root partition full again (25gb)

[kbkb]

This may sound like a rant but I just want to state the facts.

I've been with LMDE since the launch. I am using the 64 bit edition using the default repositories.
I have three partitons installed on my HD. root(25gb) swap(5gb) and home(1.5TB)
A few months ago, I ran into a problem that my root was all used up. I don't know why but it was so I reinstalled and the problem went away.
I'm at that place once more. 0Mb. When I check the properties on a folder in that partition I get 0 MB. One folder I checked had a contents size of 470.07 TB (yes terrabytes).
Gparted says I have under 200mb on the root. As a result of the lack of space on my root, I am not able to rsync to my external hard drive.

Wine is still not an option for me. Yes I can hack it in but I rather not go down that route as I am a user of LMDE not a programmer of LMDE. I understand that LMDE is a bit rough on the edges, but these are internal matters that can and has compromised the stability of the OS.

I hope that this is helpful in being able to identify problems with this OS.

[mintybits]

I'd look at each directory from / down to find where all the space is being consumed. "sudo du -sh /*"
I can't comment on your 470TB file. Obviously this is an erroneous size.
If there is a continuing error condition the logs can fill up.

[jjaythomas]

Since you mentioned a external hard drive (what sise?)...

make sure/check all (if any) links are sybolic (only to diretories) not hard where the might sync files to the acual computer. Check links of apps exspecially (they some times save to app on root and not to a config on home)

J.Jay

[kbkb]

I appreciate the feedback. I reinstalled my OS on the root partition. That one great thing about Linux. You can restore your system quickly.
I`ll refer to these tips for the next time it happens.

[LZux]

Hello, you mention backup to an external drive. This may be of help or not.
I use to have a problem where the external drive was sometimes NOT mounted, but I had simple backups that still went to the mountpoint (eg /backup) - which is now on the root partition! If the external drive is later mounted, any data written to the root partition would be hidden.