I have a Power Mac G3 with a hard drive that is almost full. We have removed large amounts of files but only a fraction of the space is opening up. Does anyone know what could be causing this and how to remedy it?
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Power Mac G3 running out of storage space
- Thread starter Robert3021
- Start date
If you have OSX installed on it this is a tool I've used with great success, I'm not sure which versions of OSX it supports but it's a free tool so won't hurt to try. I'm sure there may be other tools as well but this is one I have used personally. http://www.derlien.com/
Are you running OS 9 (or earlier), or OS X? How have you been removing the files?
We are running OS 8.6. The file are put in the trash which is then emptied.
After some additional digging i found that my G3 has an ATA-HD with 128 GB but when I select the (about this Mac) it is showing there is only 192 MB of space on the computer. Could this be why I am having storage space issues? Is this a sign the hard drive is going bad?
If I remember correctly problems start with volume sizes after about 125GB once Mac OS 9 or ATA is used. ATA won't support more than 137GB per volume unless the firmware is up to date and Mac OS 9 also starts having problems as well with volume sizes above 190GB. I am open to correction on the numbers.
My suggestion is to either
a. install AFP onto your NAS and back up files onto your NAS or
b. get a second ATA-drive and plug it in as the slave and use that for backup or
c. get yourself an old external harddisk that supports FireWire 400 or 800. Old LaCie drives are good.
BTW, what is actually taking up all of the space? Do you have many ISO-files or toast images? Large swapfiles from audio or video work?
Is there any low-hanging fruit that can be first plucked?
My suggestion is to either
a. install AFP onto your NAS and back up files onto your NAS or
b. get a second ATA-drive and plug it in as the slave and use that for backup or
c. get yourself an old external harddisk that supports FireWire 400 or 800. Old LaCie drives are good.
BTW, what is actually taking up all of the space? Do you have many ISO-files or toast images? Large swapfiles from audio or video work?
Is there any low-hanging fruit that can be first plucked?
About This Mac will only show the amount of memory in the computer, but not the space on the hard drive. To get a correct amount of disk space available, select the hard drive icon, then do command-I (Get Info). It will tell you how much space you have on the hard drive. You can also double-click on the hard drive's icon, then look just below the title bar of the window that opens. It'll tell you how much space is free.
With respect to the amount of RAM on the computer, I'd go ahead and upgrade it to 1GB from 192MB. Memory is still somewhat affordable for the PowerMac G3 systems. You'll want to turn off the memory check at startup, by holding down command and option while double-clicking on the Memory control panel icon, otherwise, it may take a long time for the computer to start up.
With respect to the amount of RAM on the computer, I'd go ahead and upgrade it to 1GB from 192MB. Memory is still somewhat affordable for the PowerMac G3 systems. You'll want to turn off the memory check at startup, by holding down command and option while double-clicking on the Memory control panel icon, otherwise, it may take a long time for the computer to start up.
Memory and storage are two separate pools that perform separate functions on computers.
Memory, which is what you're looking at when you go to "About this Mac..." is where the stuff your computer is actively working on lives. More memory can mean more open programs or it can mean the existing programs can each open more or bigger files.
Storage is of course disk space - the software itself and the data itself when they're at rest.
Some things will occupy both spaces when running.
Newer computers can use memory to do other tricks to make things feel faster but Classic Mac OS doesn't really have any of those tricks so you don't gain anything from putting much more in than you're going to use.
192 megabytes of memory should be fine, it'll be a little tight for multi-tasking or heavy pro software but anything less than that it'll be good.
My comfort zone for a multi-tasking workflow with Mac OS 9 is about 256 megs of RAM. Anything more is really just extra for dual boot OS X systems or if you're doing work that's probably better done in OS X anyway.
There are a few (typically minor) disadvantages to running Classic Mac OS on a computer with a full gig of RAM Installed, namely each program takes a little bit more of the active memory because Virtual Memory has to be turned off some some tricks the OS can do to reduce memory usage are no longer in play.
I typically recommend leaving virtual memory on unless you have a Good Reason to turn it off.
The Beige G3s support 768 and the Blue G3s support 1GB, but if you're getting by fine with 192, that's not really where any of your problems are.
Look around on the system for old data files that are big, you can check on the size of each file by hitting command+I or clicking on it then using the menu to go to File -> Get Info. Deleting large numbers of small files doesn't always make a big dent in total usage, especially on big disks.
If your computer is still on its original hard disk from up to 25 years ago, it may be time to look for replacements. The stock disks in most G3s were 4, 6, or 8-gig Quantum IDE drives, which probably felt like a lot in 1997-99 but if you've put 25 years worth of data on it, may be filling up.
One more thought: Are you at the metal fabrication shop? We had another forum member from there, if they're still available to you, they may be able to help, but I think there may also be community members from there. It may be worth posting a feeler for vintage mac support services, maybe someone from the area would be willing to hop over and take a look in person or perhaps over a video call, just depending.
Memory, which is what you're looking at when you go to "About this Mac..." is where the stuff your computer is actively working on lives. More memory can mean more open programs or it can mean the existing programs can each open more or bigger files.
Storage is of course disk space - the software itself and the data itself when they're at rest.
Some things will occupy both spaces when running.
Newer computers can use memory to do other tricks to make things feel faster but Classic Mac OS doesn't really have any of those tricks so you don't gain anything from putting much more in than you're going to use.
192 megabytes of memory should be fine, it'll be a little tight for multi-tasking or heavy pro software but anything less than that it'll be good.
My comfort zone for a multi-tasking workflow with Mac OS 9 is about 256 megs of RAM. Anything more is really just extra for dual boot OS X systems or if you're doing work that's probably better done in OS X anyway.
There are a few (typically minor) disadvantages to running Classic Mac OS on a computer with a full gig of RAM Installed, namely each program takes a little bit more of the active memory because Virtual Memory has to be turned off some some tricks the OS can do to reduce memory usage are no longer in play.
I typically recommend leaving virtual memory on unless you have a Good Reason to turn it off.
The Beige G3s support 768 and the Blue G3s support 1GB, but if you're getting by fine with 192, that's not really where any of your problems are.
Look around on the system for old data files that are big, you can check on the size of each file by hitting command+I or clicking on it then using the menu to go to File -> Get Info. Deleting large numbers of small files doesn't always make a big dent in total usage, especially on big disks.
If your computer is still on its original hard disk from up to 25 years ago, it may be time to look for replacements. The stock disks in most G3s were 4, 6, or 8-gig Quantum IDE drives, which probably felt like a lot in 1997-99 but if you've put 25 years worth of data on it, may be filling up.
One more thought: Are you at the metal fabrication shop? We had another forum member from there, if they're still available to you, they may be able to help, but I think there may also be community members from there. It may be worth posting a feeler for vintage mac support services, maybe someone from the area would be willing to hop over and take a look in person or perhaps over a video call, just depending.
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