Hard Drive Conundrum

bezoar · 03-04-2004, 11:22 AM

I have a G3 iBook SE with a 10GB HD. Approx. 2 GB is iTunes. I have 2 iPods (his n' hers). I want to install OS 10.3 but fall about 200MB's short on disk space.
My question: If I delete my music library it will free up 2 GB.
Will my playlists still reflect the songs on the iPod and will I still be able to download songs and update the 'pod without the Library holding any music. I really want to get 10.3 on this iBook but can't right now. Is my idea correct or WAY off base? Thanks to any and all.

hayne · 03-04-2004, 11:29 AM

I don't think that will work. I think iTunes will notice that you removed the songs from the disk.
But you could test your idea by just removing one of the songs and then doing a sync.

trevor · 03-04-2004, 12:23 PM

This is from the "advice you didn't really ask for" department, so forgive me for that, but your iBook's hard drive is now at least three years old (I'm working on the assumption that this is the iBook SE {Firewire} 2nd edition, which shipped with a 10 GB hard drive between 9/13/2000 and 5/1/2001). I'm guessing it is small for what you are trying to do, and you feel a bit cramped with it. Also, three years is about the lifespan of hard drives, especially the little 2.5" drives that take a lot more abuse because they are constantly being moved around. However, the computer itself is still an excellent, useful computer. So my advice is:

Buy a 2.5" firewire drive.

If you are comfortable working inside your iBook, swap the new drive from the firewire case into the iBook and the small-capacity iBook drive into the firewire case. (If you aren't comfortable working inside your iBook, have a competent Mac tech do the work for you.)

Boot from the firewire drive, which will have your current system, and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive exactly onto your new larger drive. Keep the firewire drive around as a backup, and for extra storage, and even for moving files between your computer and your wife's.

Enjoy your computer with it's faster, larger, reliable drive.

Trevor

acme.mail.order · 03-07-2004, 12:17 AM

If you do a custom install you can save up to 50% of required space. De-select any language you don't understand, printers you don't own, apps you already have (run updater for new iCal, photo, safari etc.) and look through ALL the sub-menus for anything else not needed/wanted. Dropping the BSD subsystem saves space, but I'd keep that one around.

also go through your disk and empty cache folders and dump extra languages. Search for '.lproj' files - perfectly safe to trash them unless you need to run the machine in that language. You will need to be an admin/root user to remove many language resources. Movies and unused applications are also big disk space hogs.

Clearing out 400Mb isn't difficult!

03-04-2004, 11:22 AM	#1
bezoar Prospect Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: KY Posts: 4	Hard Drive Conundrum I have a G3 iBook SE with a 10GB HD. Approx. 2 GB is iTunes. I have 2 iPods (his n' hers). I want to install OS 10.3 but fall about 200MB's short on disk space. My question: If I delete my music library it will free up 2 GB. Will my playlists still reflect the songs on the iPod and will I still be able to download songs and update the 'pod without the Library holding any music. I really want to get 10.3 on this iBook but can't right now. Is my idea correct or WAY off base? Thanks to any and all.

03-04-2004, 12:23 PM	#3
trevor Moderator Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Boulder, CO USA Posts: 19,550	This is from the "advice you didn't really ask for" department, so forgive me for that, but your iBook's hard drive is now at least three years old (I'm working on the assumption that this is the iBook SE {Firewire} 2nd edition, which shipped with a 10 GB hard drive between 9/13/2000 and 5/1/2001). I'm guessing it is small for what you are trying to do, and you feel a bit cramped with it. Also, three years is about the lifespan of hard drives, especially the little 2.5" drives that take a lot more abuse because they are constantly being moved around. However, the computer itself is still an excellent, useful computer. So my advice is: Buy a 2.5" firewire drive. If you are comfortable working inside your iBook, swap the new drive from the firewire case into the iBook and the small-capacity iBook drive into the firewire case. (If you aren't comfortable working inside your iBook, have a competent Mac tech do the work for you.) Boot from the firewire drive, which will have your current system, and use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your old drive exactly onto your new larger drive. Keep the firewire drive around as a backup, and for extra storage, and even for moving files between your computer and your wife's. Enjoy your computer with it's faster, larger, reliable drive. Trevor __________________ How to ask questions the smart way

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03-04-2004, 11:29 AM	#2
hayne Site Admin Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Montreal Posts: 31,941	I don't think that will work. I think iTunes will notice that you removed the songs from the disk. But you could test your idea by just removing one of the songs and then doing a sync.

03-07-2004, 12:17 AM	#4
acme.mail.order League Commissioner Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Tokyo Posts: 6,045	If you do a custom install you can save up to 50% of required space. De-select any language you don't understand, printers you don't own, apps you already have (run updater for new iCal, photo, safari etc.) and look through ALL the sub-menus for anything else not needed/wanted. Dropping the BSD subsystem saves space, but I'd keep that one around. also go through your disk and empty cache folders and dump extra languages. Search for '.lproj' files - perfectly safe to trash them unless you need to run the machine in that language. You will need to be an admin/root user to remove many language resources. Movies and unused applications are also big disk space hogs. Clearing out 400Mb isn't difficult!