Mac Maintenance - hidden desktop files

So I'm trying to get more life out of my PowerBook G4, and I only have 6.33G of 74.41G disk space free (8.5%).

Where's all the stuff?

12:03 PM 3016 > du -k -d 1 | sort -n -r
60046424        .
53814684        ./Music
4304660 ./Desktop
1553812 ./Library
165748  ./Documents
116480  ./Pictures
54708   ./Projects
34856   ./FontExplorer X
940     ./.Trash
72      ./.razorsql
20      ./.subversion
16      ./Movies
12      ./bin
12      ./.transmission
8       ./Shared
8       ./Public
8       ./NIVdlj0508-0623.fpbf
4       ./.ssh
4       ./.config
0       ./TheVolumeSettingsFolder
0       ./Network Trash Folder

The huge amount of storage in Music I'm not surprised by, but what's that 4.3G in the Desktop folder?

12:03 PM 3017 > ls -l Desktop/
total 93536
drwxr-xr-x   11 steve  steve       374 Apr  3 09:57 08-03
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve    779925 Mar 28 10:28 4_findings.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve  18585738 Mar 20 11:04 MPlayerOSX_1.0rc1.dmg
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve     60164 Mar 21 15:53 Picture 1.png
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve     68683 Mar 26 17:55 Picture 2.png
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve    206265 Mar 21 13:35 T2 Brief March 2008.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve   3469366 Mar 21 13:49 access31.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve  24706623 Mar 20 11:06 vlc-0.8.6e.dmg

OK, so I have 40M of disk image files. That still leaves 4G unaccounted for!

12:14 PM 3019 > ls -al Desktop/
total 93672
drwx------   22 steve  steve       748 Apr  2 08:15 .
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Jul  3  2005 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1120423723
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Nov 16  2006 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1163745308
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 27 19:14 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811673
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 27 19:19 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811989
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 28 19:56 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900615
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 28 19:57 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900637
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 28 19:57 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900669
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Dec 28 19:58 .$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900722
drwxr-xr-x   41 steve  steve      1394 Apr  3 11:30 ..
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Jun 26  2005 .BAHtemp-1363-1804289383
drwxr-xr-x    3 steve  steve       102 Apr 28  2005 .BAHtemp-366-1804289383
-rw-------    1 steve  steve     67588 Apr  3 11:44 .DS_Store
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve         0 Mar 17  2005 .localized
drwxr-xr-x   11 steve  steve       374 Apr  3 09:57 08-03
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve    779925 Mar 28 10:28 4_findings.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve  18585738 Mar 20 11:04 MPlayerOSX_1.0rc1.dmg
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve     60164 Mar 21 15:53 Picture 1.png
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve     68683 Mar 26 17:55 Picture 2.png
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve    206265 Mar 21 13:35 T2 Brief March 2008.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve   3469366 Mar 21 13:49 access31.pdf
-rw-r--r--    1 steve  steve  24706623 Mar 20 11:06 vlc-0.8.6e.dmg

Errrk! What are these hidden StuffIt Temp directories??

12:19 PM 3022 > du -k -d 1 Desktop/ | sort -nr
4304660 Desktop/
3985408 Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811989
113664  Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811673
83616   Desktop//.BAHtemp-1363-1804289383
57680   Desktop//.BAHtemp-366-1804289383
4236    Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900722
4236    Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900669
4236    Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900637
2448    Desktop//08-03
1536    Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1163745308
592     Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198900615
172     Desktop//.$$ StuffIt Temp 1120423723

12:21 PM 3024 > du -k -a Desktop/.\$\$\ StuffIt\ Temp\ 1198811989/
3985408 Desktop/.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811989//mencoder
3985408 Desktop/.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811989/

12:21 PM 3025 > ls -al !$*
ls -al Desktop/.\$\$\ StuffIt\ Temp\ 1198811989/*
-rw-r--r--   1 steve  steve  4081057792 Dec 27 22:04 Desktop/.$$ StuffIt Temp 1198811989/mencoder

Wow! Removing those bumps my free space up to 10.39G! (14%) Nice.

