answers a close to worthless.

Thank god 90% of the questions asked in this forum are of this type

 

[sjinsjca]

Defrag an SSD? Please don't.

Defrag makes sense for mechanical drives because it saves time otherwise spent on track-to-track seeking operations when blocks of data are scattered all over the disk. There's nothing of the sort in an SSD. No mechanical action.

Defragging involves reading blocks of data and then rewriting them so they're contiguous, again for the benefit of a mechanical drive. Your SSD has a limited number of writes, so doing something as write-intensive as defragging will reduce its useful life. To no real benefit.

Depending on SSD controller architecture there may be a tiny benefit in block transfer throughput for contiguous data but not enough to warrant the reduction in drive lifetime.

 

[mape2k]

Defrag an SSD? Please don't.

Please read the thread. He wants to defray his HDD not his SSD.

 

[GGJstudios]

Defrag an SSD? Please don't.

Please read the thread carefully. The OP was not asking about defragging an SSD.

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD.

 

[sjinsjca]

My reasoning for defragging was because my drive is just media. Itunes takes forever to import songs, Final Cut loads movies slowly, etc. I often get beach balls when importing as well.

Your signature says you're running 4GB RAM. That would be the first thing to goose if you want better speed.

SSDs are not "media" in the traditional sense. There are significant benefits to SSDs, and elimination of mechanical seek dwells ranks top among them. No mechanical seeks, no real reason to defray.

 

[GGJstudios]

Your signature says you're running 4GB RAM. That would be the first thing to goose if you want better speed.

SSDs are not "media" in the traditional sense. There are significant benefits to SSDs, and elimination of mechanical seek dwells ranks top among them. No mechanical seeks, no real reason to defray.

Are you reading any of the thread, or just posting for the sake of posting?

 

[sjinsjca]

Please read the thread. He wants to defray his HDD not his SSD.

Well, first he said HDD, then he said "I've got OSX 10.7.2 installed on the SSD along with all my apps." As you've seen, I'm not the only one reading his aim as including the SSD. EDIT: Oh, and his signature makes no mention of a secondary mechanical HDD: "Macbook Pro 15" 2.66GHz C2D, 4GB DDR3, 64GB Kingston V100 SSD, external USB SuperDrive"

Then folks chime in, saying things like they've defragged flash drives many times with no problems. Great, I know people who've smoked cigarettes for decades with no problems. Doesn't mean it won't catch up with them.

So okay, let's all agree: defragging an SSD is unnecessary and shortens its life. Then let's all turn to the defrag problem with his HDD. (Which also shouldn't need defragging under OS X, but at least it's not as nonsensical as defragging an SSD.)

----------

Are you reading any of the thread, or just posting for the sake of posting?

Egad. Pillory the poster for being un-clairvoyant, why don't we.

He said he's getting beachballs. Insufficient RAM is the first place to look, not fragmentation, unless his disk(s?) is really full.

It is also woefully unclear from his original post whether he has BOTH a mechanical HDD and an SDD. That detail is not in his signature (though the external SuperDrive is a clue).

 

[GGJstudios]

Well, first he said HDD, then he said...

The post was quite clear. First they state the problem:

I'm using Drive Genius 3 to try and defrag my HDD. I keep getting the error:

Then they give information about their configuration:
Drive 1:

I've got OSX 10.7.2 installed on the SSD along with all my apps.

Drive 2 (the one they want to defrag):

I've got my user folder and all my music, photos, doctuments, etc. on the HDD.

It is also woefully unclear from his original post whether he has BOTH a mechanical HDD and an SDD.

It's quite clear if you actually read the post.

That detail is not in his signature (though the external SuperDrive is a clue).

The poster didn't say "read my signature". The relevant information is in the post. Many people post about a computer that isn't in their signature, many don't keep their signatures up to date, many don't have any computer info in their signatures. If you read the post, not the signature, you get all the information needed to understand the problem and the configuration.

 

[murdoc158]

Wow this thread got out of hand quick. Again, I'm not trying to defrag my SSD. If you re-read my original post you will see I have OSX and all my apps installed on the SSD. My user folder and media are on the HDD.

The reason I was getting errors trying to defrag was because I was logged in to my account. My user folder was on the drive I wanted to defrag. The disk could not be unmounted while I was logged in. I was able to log into the guest account (installed on the SSD since it's part of OSX) and defrag my HDD.

Anyway...on to the reason for wanting for wanting to defrag. I'm getting unresponsive iTunes and beach balls when importing new music. My library is 85GB and about 13000 songs. Since the defrag completed it is a lot faster. I can't prove 100% that defragging is to thank, but it is much more responsive now. I'm sure a new i7 CPU would be a nice upgrade as well, but I've got to get by with what I've got.