Aperture won't Quit in Snow Leopard

Question

For some reason or other, I cannot quit Aperture once it has been opened in Snow Leopard.
Will try usual fixes like repairing permissions etc, but comment appreciated!
Thanks

Answer 1

You don't say what size your hard drive is , Andy, but *10 Gig free space is way, way, below the "safe" level for someone working extensively with video, 3D and large photo images*.
The minimum "safe" level on drives depends to a large extent on what you use your computer for, but a figure of 10% free on a boot drive is the minimum that is safe for most light users. If you are regularly writing and rewriting large files (video, 3D graphics and RAW image files, for example), then you need to keep much more space free. Some video pros actually suggest a figure close to 50% free space for boot drives in heavy use to avoid problems!
I find myself (I use video and other large files a bit, but not hevily) that on, for example, a 250 Gig boot drive used for such work keeping anything less than about 30 to 40gig free results in a rapid build up of free space fragmentation which, in turn, can soon lead to slow downs, instability and very extensive fragmentation of any new large files that I try to write. It also significantly increases fan use and HD temps in my iMac. On a notebook such things will also translate into increased stress on your battery when it is in use, resulting in reduced charge life. My own personal "rule of thumb" is to never let free space drop below 20% of total capacity. On a 250Gig drive this means prett close to 50 Gigs free at all times. HD space is cheap these days.
Your limited HD space probably explains many of the problems that you say you have experienced since installing Snow Leopard. Given your usage patterns it is extremely likely that serious free space fragmentation was already present. Installing a new OS, which can involve writing and re-writing over a hundred thousand files, on top of this can massively worsen the situation. The built in OSX file defrag routines normally work for files under 20MB, but don't operate with larger files.
By seeking to keep small files contiguous the OSX small file defrag routines also actually increase the amount of free space fragmentation on the drive. On a disk with plenty of room to spare this doesn't matter. On a drive as full as yours it results in fragmentation of directories and a host of other nasty consequences. Ultimately it can lead to failure of the drive with catastrophic directory damage when insufficient room remains for the writing of contiguous extents files and the like.
Once free space fragmentation reaches a certain level the smallest "fragments" of free space become too small for OSX to even deal with files under 20MB and the problems increase rapidly.
Unfortunately simply freeing up some room after the event doesn't really overcome the problem because the files you remove will already themselves be badly fragmented. You'll have more free space, and it may keep you "safer" for a little longer, but it will still be badly fragmented and problems will rapidly re-surface.
What you have to do is both free up a substantial amount of room AND defragment the drive in such situations. You can do the latter either using a good defrag utility (the only one I trust myself is iDefrag , but others make do with the defrag components of one of the two "general purpose" utilities - Drive Genius 2 or TechToolPro ) OR by making a bootable clone on an external drive using a utility such as SuperDuper or CarbonCopyCloner , wiping the internal drive, and then cloning back. (Shirt-Pocket Software have a useful pdf guide on how to use the "cloning" method HERE
In your case, as you have a complete backup on Time Machine, and seem to already be having problems with your current OS installation, you might consider wiping the drive , reformatting it, installing a "clean" copy of Snow Leopard, and then bringing things back from the back up.
If you are sceptical about the degree of fragmentation (especially free space fragmentation) you are likely to be experiencing with 10 Gig free I suggest you download the free trial version of iDefrag and get it to check the fragmentation level. I suspect you will get quite a shock!
My own recommendation would also be that you do as little as possible on this Mac until you have sorted this out, and have got your internal drive back to a situation where you have at 20% free space available. At present, with so little room available and a variety of problems already appearing, you are really skating on very thin ice.
Cheers
Rod