hard disk free space(file system)

[kask1984]

hi every body i installed ubuntu 8.10 after installing windows xp.i allocated 90GB to ubuntu .i have stored my music,movie ec files in ubuntu partition. it is around 62GB(nearly) but the free space showing is only 2GB(nearly).where is the remaining space.
please help me.
thanks

[Herman]

The most common reason for the partition to seem full when viewed with some programs when you know it's really not full is the file system not having been made as large as the partition it is in, for some reason.
Some programs look at the partition and tell you it's not full and other programs are looking at the file system and telling you that the file system is full.
Both may be correct. The partition is like a container which the file system is housed in.

1. Boot your Live CD, open Gnome Partition Editor and right-click on the partition you want checked. Look in 'System-->'Administration'-->'Partition Editor'.
2. Right-click on your Ubuntu partition and select 'check' from the right-click menu. If 'check' is greyed out you might need to select 'unmount first, then click 'check'.
3. Click the 'Apply' check mark button up on the toolbar.
4. Click the 'Apply' button in the confirmation pop-up window
5. Watch the reciprocating bar for a few minutes, a very large file system may take a while
6. Click on the 'Details' triangle to expand the window
7. Click on the triangle in front of 'Check and repair filesystem (ext3_ on ....)' for details
8. If it's the Ext3 file system, GParted will have calibrated your file system first, run e2fsck -f -y -v on it for you, and finally run resize2fs for you to make sure your file system is the right size to fill your partition.

[hyper_ch]

post the output of

df -h

and

sudo fdisk -l

[kask1984]

output of df -h

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda4 89G 82G 2.3G 98% /
tmpfs 500M 0 500M 0% /lib/init/rw
varrun 500M 84K 500M 1% /var/run
varlock 500M 0 500M 0% /var/lock
udev 500M 2.8M 497M 1% /dev
tmpfs 500M 272K 500M 1% /dev/shm
lrm 500M 2.0M 498M 1% /lib/modules/2.6.27-11-generic/volatile
/dev/scd0 158M 158M 0 100% /media/cdrom0
/dev/sdb1 2.0G 2.6M 2.0G 1% /media/disk
/dev/sdc1 2.0G 556M 1.4G 29% /media/SHIVA


output of sudo fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xbe88be88

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 3824 30716248+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 3825 7648 30716280 f W95 Ext'd (LBA)
/dev/sda3 7649 7710 498015 82 Linux swap / Solaris
/dev/sda4 7711 19457 94357777+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda5 3825 7648 30716248+ 7 HPFS/NTFS

Disk /dev/sdb: 4089 MB, 4089446400 bytes
251 heads, 49 sectors/track, 649 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 12299 * 512 = 6297088 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4af14af0

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 326 1999928 b W95 FAT32
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(0, 1, 1) logical=(0, 1, 15)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(248, 250, 49) logical=(325, 55, 49)

Disk /dev/sdc: 2055 MB, 2055208960 bytes
16 heads, 32 sectors/track, 7840 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 512 * 512 = 262144 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xdd4328cc

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdc1 1 7840 2007024 b W95 FAT32

[ugm6hr]

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda4 89G 82G 2.3G 98% /

You have 82GB of data on there.

Have you run a backup?

Or copied and deleted files (but not emptied trash) etc?

[kask1984]

no i did not run backup

[ruel-]

maybe you have doubled some files, trashed some big ones.. or moved in different locations in the filesystem.. recheck your root folder and trash.,.

[ifyc576]

I also am quite new to Ubuntu. When I read this post, I was reminded to check for hidden files and/or folders. In Nautilus hit Ctrl H

I found a hidden folder that should have been trashed.

I was able to delete the folder and regain the hard disk space.

Hope this helps...

[=Planta=]

Hello there,

I believe Baobab (included by default in your Ubuntu 8.10) could be a great graphical tool for you to figure out which are the "villain directories" that take up so much space unexpectedly. It even deals with Linux hidden files and directories. You can access it by:

• Main Menu -> Accessories -> Disk Usage Analyzer
  or, from a terminal,
• $ baobab &

Then, to use it :

1. Click on the "Scan Filesystem" button
2. (Wait...)
3. Use the left panel to select directories and view per-directory disk usage data. You can use the graphical circular tree on the right to do the same, by hovering over a directory to have data popping up (after a <1sec delay), and by double-clicking an arc to make its directory the new root of the circular tree.
4. Track the big ones.

My machine is a dual/multi-boot like yours, but I keep Ubuntu in a reiserfs 8GB partition, and all personal files in a huge separate NTFS partition. Works fine, Ubuntu fits and the data is readable by both operating systems with no additional tweaks - I suggest you to do the same in a future installation.

== Apart from that... ==
By the way, what is going on with whichever storage device is under your /dev/sdb?

output of sudo fdisk -l
Disk /dev/sdb: 4089 MB, 4089446400 bytes
251 heads, 49 sectors/track, 649 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 12299 * 512 = 6297088 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x4af14af0
Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 326 1999928 b W95 FAT32
Partition 1 has different physical/logical beginnings (non-Linux?):
phys=(0, 1, 1) logical=(0, 1, 15)
Partition 1 has different physical/logical endings:
phys=(248, 250, 49) logical=(325, 55, 49)

It seems to be a 4GB device but with only one partition (/dev/sdb1) that uses only half of its capacity... Not to mention this creepy warning about physical/logical beginnings.. Are you aware of this?
As you have only 2.6M of personal data in there ...

output of df -h
/dev/sdb1 2.0G 2.6M 2.0G 1% /media/disk

... it would be pretty easy to backup this and then partition and format the device properly. If you are going to do it, make sure this device is really under /dev/sdb when following the instructions below:

PARTITIONING, as root, from a terminal:
# fdisk /dev/sdb
fdisk> d (deletes the only partition, sdb1)
fdisk> n (start creation of new partition)
fdisk>>> p (for primary)
fdisk>>> Enter (for default first_cylinder=1)
fdisk>>> Enter (for default last_cylinder=last, thus using the entire device)
fdisk> t (to set the type of the partition)
fdisk>>> b (for a FAT32 partition) OR l (for more options if this device is not a USB stick, then the 1-2 letter code for the desired option)
fdisk> w (apply these changes and quit) OR q (quit without modifying your device, as if you never entered fdisk)

FORMATING, as root, from a terminal:
# mkfs.vfat /dev/sdb1

Unplug and replug your device to see the changes.

CHECKING, as root, from a terminal:
# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
# df -haT /dev/sdb

Best of luck,
Planta.

[kask1984]

hai planta,
thanks for u r suggestions.
u r solution for my free space problem is solved. i tracked the large files and i deleted them( which were not useful to me).
4GB device is actually a pen(flash) drive.it is my friends pendrive.
u r correct that, even though it is 4GB capacity,system is recognizing only 2GB(half)
can u elaborate u r solution i am not able to follow.( i tried whatever i understood, (i executed commands as u posted) but it is not working )
thanks....