IPad free space fragmentation

I'm wondering how to defragment the free space on the iPad's solid state (i.e. NAND flash) drive?
The reason I ask, is that I've found that the more I use my iPad 2, the slower it gets (even after a restart). When my Ipad 2 had 1.5 GB of "disk" space free (out of 64 GB), I was getting lousy (1 MB/sec) performance for "disk" writes, tested using the free PerformanceTest benchmark app. This is because of the way flash writes work (the whole block needs to be read and then written). The lousy write speeds was cauing performance issues in some apps that did a lot of writing to "disk". It also made syncing to my PC really slow.
I deleted a bunch of iTunes videos, which freed up about 11 GB of space. My write speeds then shot up to 30 MB/sec, since all that space that was used for the videos was free (and contiguous). At that point all my performance issues went away and syncing was very fast. As I started using the iPad though (and doing disk writes), the write speeds started to slow down again. Today I was down to 6 GB free and disk writes were around 6 MB/sec. I deleted another video and now it's at 8 GB free, with writes at about 15 MB/sec. That's still only about half the max write speed.
This seems like a design issue with the iPad since solid state drives are supposed to "garbage collect" in the background, moving free space into contiguous chunks for performance reasons. iOS doesn't appear to be doing that at all. There are programs that can do that for PCs and some OS do it automatically, but not for iOS.
Is there any way to consolidate the free space on an iPad, other than doing a complete restore?

You may want to take a peek the next time you replay to a thread. The new search feature brings up threads regardless of how old they are. This one is over two years old and it's a pretty sure bet that the OP has long since resolved their issue or moved onto a new device.

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How to handle free space fragmentation index 30

hi
i need help with tablespaces that have free space fragmentation index lower than 30%..
how will i be able to increase the value to best at 100..
any suggestions?
thanks.

jjwhtn wrote:
Ok, resizing the boot camp partition failed, but being unable to delete it and resize the os x partition is weird, and I'm thinking there must be a way to get that free space back into that partition. That is the current issue.
If you don't believe me when I said you have to erase and format your drive then reinstall OSX, search this forum. Your issue has been addressed dozens or hundreds of times.

My iPad free space was shrinking. Previously I did an iOS upgrade and got more free space so I tried a restore and the same thing happened. Do I have a setting wrong?

My iPad free space was shrinking. Previously I did an iOS upgrade and got more free space so I tried a restore and the same thing happened. Do I have a setting wrong? There was a significant change from 4.3 GB to now 10.2 GB. I still have all the same apps, photos, songs, etc. So what's up? Why does my space not recover after I delete things?

This is what I did to resolve the issue. First I did a simple Reset (Home and on/off until the Apple logo appears) and it didn't help. Then I did a Restore with a reload from the backup and that also accomplished nothing. Then, I did a Restore as new with NO reload from backup and that resolved my issue.
IF you choose to try the same thing, here are some cautions. Make absolutely certain that all apps, music, movies, etc. are present in the iTunes library. Also make absolutely certain that all "regular" data, such as pdf files, Word files, etc. are present and accessible somewhere on the computer's hard drive. Be aware that you will probably lose all game data (scores, etc.). I did not investigate a solution for that because I don't play many games and I really don't care about the game history. Finally, be forewarned that it is a bit tedius recreating all your folders and putting each app where you want it.

IPad Free space playing up

Just today I have had some issues with syncing my iPad. It said error in the disk. When I checked I noticed that I have too many files on my iPad. Basically I am over the limit.
Its strange because only yesterday I checked that I had a few gigs left. I went into Goodreader, deleted some of the bigger files, Switched off syncing in podcast, movies etc.
The main problem are the "Other" files is taking 40GB for some strange reason. I use to have some movies in Stash software but I already deleted those today. Also Comics I deleted some main files but the "Other" category is not moving.
I tried restarting and syncing but the same.
What's strange is that in the color coded space indicator on the ipad, there is nothing showing for audio, and when I deselect voice memo, the audio space color appears.
After syncing my "Other" files just added 2GB on top of what I already have but I didn't add any new files into the equation.
The indicator bar is very inaccurate and always keep showing and hiding things. When the bar reaches max it won't let me sync. Could it be just something wrong with the indicator for iTunes 10?

