low personal storage space

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Chases_Kangaroos
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Joined: Tue 20 Jan 2015, 04:58

low personal storage space

#1 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

Hello,

I hope this isn't considered a newbie question; I've been using Slacko Puppy (5.7) for about half a year, though I'm far from a master.

I've often noticed that my "personal storage space" icon (the cylinder in the lower right of the screen) is showing dwindling space, but I've always fixed it by finding something in my "desktop" or "downloads" folder/directory that I forgot was there, and removing it.

In the last couple days it has been exceedingly low, and there's only a few small files in those two folders, which are nothing new.

The message I see when I mouse over the icon right now is:
"2.0G personal storage, free space 280M"
and it has been lower. On at least one occasion I was warned that Puppy could not save everything due to lack of space.

I've searched this forum and found several suggestions...

I've seen at least one mention of resizing that file, but have not yet tried it. That seems like a bandaid for just delaying the inevitable.

I've seen at least one mention of clearing the browser cache but I'm not quite sure if (in Firefox) that means going to the Tools menu and Clear Recent History, nor am I sure if I should choose only cache in the options given. Is there a detriment to clearing the cache? Am I right in assuming that will only mean the browser has to re-download each element of a previously visited web page?

I've seen at least one mention of gdmap, but my brief encounter with it was not intuitive or helpful.

Someone also said my personal files are in /initrd/pup_rw, which I've located. But I have no idea what, if anything, can be deleted; there's nothing familiar in there.

I believe I set up Puppy to create this save file on the flash drive.

So in summary, how do I find what is taking up space and delete or move it?

Thanks

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8Geee
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#2 Post by 8Geee »

Browser work in about: config is usually the best remedy. IIRC the default browser is FF17-esr. For the most part there is not enuff info in the Edit --> Preferences tab to really help.

In the meantime take a look at your hdd or flash stick depending on how you installed slacko-5.7 using MENU --> Filesystem --> Gdmap. Check into the large boxes in /usr and /root Downloading stuff is prime cause, that should really be stored elsewhere. Preferably in a folder located in /mnt/home.

Firefox can jam things too, especially if Java is enabled (it can in your version). Certain addons like AdBlock Edge/Plus can get get large.

All this is well and good, but if your save-file is 2fs, then you are stuck. If you are using 3fs or 4fs, then the ssave-file will shrink when moving stuff to /mnt/home/folder
Linux user #498913 "Some people need to reimagine their thinking."
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Flash
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#3 Post by Flash »

In SeaMonkey, I can clear the cache in Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Cache. Firefox is similar enough to SeaMonkey that this may also work in Firefox.

ocpaul20
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#4 Post by ocpaul20 »

I totally agree that we should be able to find out where the space is being used. I have a 2G save file for slako 5.7 too and need to prune some space out of it. As far as I am aware most of my 'stuff' is on other partitions but in oder to find out where the save file is being used up I need some kind of visual tool like the Gdmap mentioned above, pointing to the save file area.

I have limited Firefox cache area to 50Mb so In my case I dont think it is that using it all up.

So where do we point Gdmap to in order to find out what is going to take up the space in our save file when it is saved?

Maybe a du -h perhaps with a little massaging would tell us?

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MochiMoppel
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#5 Post by MochiMoppel »

ocpaul20 wrote:So where do we point Gdmap to in order to find out what is going to take up the space in our save file when it is saved?
Maybe a du -h perhaps with a little massaging would tell us?
I assume that Gdmap and TreeSize are most widely used to show disk usage, but I still prefer xdiskusage, a frontend for du. Though almost forgotten, it used to be part of early Puppy distros. A working pet can still be downloaded from
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pet_packages-3/xdiskusage-1.48.pet

If the OP uses a savefile in Slacko 5.7, the location for the already saved stuff would most likely be /initrd/pup_ro1, for the the stuff accumulated during the current session it would be /initrd/pup_rw.

Using xdiskusage from the command line will show the used space (e.g. command "xdiskusage /initrd/pup_rw" will show the tree as in the screenshot), where else clicking on "/initrd/pup_rw" in the xdiskusage dialog will additionally show the free space. Can be confusing.
Attachments
xdiskusage.png
Example for file system without a save file. Using save file would probably show additional /initrd/pup_ro1
(15 KiB) Downloaded 1041 times
gdmap_treesize_xdiskusage.png
Comparing Gdmap, TreeSize and xdiskusage
(118.21 KiB) Downloaded 996 times

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mikeb
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#6 Post by mikeb »

look in /root/.mozilla at whatever's there.

cache...why have any if you have broadband.
urlclassifier..they can get huge...disable it and delete.
adblock...from the statement another to watch out for.
imapmail...downloads locally...another brilliant move by mozilla to eat space
places..since default is to store every single page you ever went to ever...how dumb is that...it can get huge. 'disable all the remember when I went to the toilet in 1976' junk.

any applications that make temp files in root and don't clean up.

gdmap is useful once you get used to it.