MacBook Pro purchase decision

Yesterday I did some side-by-side comparison of:

1. my current laptop - a PowerBook G4
2. the possible Q3 MacBook Pro release
3. the current MBP line

Conclusions:

worth waiting for in a Q3 (Intel Montevina platform) release:

• (very unlikely) radically new display technology, like XO laptop - readable in direct light
• (very unlikely) solid-state drive (SSD) as in the Air
• (possible) hybrid SSD/HD storage
• (possible) BluRay optical drive
• (possible) native WiMax
• (likely) lower power consumption
• (likely) case redesign: lighter, slimmer, novel look

available now and unlikely to improve noticeably:

• Penryn processor
• 2G DDR2 SDRAM
• 512MB Video RAM
• 250GB HD
• 802.11 - our friend Ann had her newish MPB here in our apartment and was able to pull in AirBears - my PowerBook can't do that.
  

I'm down to less than 5% free space on my PowerBook G4, so buying now is urgent, really.
The only things worth waiting for are the lower power consumption (utility) and the case redesign (vanity). I confess the last is compelling, though.

Here is a table I adapted from Apple's site. I used strong emphasis to highlight salient differences.

	My PB G4	Montevina??	15.4-inch: 2.4GHz (MB133LL/A)	15.4-inch: 2.5GHz (MB134LL/A)	17-inch: 2.5GHz (MB166LL/A)
Display	1280x854 TFT widescreen	1900x1200?	1440x900 TFT widescreen	1440x900 TFT widescreen	1680x1050
Processor	PowerPC G4, 1.5 GHz	Penryn	2.4GHz Penryn	2.5GHz Penryn
Memory	1GB DDR SDRAM	DDR3-800 ?	2GB (4G max) (two SO-DIMMs) 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (PC2-5300)
PCI Express graphics	ATI Mobility Radeon 9700, 64MB	?	NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT, 256MB GDDR3, dual-link DVI	512MB
Hard disk drive	75 GB ATA	Hybrid or Solid State ???	200GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm	250GB Serial ATA; 5400 rpm
Slot-loading optical drive	DVD±R CD-RW	Blu-Ray ??	8x SuperDrive (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
Expansion	-	-	One FireWire 400, one FireWire 800, three USB 2.0 ports, and ExpressCard/34 slot
Video	no iSight	?	Built-in iSight camera, DVI, VGA (DVI to VGA adapter included)
Audio	-	-	Combined optical digital input/audio line in, combined optical digital output/audio line out, stereo speakers, microphone
Ethernet	-	-	Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Wireless	802.11x; built-in Bluetooth	+ WiMax (802.16)?	Built-in AirPort Extreme (802.11n); built-in Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
Modem		-	Apple USB Modem (sold separately)
Input		Air style?	Full-size, illuminated keyboard with ambient light sensor; Multi-Touch trackpad
Weight		less?	5.4 pounds		6.8 pounds
Footprint			14.1 by 9.6 inches		15.4 by 10.4 inches
Thickness		less?	1.0 inch
Video accessories		-	DVI to VGA adapter (other adapters sold separately)
Hardware accessories		-	85W MagSafe Power Adapter, AC wall plug, power cord, lithium-polymer battery

My Hard Drive

Maintenance:

Here's advice from
>Mac DevCenter, 4 years ago:

Once a month:

1. Repair the privileges.


2. Repair the drive.


3. Force the periodic maintenance.

After an application crash, a power failure or a force reboot

Immediately:

1. Repair the drive first.


2. Repair the privileges.

Then, if the computer slows down:

1. Force the periodic maintenance.


2. Update the prebinding.

Around the installation of a big new application or a system upgrade

Before, do this:

1. Repair the privileges.


2. Repair the disk.

After, do this:

If this is more than a simple OS incremental update, repair the privileges
and the file system again with the new, updated Disk Utility.

7/01/2007

System Profiler:
Volumes:
Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 74.41 GB
Available: 9.38 GB
File System: Journaled HFS+

NAV scan:
452714 files
123872 files in archives

Ran sw update (81M download)

Macintosh HD:
Capacity: 74.41 GB
Available: 9.42 GB
File System: Journaled HFS+

Huh! 40 M more available?


http://safari.peachpit.com/
Real World Mac Maintenance and Backups


11/01/2007

Disk Utility information:

Capacity : 74.4 GB (79,892,106,240 Bytes)
Free Space : 12.9 GB (13,877,231,616 Bytes)
Used : 61.5 GB (66,014,871,552 Bytes)
Number of Files : 347,112
Number of Folders : 85,270