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since a few weeks, I faced the same problem several times. All of a sudden, I get a system message like "0 bytes memory left on hard drive". Naturally, programs stop working normally and I can't save my files any more. But the weird thing is that I normally use only <10% of my hard drive memory.

So I run

> sudo du -x / | sort -n | tail

which shows that most memory (around 316 GB) is used in /var/lib/apt/lists/partial.

> cd /var/lib/apt/lists/partial && ls -lS | head

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 323832110603 Jul  9 12:07 archive.canonical.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_partner_binary-i386_Packages.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     35325738 Apr 24 20:40 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_universe_binary-i386_Packages.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     31033131 Apr 24 20:45 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_universe_source_Sources.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     20363078 Apr 23 17:50 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_universe_i18n_Translation-en.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root     10157032 Okt 28  2014 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_universe_i18n_Translation-de.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      8294644 Apr 24 20:39 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_main_binary-i386_Packages.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      5114062 Apr 24 20:44 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_main_source_Sources.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      4235430 Apr 23 17:50 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_main_i18n_Translation-en.bz2
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root      3456337 Okt 28  2014 de.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_main_i18n_Translation-de.bz2

Obviously there is one terribly large file archive.canonical.com_ubuntu_dists_vivid_partner_binary-i386_Packages.bz2.

I saw no other option but to delete this file manually. After that, everything worked fine. Since then, the same thing reoccurred 2 times about every two weeks.

Can anyone explain this strange behaviour, and what can I do about it?

Thanks in advance!

Regards, Juri

Juri Romazanov
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  • Use a different repository and then check.. – heemayl Jul 09 '15 at 11:25
  • @heemayl, thanks for your answer, but it didn't solve my problem: I switched from de.archive.ubuntu.com to another nearby server called vesta.informatik.rwth-aachen.de. Today I got the same problem again: /var/lib/apt/lists/partial contains a file "vesta.informatik.rwth-aachen.de_ftp_pub_Linux_ubuntu_ubuntu_dists_vivid-updates_main_source_Sources.bz2" with ~300 GB size – Juri Romazanov Jul 10 '15 at 09:35
  • Check if this answer helps.. – heemayl Jul 11 '15 at 16:13

1 Answers1

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If you really need to save these files, you will have to move (i.e copy, and delete originals) them to a different media. Thy appear too large to save on a DVD, so either a tape drive or a large memory stick. OTOH the files look by their names like installation file, including sources. Why save them? Rather delete them and find a way to backup your currens working system (my personal choice is Remastersys)

Also look for a program call Bleachbit, which help clear away unused file: temporary downloads, old logs etc.

Try sudo apt-get clean to delete old update kits (not the updates themselves, just the downloded kits)

If you run Thunderbird, compact your folders, or whatever works on your email/nntp reader

And the easy & dumb solution: Buy disk space...

Mike R
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  • The problem is with apt..this is not a permanent solution, requiring same action frequently.. – heemayl Jul 09 '15 at 11:22
  • Mike R, thanks for your answer and especially for Bleachbit -- I will certainly try this out. As to the files, I don't want to save them of course, I want to get rid of them. But as heemayl pointed out, it's not the best solution having to clear the apt lists frequently. Also I don't think it is normal for an update file to be > 300 GB large. I rather think my memory gets corrupted in some way. – Juri Romazanov Jul 10 '15 at 09:45