As mentioned its pup_ro1 that collecting the junk over time.... 99% of it totally pointless.

My save space usage varies from 10 to 60MB so I don't have a clue what I am on about :D
All this is well and good, but if your save-file is 2fs, then you are stuck. If you are using 3fs or 4fs, then the ssave-file will shrink when moving stuff to /mnt/home/folder
??????? are you referring to a fsck recovering space? pfix=fsck in that case at boot...save file handling is sloppy.

mike

Chases_Kangaroos
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#7 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

Thanks to all who replied. I wish I had more time but I'm late for work.

Just a quick question for now...

This pup_ro1 folder that a couple of you mentioned does indeed look like what I need to clean out! Could I just delete its entire contents, directories and all? Would Puppy re-create those as needed? Or would that throw the universe out of whack (or make life miserable for me)? The reason I ask is because I just glanced inside and still don't see anything familiar; I'm not sure I would know what to delete!

Gotta run....

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mikeb
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#8 Post by mikeb »

That would be shooting in the dark and yes more than likely stop everything working.

You need to locate what is getting large/taking space . /pup_ro1 is where long term saving is done...you can delete from the main system. Again tools help to find what needs removing...we can only guess.

I also am wondering if snapmergepuppy is actually deleting files no longer needed or just hiding them...I deleted that junk years ago so cannot check on that one.

Sounds like this is getting a bit too technical.

If you have nothing in there of value then make a fresh install and start over.

mike

B.K. Johnson
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#9 Post by B.K. Johnson »

8Geee wrote:
All this is well and good, but if your save-file is 2fs, then you are stuck. If you are using 3fs or 4fs, then the ssave-file will shrink when moving stuff to /mnt/home/folder
and mikeb asked for clarification.
I have a couple questions too, though not necessarily directed to 8Geee.
1. Fact or fiction: .2fs is recommended for flash drive frugal installs? What are the implications of being "stuck"?
2. If a .png is saved in root by mpaint and I subsequently moved to /mnt/home or elsewhere, are you saying that the pupsave is unaffected when using .2fs? Or the same when a download rather than an install of a pet/sfs from PPM ends up in /root and is later moved to /mnt/home?

B.K. Johnson
tahrpup-6.0.2 PAE, slacko-5.7, frugal install, pupsave file, multi OS flashdrive, SYSLINUX boot, CPU-Dual E2140, 4GB RAM

ocpaul20
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#10 Post by ocpaul20 »

I dont seem to have a pup_ro1 but I do have 2 & 4 but those dont reflect the contents of the save file.

In my pup_rw there is .mozilla which takes up 17M and a load of /lib/modules.

I have some questions too please.
1) If we wanted to stop .mozilla for example being updated to the savefile would it be enough to detele this from pup_rw or would that actually delete it from the disk and it would not be there on reboot?

2) Does everything which has been loaded get saved to the pup_rw or just those which have been changed? I cannot think that /lib/modules would have changed unless new ones added?

3) How is the 'free' figure calculated when hovering over the task-bar icon bottom right?

Chases_Kangaroos
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#11 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

Flash wrote:In SeaMonkey, I can clear the cache in Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced -> Cache. Firefox is similar enough to SeaMonkey that this may also work in Firefox.
Thanks, Flash. They must indeed be similar, as I was able to find a "Clear Now" button right where you pointed me. I don't think I clicked it, though. I'm still not sure whether there could be any ill effects from clearing the cache. My understanding is that anything in cache simply helps to load a previously-visited web page faster, but I'm not sure and nobody addressed that question.

But it's academic now, as I found a much larger space hog elsewhere. More about that below...

Chases_Kangaroos
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#12 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

MochiMoppel wrote:... I still prefer xdiskusage, a frontend for du. Though almost forgotten, it used to be part of early Puppy distros. A working pet can still be downloaded from
http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/pet_packages-3/xdiskusage-1.48.pet

If the OP uses a savefile in Slacko 5.7, the location for the already saved stuff would most likely be /initrd/pup_ro1, for the the stuff accumulated during the current session it would be /initrd/pup_rw.
Mochi, I appreciated your images and comments regarding xdiskusage and gdmap. But I do not yet know how to install packages that are not already included in my Slacko Puppy installation. :oops: I am still a newbie in that regard, sadly. But that's another topic for another thread. And as I mentioned, I did not find gdmap helpful in my brief time with it -- I'll probably try again some other time.

