"System" taking up 285 GB of space

[amandadvc]

Useful tip, thanks. [

 

[Weaselboy]

So if you reboot after that how does the space used look?

 

[amandadvc]

So if you reboot after that how does the space used look?

It's got worse. 97GB, although dropeed to 95GB while I was typing this reply.

 

[Weaselboy]

Do you have Time Machine backup turned on?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204015

That creates local snapshots that can use space and sometimes that does not purge like it should.

Try running this in Terminal and give it a few minutes to finish. That will wipe and snapshots.

tmutil  listlocalsnapshotdates / |grep 20|while read f; do tmutil deletelocalsnapshots $f; done

 

[amandadvc]

Hi Weaselboy, I've run that and restarted. System is now at 93GB. Do you think it is a failing drive and, if so, is there anything I can do to fix it? Thank you so much for all your help so far.

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi Weaselboy, I've run that and restarted. System is now at 93GB. Do you think it is a failing drive and, if so, is there anything I can do to fix it? Thank you so much for all your help so far.

I'm really running out of ideas. Do you still see that error message when you run Disk Utility first aid?

A last resort might be to backup, then go to Internet recovery and erase the drive, then restore the Time Machine backup.

 

[amandadvc]

I'm really running out of ideas. Do you still see that error message when you run Disk Utility first aid?

Yes, I still get 'operation failed'. File check exit code is 11 and problem 69842 occurs while restoring the original mount state. Whatever that means!

 

[Nubium]

Hi All, I am very new to this forum. I found this thread. I too have a system file of 285 GB. I do not use TM, I use CCC. Any help please?

 

[Weaselboy]

Hi All, I am very new to this forum. I found this thread. I too have a system file of 285 GB. I do not use TM, I use CCC. Any help please?

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /

Run this in Terminal and tell us the output. It takes minute or two to finish.

 

[Nubium]

Hi Weaselboy, thanks for answer. This was the output.

1    /home

1    /usr

du: /.Spotlight-V100: Operation not permitted

1    /net

0    /.PKInstallSandboxManager-SystemSoftware

1    /bin

8    /zzzzz-film-version

0    /Network

1    /sbin

du: /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC: Operation not permitted

6    /Library

0    /.Trashes

9    /System

1    /.fseventsd

du: /private/var/db/fpsd/dvp: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/db/dslocal/nodes: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/db/ConfigurationProfiles/Store: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/com.apple.progressd/ClassKit: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/com.apple.Safari/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/com.apple.LaunchServices.dv: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/0/com.apple.routined: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/C/com.apple.QuickLook.thumbnailcache: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/xf/3fqx5wdd3xbbcy93sc566jzh0000gn/C/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000sm00006d/0: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000sm00006d/C: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000y800007k/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/0/com.apple.progressd/ClassKit: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/0/com.apple.Safari/SafariFamily: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/0/com.apple.LaunchServices.dv: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/0/com.apple.nsurlsessiond: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/0/com.apple.routined/dv: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/C/com.apple.WebKit.WebContent.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/C/com.apple.QuickLook.thumbnailcache: Operation not permitted

du: /private/var/folders/g2/s1_jljcx5fjc9ryqw2tl9wn40000gp/C/com.apple.WebKit.Networking.Sandbox: Operation not permitted

11    /private

1    /.DocumentRevisions-V100

0    /.vol

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Application Support/MobileSync: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Application Support/CallHistoryTransactions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Application Support/CallHistoryDB: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/IdentityServices: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Messages: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/HomeKit: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Mail: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Suggestions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.VoiceMemos: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.Home: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.mail: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.news: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Containers/com.apple.stocks: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/PersonalizationPortrait: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Metadata/com.apple.IntelligentSuggestions: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Cookies: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Caches/com.apple.safaridavclient: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: /Users/Nubium 1/Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari.SafeBrowsing: Operation not permitted

218    /Users

10    /Applications

1    /dev

1    /VJ recording

0    /Volumes

0    /.TemporaryItems

0    /cores

260    /

260    total

Douglass-MBP-2:~ Nubium$

 

[Weaselboy]

218 /Users

You have something going on in that Users folder. I assume you don't have 218 GB of personal files?

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g ~/

Run this to drill down in that users folder a little more.

 

[Augustinas_Sk]

If you have adobe suite, you could also try to clear caches. It seems that cache is in Library folder which makes it a system folder. I've restored about 180 Gb of storage with that action.

 

[LuCe]

Hi all - I'm having a similar issue as other people: my system is taking 481 GB of 500 available. I ran the codes you recommended above and below is my output. Since everything looks alright, I tried to reindex spotlight, both with sudo mdutil -E ~/ and manually following these steps. In the former case, I got the error Error: unknown indexing state., while in the latter nothing happened. Also, I don't have TimeMachine back-ups turned on.

