Re: clean storage device
On 16 Aug 2004, Martin Wegmann wrote:
> I is rather not a 100% laptop question but it is due to the small storage
> device on my laptop (30 GB on IBM T40).
Occasionally I feel very old when people say things like that - I
remember when a 30MB disk was almost unimaginably big. :)
> I partitioned my harddrive and left 11GB for my / directory. My home
> directory holds more or less 3 GB, nevertheless do I get into trouble
> at the moment because the partition is full.
OK. When you say full you mean one of two things:
1. writing to it as a non-root user fails.
2. writing to it as root fails.
ext[23] save some space, 5% by default, for the exclusive use of 'root'
(uid 0), so that running out of space is less likely to prevent root
from logging in.
> What is filling my / directory?
All things considered, I suspect log files deleted by held open by some
process.
The 'fuser' and 'lsof' tools, both available in Debian, can help in
determining this, however.
Also, doing 'du -sh *' at the top level, then drilling down, will let
you work out where things than are still linked are hiding.
> and how do I get rid of these files?
If they are unlinked but open, restart the process that holds them open.
> The operating system does definitely not use +/- 8 GB because I
> previously removed many packages and nothing happened.
This, in part, is why I suspect a huge open log (or database) keeping a
deleted file present on the disk.
Regards,
Daniel
--
Follow the path of the unsafe, independent thinker. Expose your ideas to the
danger of controversy. Speak your mind and fear less the label of "crackpot"
than the stigma of conformity.
-- Thomas J. Watson, Sr.
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