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User profile for user: TraceyMBP
TraceyMBP Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Hidden Storage/Inaccurate iCloud storage since Mojave installation

Hi All...

I am at my wits end with my MacBook Pro (13" mid 2012-that I bought new from Best Buy in January 2015).


All issues began when I installed Mojave. I am now 2 months in on troubleshooting and have been to the genius bar as well-without resolution. While I have multiple issues, the most pressing is storage. I received a message regarding low storage and began moving files to an external drive and deleting the files. I have the 2TB iCloud storage plan and have now deleted all of my documents from there as well. I added 4GB of ram immediately after upgrading to Mojave thinking that low ram was causing my Creative Cloud issues. I've run a malware program and it always comes up clean.


Problems are as follows:

  1. When I delete HUGE folders (ie. 10 plus GB), my storage decreases.
  2. In "Storage Information", my system displays 100.61 GB in Documents, but finder shows that I have 1.02 GB in Documents.
  3. iCloud shows that I have 297 GB used and icloud.com shows that I have no files in the desktop or documents folders (because I have moved and deleted all). Icloud has not updated the "used storage" in weeks now, even after transferring then deleting hundreds of GB's from it. Separate note-My goal here is to reduce to the 200GB plan because I have now subscribed to a more reliable/user-friendly cloud program (5TB on iDrive) as well as backing up my photos to Amazon photos (unlimited free cloud storage with Prime-though I paid to upgrade the storage for videos).
  4. Also in "Storage Information", 152.91 GB displays under "System" and I cannot find the root of that storage (it's not Apps, Music, or Photos because those show separately).
  5. Can't delete the Music Creation or Garage Band app even though I've tried more than a dozen times and the process still runs
  6. My processes are at an all time high and processes on apps that I don't even use are running
  7. I have now deleted Creative Cloud entirely from my MacBook because the processes were clogging up all of my ram-even with the 4GB upgrade in ram


Basically, none of the storage numbers are adding up and I have been unable to locate any hidden folders or files using the extra storage. I have tried disk utility over and over.


Since upgrading to Mojave...

  1. My battery has failed (and has now been replaced and is worse than it was just before I upgraded from High Sierra when it lasted about 8 hours).
  2. My Creative Cloud apps won't even open and I use them daily for work. I downgraded to Illustrator 2018 and was able to open illustrator, but working on a file is a nightmare.
  3. Beachballing is at an all time high.
  4. My latest EtreCheck shows that my hard drive might now be failing (when it was just fine a month ago when I did the last check).
  5. Time Machine says "preparing back-up" for days without ever beginning.


Thankfully, I also have a 27" iMac that is still running on High Sierra (thank gosh Mojave failed to update on it!!) so Creative Cloud works there, and when I delete files my storage increases-as it should.


Any and all thoughts would be appreciated!


MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 24, 2019 2:49 PM

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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,585 points

Posted on May 24, 2019 4:09 PM

First, boot into Safe Mode and check your storage from there. Any change? Reboot normally and check again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing some system cache cleaning, volume verifying and directory repairing.


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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,585 points

May 27, 2019 9:05 AM in response to TraceyMBP

That's entirely much too long for safe mode booting. It usually indicates a problem with the hard drive or there was some serious repairs going on.


Upon reboot did the available space increase when using the Info pane for your hard drive?


Boot into the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down), select Disk Utility and run First Aid. If it indicates that repairs were made repeat the First Aid until there's no mention of repairs. Then reboot normally.


The graphical representation of storage is known to be widely inaccurate.


In order to get an idea of how your system is configured download and run Etrecheck. Etrecheck is a diagnostic tool that was developed by one of the most respected users here in the ASC and recommended by Apple Support  to provide a snapshot of the system and help identify the more obvious culprits that can adversely affect a Mac's performance.


Copy the report


and use the Add Text button to include the report in your reply. How to use the Add Text Feature When Posting Large Amounts of Text, i.e. an Etrecheck Report


Before running Etrecheck assign Full Disk Access to Etrecheck so that it can get additional information from the Console and log files for the report:



The report will tell us if there's anything installed that might be the culprit and, if so, it would come back if you reinstalled everything from your backup.

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User profile for user: TraceyMBP
TraceyMBP Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 26, 2019 6:02 PM in response to Old Toad

Thank you very much for responding! I took your advice immediately upon receiving your response and following is the update...


-Safe Mode took about an hour and 20 minutes to load to the sign in screen.

-Storage did not change at all

-The time machine option came up and I selected it to see what happened. This is the first time my time machine is actually in progress and has been running ever since. I am about 48 hours in and have 76 GB of 477GB backed up (still in safe mode). It's slow going, but I'm thrilled that it's still progressing.


Several weeks ago, the genius bar suggested that I bring in my MacBook Pro and have them wipe my machine and go back to High Sierra which they will load from a disk. The biggest issue with doing that is not having a time machine back-up.


Question is, do you think my issues will come back when I re-load my backup from time machine? What could be causing 140+ GB in "system"?


Thanks!

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User profile for user: Old Toad
Old Toad
User level: Level 10
210,585 points

May 28, 2019 9:33 AM in response to TraceyMBP

You have some symantec software installed. It's software is know to be poorly written for Macs and are not needed. Uninstall according to the developer's instructions


Also what is the WDDriveUtilityHelper software for? If you're using out to control another hard drive as a OS X Extended (journaled) drive it's not necessary and can only interfere with the operating syst3em's management of the external drive. Just because a drive came with such software doesn't mean it's necessary to use with a Mac.


Your report indicates it's been 3 days since your last boot? If you tried the Safe Mode that can't be correct or have you been running in Safe Mode all this time?



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User profile for user: TraceyMBP
TraceyMBP Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

May 29, 2019 4:54 PM in response to Old Toad

The symantic software I have is for my VPN. I don't believe I can delete without no longer having a VPN. If you know differently, please let me know.


WD Drive is one of 2 external drives that I use for back-up and time machine. If the software is not needed, I am totally cool with getting rid of it.


When I sent you the EtreCheckPro report, I had been in safe mode since receiving your first email because it is the first and only time my time machine was working. When my network went down (as it does sometimes because I have Spectrum), I decided to try to reboot normally to see if my time machine would work normally. It did not and reverted back to "preparing back-up".


I booted up in Recovery mode, per your suggestion above, and did first aid on every drive option available. All came back clear on the first try. I rebooted again normally and again, Time Machine would not work.


I have currently been back in Safe Mode since 1pm yesterday to finish my time machine back-up. I have about 170GB out of 466GB to go before this backup completes. I don't have a specific Time Machine back-up for this Mac and need one before I take my laptop to the Apple store for the High Sierra install because they are wiping it entirely. My biggest question/issue now is if I restore to this back-up once High Sierra is installed, will I be bringing all of the same problems back? Other than that, I still haven't figured out why iCloud is stuck and that came up as major on EtreCheck. I tried to sign out and it's all stuck somewhere in limbo at the moment.

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Hidden Storage/Inaccurate iCloud storage since Mojave installation

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