Can you please let me know what I can do? A few weeks ago I spent hours on the phone with Mac Assistance because there was a mistake with my iCloud account and finder, so I could not open any file. They had me to do a bunch of stuff so maybe something went wrong then?

Thank you in advance!

[/CODE]
luisas-mbp:~ luisacefala$ sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g

1 ./.config

1 ./Music

0 ./Pictures

1 ./Desktop

du: ./Library/Application Support/MobileSync: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Application Support/CallHistoryTransactions: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Application Support/CallHistoryDB: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/IdentityServices: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Messages: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/HomeKit: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Mail: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Safari: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Suggestions: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Containers/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Containers/com.apple.iChat: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Containers/com.apple.mail: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/PersonalizationPortrait: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Metadata/CoreSpotlight: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Metadata/com.apple.IntelligentSuggestions: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Cookies: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Caches/com.apple.HomeKit.configurations: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Caches/CloudKit/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

du: ./Library/Caches/com.apple.Safari: Operation not permitted

2 ./Library

1 ./.oracle_jre_usage

0 ./iCloud Drive (Archive)

1 ./.bash_sessions

0 ./Public

1 ./.dropbox

0 ./Movies

0 ./Applications

3 ./Dropbox

0 ./.Trash

0 ./.zoomus

1 ./Documents

1 ./Downloads

6 .

6 total

luisas-mbp:~ luisacefala$

 

[LuCe]

Following up to my previous post: I did the reboot and internet reboot, as suggested a few posts above, and this is what I got:

 

[Weaselboy]

Looks like the disk is corrupted somehow. Do you have a spare external USB drive you can use for a Time Machine backup? Then command-option-r boot to Internet recovery and erase the whole drive then restore from the TM disk.

 

[LuCe]

Thank you very much for your reply.
I am currently traveling ( !! ) but I will get one. Would you mind describing more in detail what I am supposed to do?
Thank you!

 

[Weaselboy]

Thank you very much for your reply.
I am currently traveling ( !! ) but I will get one. Would you mind describing more in detail what I am supposed to do?
Thank you!

You bet...

Get a USB external drive and attach. It should ask "do you want to use this for Time Machine".. say yes and let it format and complete the backup. Then detach and set aside.

Now reboot and hold command-option-r keys down (all three at once). Login to your wifi when prompted then you should see a grey spinning globe while the recovery utility downloads. Then the recovery screen will appear.

From that screen start Disk Utility and set it to Show All Device like in my screenshot. Then select the drive itself at the very top like where mine says Apple SSD. Then click the Erase button and select APFS and apply it to formate the entire drive to APFS. Hopefully this works with no error messages.

Just to be sure, after the erase, run First Aid on the drive to make sure those error messages are gone. If they are still there, I'm afraid you have a failing drive. If they are gone, go ahead and quit Disk Utility and click where is says restore from Time Machine. Attach your backup disk and follow the steps to restore everything.

 

[Pratik Pushp]

Hi There,

I'm facing similar issue in macOS Mojave 10.14.6. The issue started occurring when I tried to download the latest version of macOS . Sometimes the download got interrupted due to network issues and I believe the disk space is getting filled with the same.

This is what I found after running the suggested command here:-

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.SUCatalogDataManager

52 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/mds

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/softwareupdated

52 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C

52 total

The problem I'm facing is I am not able to delete the private/var files. The error is
“C” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by macOS.

Can you please suggest.

 

[Weaselboy]

How to Disable System Integrity Protection (rootless) in Mac OS X

Apple has enabled a new default security oriented featured called System Integrity Protection, often called rootless or SIP, in Mac OS from versions 10.11 onward. The SIP / rootless feature is aime…

osxdaily.com

Try following this to disable SIP, then delete that one folder, then reenable SIP.

Make sure you have a good backup first in case things go wrong.

 

[madrich]

Hi There,

I'm facing similar issue in macOS Mojave 10.14.6. The issue started occurring when I tried to download the latest version of macOS . Sometimes the download got interrupted due to network issues and I believe the disk space is getting filled with the same.

This is what I found after running the suggested command here:-

sudo du -d 1 -x -c -g /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate.SUCatalogDataManager

52 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/com.apple.SoftwareUpdate

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/mds

1 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C/softwareupdated

52 /private/var/folders/zz/zyxvpxvq6csfxvn_n00000s0000068/C

52 total

The problem I'm facing is I am not able to delete the private/var files. The error is
“C” can’t be modified or deleted because it’s required by macOS.

Can you please suggest.

When the system gets interrupted by network or power outage, the computer gets confused. My only suggestion is to erase the disk (backup your data first) and reinstall the OSX. Afterwards restore your data.