However, I found your mention of /initrd/pup_ro1 to be very helpful. Sure enough, that is where I found the problem. Side note: I wish this had been made more intuitive. I mean if Slacko Puppy deems it important enough to show this icon -- this constant reminder of personal space -- then why not show me where to look for clutter when that space is gone?

Chases_Kangaroos
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#13 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

mikeb wrote:look in /root/.mozilla at whatever's there.

cache...why have any if you have broadband.
urlclassifier..they can get huge...disable it and delete.
adblock...from the statement another to watch out for.
imapmail...downloads locally...another brilliant move by mozilla to eat space
places..since default is to store every single page you ever went to ever...how dumb is that...it can get huge. 'disable all the remember when I went to the toilet in 1976' junk.

any applications that make temp files in root and don't clean up.

gdmap is useful once you get used to it.

As mentioned its pup_ro1 that collecting the junk over time.... 99% of it totally pointless.

My save space usage varies from 10 to 60MB so I don't have a clue what I am on about :D
Thanks, Mike. Sure enough I did find that /root/.mozilla was taking up a lot of space. I'll try some of your suggestions when I can. But I found something taking up even more space! More below...

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mikeb
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#14 Post by mikeb »

Holding breath...well sounds like you have found the main problem and we wait with open arms.

As to questions from others (and worth asking) ..it may be worth starting fresh threads to avoid confusing the op and the thread here since the answers may get involved.

mike

Chases_Kangaroos
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Joined: Tue 20 Jan 2015, 04:58

the culprit

#15 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

It turns out that one single file was hogging well over a gigabyte -- more than half of my personal space.

Rather than try to learn gdmap, I painstakingly went through the /initrd/pup_ro1 directory, right-clicking on every folder and sub-folder and viewing their properties. Time-consuming, yes, but effective. (I should also alert anyone else with a similar problem: Both of my two largest folders were hidden, and I could not see them until right-clicking within the /root folder, choosing "Display" and then "Show Hidden". Then /.mozilla appeared, along with many others including /.pmusic. The latter, I've deduced, is a multimedia player which I had used to play back a test recording I made on my iPod. Although I had already removed or deleted the recording, a copy had apparently been saved in that folder after I played it. The recording was well over an hour long, so no wonder it took up so much space! Within seconds of deleting the file, I saw my "personal space" cylinder go almost completely full again. Yay!

Thanks to everyone who replied.

One last question: Could a lack of personal storage space explain either my sudden inability to save a picture from a web page (I right-click the picture and choose "save image" but no save dialog appears)? Could the lack of space explain why I got an error when I tried to transfer a bunch of photos from my camera's SD card to my hard drive? Only a few files were moved and the rest failed, causing both the originals and the would-be copies to be unviewable! My personal storage space icon showed I had over 250 M of space, and I'd have thought that would be plenty for the jobs I've mentioned! But both problems appeared about the same time the space issue appeared.

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mikeb
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#16 Post by mikeb »

pmusic ... no comment :roll:

deadbeef is a good solid player (and batch converter :) ) and there are others around.

With a usb install your current session is in RAM... so the space in there is what counts...there are periodic saves to the save file but unless its changed that does not free up space in the ram...so not sure of your symptoms described....though its unlikely a co incidence.

mike

Chases_Kangaroos
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#17 Post by Chases_Kangaroos »

That's a good point, Mike (about RAM). I would think my 12 GB is enough since I'm usually only using it to run Firefox (albeit with half a dozen tabs or more often open at a time) plus the Geany text editor (with usually three or four tabs open at a time) plus whatever always runs in the background. And on occasion I've had a ton more stuff open and could still save images and move files around without errors.

I've really got to learn how to install packages. There are many programs that people suggest. That's another topic, but that might also help me here because my Firefox is way outdated (being the version that came with my Slacko Puppy install -- 17.0).

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mikeb
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#18 Post by mikeb »

12gb ram...well not a problem really. I have 512MB plus 512 - 1GB swap.
With puppy i run it all in ram plus software and the save so I think you have no space issues there.

The ram disk would end up roughly half of what you have..not sure if there is an upper limit.

I normally run firefox 3.6 but thats just me...the later ones get a bit bloated with the profiles for my liking not to mention the program is 3 times the size :D.

sfs is a nice way to try out software as it loads and unloads cleanly... but the smaller stuff tends not to come that way..shame really.

Otherwise run pfix=ram for testing... some have an addon to choose to save at shutdown for usb installs.

mike

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