From: Rogier Wolff Subject: Re: ext3: deleting files doesn't free up space Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:48:10 +0100 Message-ID: <20110110074810.GB21505@bitwizard.nl> References: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Cc: LKML , linux-ext4@vger.kernel.org To: Dan Carpenter Return-path: Received: from dtp.xs4all.nl ([80.101.171.8]:43964 "HELO abra2.bitwizard.nl" rhost-flags-OK-OK-OK-FAIL) by vger.kernel.org with SMTP id S1751418Ab1AJHsM (ORCPT ); Mon, 10 Jan 2011 02:48:12 -0500 Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: Sender: linux-ext4-owner@vger.kernel.org List-ID: On Mon, Jan 10, 2011 at 08:22:25AM +0300, Dan Carpenter wrote: > I filled up my partition last night. > I deleted 5 gigs of movies. > The "Used" number went down to 125G. > The "Free" number stayed at 0. > I rebooted the system but it's still the same. Hi Dan, The system keeps at least 5 or 10% of the total space free so that it will always be able to find a reasonably unfragmented spot for a new big file. That same 5 or 10% CAN be written by the root-user in emergencies. But "root" should know it can affect the peformance of his filesystem. Anyway, because you're still using part of the 5 - 10% reserved-for-performance reasons, "df" will report the user-available space as zero. Roger. -- ** R.E.Wolff@BitWizard.nl ** http://www.BitWizard.nl/ ** +31-15-2600998 ** ** Delftechpark 26 2628 XH Delft, The Netherlands. KVK: 27239233 ** *-- BitWizard writes Linux device drivers for any device you may have! --* Q: It doesn't work. A: Look buddy, doesn't work is an ambiguous statement. Does it sit on the couch all day? Is it unemployed? Please be specific! Define 'it' and what it isn't doing. --------- Adapted from lxrbot FAQ