Weird 'disk full' problem when copying between external drives

[micksa]

Hi

I have a 2010 27" iMac with a replacement 128GB internal SSD that's been great, and still is. Only real issue of course is space. I'm quite fastidious about moving un-needed files to externals so I always have around 30GB free space on there at any one time.

I routinely back up 24bit WAV files between portable 1TB drives, using XLD to copy and convert. The workflow involves running XLD to tag & copy the WAV originals to 24bit AIFF and ALAC files on the other external, then using iZotope RX to dither the AIFFs down to 16bit, and finally deleting the 24bit AIFFs by moving to the wastebasket. I then add the 16bit files to my iTunes library by moving (not copying) them to the 'Automatically Add To iTunes' folder. All apps are on the internal drive, the iTunes media folder is on a 3rd external.

For some reason this is regularly filling up my internal drive. I empty the wastebasket each time and the Get Info on the drive still shows 30Gb free, but the OS reports 'startup disk almost full' and then 'Disk Full' shortly afterwards.

A restart fixes it and I can work on until the next Disk Full alert, but it's a pain having to restart every time. The odd thing is I'd guess this occurs every time I've copied over around 5GB of files, not 30GB. It's like every new version I generate creates an extra copy that's temporarily stored in the internal..?

Could be a setting in either iZotope or XLD, I guess, but I'm wondering if anyone's heard of this happening with the OS? I'm on 10.7.4, it's a 2.66 i5 w/ 8GB RAM.

Any help graciously appreciated.

 

[bernuli]

Sounds like temp files being created while converting. How much data do you convert at once?


B

 

[micksa]

I was thinking temp files but nothing seems to be mentioned in the manuals for either app.

Each batch is between 1 - 2GB & I get no more than 4 batches done between restarts.

Thanks for the quick reply btw

Edit: there's a setting in the XLD prefs to 'Use temporary folder, then move to destination' which I've unchecked. Before this, with the Finder's Info window open, I could see the internal HD free space dropping as XLD processed the files. Now it doesn't, which is probably A Result

So it seems the XLD 'temporary folder' resides with the application folder. Still weird that emptying the wastebasket doesn't clear this without a restart – a bug in the app, presumably. Hopefully it doesn't matter now anyway!

Thanks for the help, bernuli.

 

[Mike in Kansas]

Separate issue, but you may find it useful - I'd consider getting a 500GB or 1TB external HDD and creating a home made FusionDrive array. That way you don't have to be so judicious about your internal SSD usage and you'd get some breathing room...