Sparse Image Problem - 'Not enough space'

[NATO]

Hi, I was hoping someone might know how to deal with a problem I'm having with a Sparse Image. It appears that the image has reached the capacity I initially set it to, and now that I'm trying to add new files to it, I'm expecting the image to grow to accommodate the new files. However, I'm simply getting a message there there isn't enough space. Would anyone know how I could fix this?

 

[wrldwzrd89]

Your problem stems from a misunderstanding about how sparse images work. Sparse images only use as much space as is actually needed to store their contents but cannot expand dynamically if the initial limit set when the sparse image is created is exceeded.

Therefore the only solution is to create a new sparse image with a larger limit, copy all the files to the new image, and delete the old image.

 

[NATO]

I didn't realise that, I was under the assumption a Sparse Image expanded in size, but now you mention how it really works, I guess that makes sense compared to normal disk images. Thanks for clearing that up for me

 

[brkirch]

It is possible to resize a sparse image, but it must be done through the terminal. Open the Terminal (located in Applications > Utilities) and type

hdiutil resize -size

then hit the space bar, type the size you want to it to be (for example, type 5g for 5 gigabytes) then hit the space bar again, drag the sparse image on the terminal window, click the terminal window to bring it to the front, and hit return.