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November 28, 2007

troubleshooting

iDisk sync file is insanely ginormous

Posted Nov. 28, ’07, 2:58 PM PT by Dan Pourhadi
Category | Troubleshooting

sparsesizebig-3.jpgDo us a favor: If you use .Mac iDisk syncing, go to your ~/Library/FileSync folder. In the numbery sub-folder, check the size of that “Sparse Disk Image Bundle” file. Is it…insanely ginormous? Because mine is. So is Dan #1’s and Derik’s. And it’s made us a little curious.

My iDisk itself is about 330MB. That image file? 59.03GB. I’m pretty lousy at math, but that number seems quite a bit larger. And we’re not the only people with this problem.

Turns out the image file isn’t really an image file per se, but rather a package (Ctrl-Click > Show Package Contents) with lots (thousands) of smaller files inside. But why’s it so large? We don’t know. The words “screwy,” “buggy,” and “messed up” come to mind.

So what’s the magic fix? That’s a lot of space to be gobbling up on your drive. Here’s what Apple says you need to do, in a Knowledge Base article on their support site:

If the amount of space being used by iDisk Syncing is much larger than expected, or if the amount of reported free space on your iDisk is inaccurate, you may need to disable iDisk Syncing.

Helpful, no? “If it hurts when you lift your arm…don’t lift your arm! Hahahaha!” One possible, simple workaround solution was offered in the Ars Technica thread, and seemed to sorta work for me (file went from 59GB to just a few gigabytes): just turn off syncing and turn it back on. But there’s no guarantee it’s a long-term fix — it may grow as time goes on, with each sync.

Apple does offer a glimmer of hope on the KB page:

This document will be updated as more information becomes available.

See? No worries. They got our backs. Tell us, dear readers: Do you have the same problem with iDisk syncing? Did the workaround work for you? Comments below. And check out the Ars Technica thread, Apple’s discussion thread, and their Knowledge Base article for more info.


11 Comments

Paul said:

Yes, mine was 79GB. So I turned off file syncing. I didn't turn it back on.

November 28, 2007 3:07 PM
Kate the M Author Profile Page said:

I just checked mine and it's a 426.1 MB for an iDisk that has 8.67 GB of capacity with only 49.6 MB currently on it. Intriguing.

November 28, 2007 3:44 PM
Kate the M Author Profile Page said:

update: Turned off iDisk syncing...or I would, if the spinning beach ball would just go the heck away. Eesh. Not feeling the love for the iDisk right now.

November 28, 2007 3:57 PM
Martin said:

I'm not sure if this is related. I use iDisk to sync important files between three Macs, and I get a little ticked off by the number of times it decides to sync the whole iDisk (which results in half an hour or so of beach-ball irritation), not just the one or two files that get changed regularly. Messed up? Maybe. Apple really need to fix this one.

November 28, 2007 6:42 PM
Rohit Joshi said:

I stopped using iDisk and switched to Mozy.com for now. Will wait for Apple to fix the problem.

November 28, 2007 9:35 PM
Klaus said:

I had the same problem (180GB image!!) - I deleted the image file - synced up again but left it at Manual instead of Automatic. If I make changes to the iDisk I just hit the sync button in Finder...

Not ideal but works for now...

November 28, 2007 9:38 PM
mouseorgan said:

This is weird but I have sync turned on and do not have this image file - just 52kb plain text file>

November 29, 2007 8:58 AM
stonefingers said:

has anyone else noticed that shutting down tends to take a lot, and i mean a LOT, longer, when iDisk is running (not as in "synch'ing", but simply on your desktop?) I never bothered to check the size of the file, but I wonder if there was a correlation. I got so fed up with it I just stopped using it....

November 29, 2007 11:04 AM
TranceMist Author Profile Page said:

18.49 gb, ouch.

November 29, 2007 7:24 PM
TranceMist Author Profile Page said:

18.49 gb, ouch.

Uh... does the file have holes?

November 29, 2007 7:25 PM
Beau Author Profile Page said:

Mine's bigger 200GB. Was wondering how I filled up the disk so fast!! Guess it's off for me until it's fixed.

November 30, 2007 1:47 PM

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