I Created symblink using terminal so I can relocate several folders (example Garageband loops) from Drive library / application support folder, unto a external drive.
I see the aliases which replaced the actual folders and Apple loops work flawlessly, how ever after moving 60GB of files zero space had been saved.
Can anyone please advise to what is the cause of this?
MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15
Carbon Copy Cloner application may need a Tweak to how the Snap Shot are Stored and Deleted by CCC
Depending on what version is used as there are two Supported Version affecting Catalina https://bombich.com/download
Version CCC 5.1.28
Version CCC 6.1.1
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc6/leveraging-snapshots-on-apfs-volumes
Carbon Copy Cloner application may need a Tweak to how the Snap Shot are Stored and Deleted by CCC
Depending on what version is used as there are two Supported Version affecting Catalina https://bombich.com/download
Version CCC 5.1.28
Version CCC 6.1.1
https://bombich.com/kb/ccc6/leveraging-snapshots-on-apfs-volumes
What is “Other” storage on a Mac, and how can I clean it out?
Free up storage space on your Mac
How to delete Time Machine snapshots on your Mac
See used and available storage space on your Mac
Locate backups of your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch
The final word from Apple on Managing the " Other " Category.
Do not shoot the messenger those are Apples' words.
Other: Contains files that don’t fall into the categories listed here. This category primarily includes files and data used by the system, such as log files, caches, VM files, and other runtime system resources. Also included are temporary files, fonts, app support files, and plug-ins. You can't manage the contents of this category. The contents are managed by macOS, and the category varies in size depending on the current state of your Mac.
I forgot to add that after I relocated all the GarageBand and apple sound libraries via Logic on my friends MacBook the internal drive showed 98GB available instead of 50GB, which worked.but then after restarting it showed 49GB!
I tried looking for the files and they showed the alias symbols, then I tried turning on invisible mode to see if there where invisible folders but I found none, this is a 500GB drive, only 280GB are now been used when I check by highlighting all the folders....where the rest of those GB are is beyond me., the screenshot shows that the largest folder (Users) is 90GB ...
well well well
diskutil apfs listSnapshots /=
% diskutil apfs listSnapshots /
No snapshots for disk1s5
How ever tmutil listlocalsnapshots / =
This means carbonCopy cloner is the culprit to the symlink bug,
in other words (iam suspecting) that it created snapshots of its own after restoring a user after a clean install of Catalina, so when I create a symlink it does not erase the files but puts them in the snapshot! whats the point of trying to save space or use certain files on a. faster drive if this is the case right?
just look at the "OTHER" files in this screenshot
GavrielTech wrote:
I Created symblink using terminal so I can relocate several folders (example Garageband loops) from Drive library / application support folder, unto a external drive.
I see the aliases which replaced the actual folders and Apple loops work flawlessly, how ever after moving 60GB of files zero space had been saved.
Can anyone please advise to what is the cause of this?
Relocate as in Move from original location to new location or Copy from Original Location to new location ?
AFAIK Move meant removing from one place and putting in new location.
Copy will leave originals where they are now and place a Replicate of original in new location.
no, relocate meaning moving the folders and contents to a new drive then linking them like aliases.
But after Catalina its required to use Symlinks instead of aliases, at least for root related files like GarageBand samples etc
https://www.switchingtomac.com/tutorials/osx/how-to-create-symlinks-on-your-mac/
Terminal ln -s destination location
drag drop a folder or type path
Freeing up disk space - Time Machine snapshots
Applications -> Utilities -> Terminal
tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
Snapshots for volume group containing disk /:
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-142742.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-163342.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-174425.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-192243.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-203820.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-222814.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-01-232930.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-02-002823.local
com.apple.TimeMachine.2021-04-02-012748.local
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots 2021-04-01-142742 # deletes 1 snapshot
tmutil deletelocalsnapshots / # deletes all the snapshots
Also see:
diskutil apfs listSnapshots /
none of these links apps etc resolve my problem
Maybe I need to be more clear,
-> I relocated 50GB of apple loops via Logic Pro for someone on their MacBook,
Logic basically moved them from the computer (not user) library/applications support folder to a external drive succcesfully, I checked and see the alias folders aka symlinks in the internal drive, 50GB free internally.
On the external drive Logic recreated a folder called Library/Application support/ GarageBand and Apple loops
All of what I mentioned above went well and is normal, however, upon restarting the next day while we can confirm all works well the internal drive appeared to again have 50GB less as if the folders where never moved....the screenshots I shared in the previous post also shows that only 300GB of a 500 GB drive is used yet it says only 50GB are available when it should be in the area of 200GB.
I appreciate your time and effort, I just deleted another 35GB and no indication has been made in the drive info in any way...still says 45GB left the MacBook lol.
time to do a clean install again
thanks
If there are file system snapshots the storage may be shared between the file you see, and the snapshot. If you delete the file you see, then the snapshot inherits the storage, and nothing goes to the free list. You need to check if you have snapshots.
Issues the following 2 commands:
tmutil listlocalsnapshots /
diskutil apfs listSnapshots /
still no word from CCC after raising a ticket ,
remind you this is the same company alike super duper who speculated reasons for Apple going un announced about a moving forward using multiple volumes with Catalina, how pale upset everyone and in later emails they pretended not to remember why they where upset and instead insisted I use a different workflow, well look what happened now lol and its been days...im starting not to trust CarbonCopyCloner at all.
That is good news.
You are welcome and thank you too.
Do come back to the Apple Support Communities ( ASC ) in the future, if / or when additional questions may arise
Timemachine?
i dont even use time machine…will this cause trouble?
I already sent them messages via the app with the log as they require, I have both v5 and v6 but prefer to use v5 in Catalina
this led me to re installing Catalina and restoring from a time machine back up I forgot about which was only a few days old, everything else synced over iCloud, works like a charm !
thanks!
Need help with issue due to Symblinks