I found out what the issue is. Its the USB cord that came with the iPad. It cannot read what space I have left for my iPad as well it cannot read the iTunes Library. I swapped it with another older USB cord from my 2G iPhone and miraculously works (for now any way).
Oh now I have to go all the way to get a cord replaced at the service center...

Safety Margin - Remaining Free Space - Storage Drives

Hello my friends - haven't been here for a while - hope all is well.
As a good rule of thumb regarding 'Operating System Drives', and probably 'Storage Drives' as well, it's my understanding one should leave approx. 10% of the total capacity of the drive FREE. My concern mainly focuses on external storage drives for Video, and other Media.You guys have any comments or latest news about this?
Thank You
Mike
Trailer;
http://vimeo.com/7340608

I'd review it in terms of file modification. If I were using these for "data" but was frequently modifying the files then I'd leave more room, kind of like your OS is constantly modifying files and that's why you need to give it lots of space. In my case I almost never modify files once they are on the archive drives and I perhaps take it to an extreme - 320MB free on a 160GB drive which is 0.2%. I do have a second "data" drive in my computer that is used only for media, but since I often modify those files I leave at least 4 GB free. Still, most of those files are 2-5MB MP3s so I am less worried about fragmentation of the files themselves (vs. free-space fragmentation) than if they were 1GB videos. While I'm at it, I do have the OS on its own 70GB partition with 55GB free. I keep all my data files (and even some applications) on a separate partition so the OS can really do what it wants with the OS partition.
I do verify the drives when I do plug them in once or twice a year. Some may say, "Too little space! Too little space !" but honestly in 10 years of doing this I have never had an issue with the drives apart from one bad sector (which probably would have happened anyway). All these archive drives have duplicates (except, of course, where I have an original commercially pressed CD) so if something does happen...
Oh! Oh! One of my pet peeves - "percentage free". I'd be happy if somebody can explain a rationale for this in this era of greatly varying drive sizes. If an OS requires 18 GB for operating space then 18 GB on an 80 GB drive is going to be a very different percentage than 18 GB (or even 20GB if you allow extra for drive overhead) on a 1000 GB drive. I figure Tiger seems to level off at 6GB VM on my computer so I'll give it 18GB to do its thing (and as I said above I really gave it its own big partition). When I moved it to a bigger drive it didn't seem to change its requirements; ergo its % free demand dropped.
Welcome back, BTW.

"How do I defrag my mac?" "You don't need to, it does it itself" Fragmented Free Space: 99%. READ THIS NOW

