disk space
over time my available disk space goes down a little each day (mac os 10.4.7). some of this is from safari or other browser from cache, but what else causes this? i guess there are other caches and system logs etc, but is this all positive for a smooth running mac? is the system getting cluttered with other things and slowing down over time? is it important to clean all caches and logs etc or does mac run better if you just let it be. just curious, everything works perfect but i am trying to understand operating system etc. thanks.
Comments
Virtual memory is usually the biggest item that does this - it gets cleared on reboot.
but those get purged periodically.
Only if your computer is running at 3 am (or whatever it is), or you manually invoke the daily, weekly and monthly cron scripts (which can be done with the usual suspects such as Onyx).
Only if your computer is running at 3 am (or whatever it is), ....
It is my understanding that Kickaha is correct. If your computer is not running at the traditional cron scheduled time, the periodic tasks will run when your computer is turned on.
It is my understanding that Kickaha is correct. If your computer is not running at the traditional cron scheduled time, the periodic tasks will run when your computer is turned on.
where did you hear that? According to this (the first thing I could find with a quick google), and many things I've read since OS X came out, cron does not run tasks that it has missed due to the machine being asleep or shut down.
Noah
Well then, can someone post the Terminal script that will run the tasks?
Noah
I don't know how to do it with the terminal, I never bothered finding out because
Onyx is free, and does it and other useful stuff too.
where did you hear that? According to this (the first thing I could find with a quick google), and many things I've read since OS X came out, cron does not run tasks that it has missed due to the machine being asleep or shut down.
As of Tiger, cron is deprecated in favor of launchd, which can handle asynchronous tasks just fine.
sudo periodic daily weekly monthly
Or you can type just sudo periodic daily for example.
The launchd daemon from what I read is smart enough to run the missed tasks next time it is booted up though. Not 100% sure on this.
where did you hear that? According to this (the first thing I could find with a quick google), and many things I've read since OS X came out, cron does not run tasks that it has missed due to the machine being asleep or shut down.
I thought that too. I've seen machines used for months and the user never left the machine on overnight and the locate database was empty, which suggests to me the scripts hadn't been run.
Anyway, the most noticeable use of space is virtual memory. This usually frees itself up by quitting programs. Logging out would probably work but a restart definitely does.