Just a heads up for my fellow Mac users.
"How do I defrag my mac?"
"You don't need to, ever. It does it automatically."
"But it's running really slowly..."
"Repair permissions or something. Defragging is not necessary on a mac."
Techtool pro is now defragmenting my mac. Looks like the job's going to take about 4 hours. I thought I'd give everyone the truth about this while waiting (on a different computer obviously)
The truth is, Apple's defragmenting system ***** BALLS. It has two massive, massive flaws which I feel people urgently need to be made aware of.
#1: It only defragments files up to 20mb. If you're a movie producer, a songwriter, a photographer, or anything which involves working with many massive files, the built in defragmenting program WILL NOT HELP YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST.
#2: It only defragments FILES. Free space is ignored, which eventually causes absolutely hrrendous problems.
Let me give you an analogy here. Imagine your mac's hard drive is a bookcase with lots of books on it.
File fragmentation is when it can't find a gap in the bookcase big enough for the entire book, so it breaks the book into pieces and srotes them in different gaps.
Space fragmentation is when there are gaps all over the bookcase, instead of all the books being pushed to one side so there's a long gap elsewhere.
Apple's built in defragmenting program will only fix the first problem - and even then, it will ignore any book bigger than 20 pages long, if you have bigger books which are broken up, you're screwed.
Why is space fragmentation a problem? It's a problem because it directly LEADS TO file fragmentation. If there is a large block of free space all in one part of the disk, then an entire file can be written to it. However, if there is no single free block big enough for the file, it HAS NO CHOICE but to fragment it.
So basically you might have 5 GB free and want to save a 2GB imovie project. That's cool. But what you may not realize is, the biggest single area of free space is only say 600MB. Others are around 300 and 400. Therefore the file MUST be fragmented into all these different areas, which wouldn't be necessary if all the free space was in one area of the disk.
But apple's built in tools don't do anything about this, at least not in Tiger. PErhaps this has been fixed in later installations but I'm almost certain the same issues exist in leopard.
Your only option is to buy a defragmenting program. I know this ***** but believe me, this IS something you NEED to do if your activity on your laptop involves disk space - intensive projects. I'm using TechTool Pro which has been recommended to me as hands down the best. It has a number of other functions as well, right now I'm only using the defragmenting tools but it has others for repairing damages disk sectors and other mantainence tools. There are other programs such as iDefrag out there as well.
Why am I telling you this? I'm telling you because I experienced mind numbing frustration trying to get answers from the Apple community. Google it or ask the question yourself and you will most likely be whacked in the face with the intro to my post here - "You don't need to, it's not necessary, macs do it themselves, blah blah blah"
Even worse, Apple's own webpage on the subject is nothing short of a disaster. It basically says "You PROBABLY don't need to defragment, unless you work with large files." That's it. You'd expect it to have an extra section saying "If you DO happen to work with large files, here's what you do" but no such section exists. It basically says "You don't need to defrag most of the time, and on the rare occasions when you do, well, too bad, you're screwed."
I urge everyone to heed this or they will be tearing their hair out at how slow their mac has become and the fact that no one will offer any meaningful advice other than the standard, generic, "Repair permissions" - the Mac equivelant of "have you tried turning it off and on again".
My disk is at 99% fragmented free space. NINTEY NINE PERCENT. In other words, although I have 25GB of free space, there was not a single contiguous block on the entire machine. I had almost 5,000 fragmented files as well, mostly imovies. Defragmenting got this down to about 300.
The defrag job is taking more than 4 hours and will probably go on to take a lot longer than that. This machine has been slowly grinding to a halt over the last 3 years and now I know why.
Please don't listen to anyone. Get yourself a defragmenting folder, and email Apple to tell them it's just not good enough to give their customers half assed answers and inadequate basic maintainence tools. Mac OS X must literally be the only operating system out there where something as basic as defragmenting is not only almost impossible to get answers on, but actually costs money to fix once you DO get answers.
As customers, we should not accept this any longer. I intend to spread the above message far and wide.
I LOVE Apple. I've always been "a mac" and I always will be. This in no way a mac bashing post or a windows endorsing one. I wouldn't switch back to windows if you gave me a million euro.
But sometimes even the best developers can royally f*ck up. This is one of them.
There is no readon people should be forced to put up with this crap. Absolutely no reason at all. I've had 3 months of crappy performance with no official explanation whatsoever.
Apple if you're reading this: I love your products. I'm a loyal customer. People are more forgiving than you think, speak up, admit you dropped the ball, and DO something about it in your next updates to Lion and whichever versions of Leopard you are still actively maintaining.
There's no shame in admitting when you're wrong. The shame is in hiding behind false promises and walls of silence.
--Loyal customer, but feeling rather betrayed by all this.

The old rule of thumb was to keep 10-12 GB free. Any lower than that and you will start to have trouble. I was very close to that for a long time and never had any complaints. Now, Lion "encourages" 20% free space (on my newer 250 GB drive) so I try to keep it with more than 50 GB free.
Do you still have the original memory in that machine too? The metal plate you have to remove in the battery compartment also provides access to the RAM. Your machine will take 2 GB of RAM, possibly 3. You definitely want to max that out too.
Regardless, you definitely need a new hard drive. When Apple switched to PC components, they had to take a quality hit. These 2.5" notebook hard drives are not very reliable. I'm surprised your hard drive hasn't died by now. I usually get a new hard drive with every major OS upgrade. A $ 50 investment every couple of years is no big deal.
Unfortunately, you (and I) suffer from being an early adopter in 2006. Those 32-bit machines only accept 2 GB RAM (maybe 3) and are only 32-bit so they can't be upgraded to Lion. Because of this limitation, you won't see as dramatic an improvement as you would with a 2007 machine. If you run more than a couple of applications, your hard drive is always going to have to be doing some VM work. My 2006 machine has even lost its bluetooth. I gave it to my brother. My very similar 2007 Macbook is still running great.
So, you must get a new hard drive because your old one is likely on death's door. If you don't have at least 2 GB - get it. If you can't afford a new machine, you might want to consider an SSD. That might help mitigate your RAM limitations. You can spend from $ 100 to $ 350 and get a dramatic speed improvement.

Ipad has 2.5g of free space yet shows as no space left

Very odd- I have about 2.7g of free space but I can't get any apps to update or 7.1.2 to load due to 'lack of space'? Any help deeply appreciated.

I'm not sure how to make myself clearer- there's a lot of space- certainly enough to update a 100k app or 12, yet the iPad says it won't because there's not enough space. I can clearly see the 'Other' and all the other allocations, and I've been an Apple user since 1987 so this isn't my first computing device

I have a 64GB iPad2 and selected to "Automatically fill free space with songs".... will it have to download that 60GB of music to my ipad everytime I sync? It took about 8 hours to sync the music to it

I have a 64GB iPad2 and selected to "Automatically fill free space with songs".... will it have to download that 60GB of music to my ipad everytime I sync? It took about 8 hours to sync the music to it.
I did this last night at 10pm thinking it would take 30 minutes to sync these 10,000 songs or so to my ipad to take up the 64 GB. I went to bed because it was taking so long and woke up at 6am and it was just about to finish. It finished around 630am. So it took a good 8 hours to sync.
I unhooked it and used it for an hour or so and then hooked it backup so that I could update a few apps on it. When i did that it acted like it was re-adding all of those songs again and it took about 8 hours again to sync all the music. Was that just a fluke because I made changes to the ipad? or will it always calculate and then re-sync alllllllllllllllllll of those 10,000 songs?
Thanks so much for any help!!!
-Michael

Anyone?

I have a big difference of free space between my 32GB iPod and 32GB iPad when sync'd with iTunes.

Why is there such a difference in my free space between my iPod Touch and my iPad (3) as indicated below:
                        iPod               iPad
Songs               1,107               774
Videos                   18                30
Photos               6,230           4,720
Apps                    111               113
Capacity           28.4GB          28.0GB
Avail (Free)       15.6GB            3.2GB
Is there anyway of recapturing free space on my iPad without removing songs, pictures, applications, etc. ??

How much space is Other using? You may be able to reduce.
How Do I Get Rid Of The “Other” Data Stored On My iPad Or iPhone?
http://tinyurl.com/85w6xwn
With an iOS device, the “Other” space in iTunes is used to store things like documents, settings, caches, and a few other important items. If you sync lots of documents to apps like GoodReader, DropCopy, or anything else that reads external files, your storage use can skyrocket. With iOS 5/6, you can see exactly which applications are taking up the most space. Just head to Settings > General > Usage, and tap the button labeled Show All Apps. The storage section will show you the app and how much storage space it is taking up. Tap on the app name to get a description of the additional storage space being used by the app’s documents and data. You can remove the storage-hogging application and all of its data directly from this screen, or manually remove the data by opening the app. Some applications, especially those designed by Apple, will allow you to remove stored data by swiping from left to right on the item to reveal a Delete button.
 Cheers, Tom

Can I purchase more free space for my iPad?

Can I purchase more "free space" due to the following message that comes up on my iMac Pro when attempting to sync with my iPad: The iPad cannot be synced because there is not enough free space to hold all of the items in the iTunes library (additional 11.03 GB required). Or is the only solution to not allow certain things to be synced?

Try wireless flash drive:
http://www.sandisk.com/products/wireless/flash-drive/

Unable to sync iPad to iMac. Get message 'iPad can't be synced because not enough free space to hold items in iTunes Library'. Only major content is iTunes U stuff. Deleted this on iPad and unticked iTunes U from syncing on iMac but message remains

Unable to sync iPad to iMac. Get message 'iPad can't be synced because not enough free space to hold items in iTunes Library'. Only major content is iTunes U stuff (lots of videos). Don't download any music or other videos to iPad.
Deleted iTunesU content on iPad and unticked iTunes U from syncing on iMac but message remains.
Very frustrating.

No longer a problem. After leaving a while and trying again the iPad and iMac successfully synced.

How do I delete apps to free space on my iPad

I seem to have way to much space being used BY apps on my iPad. I don't have very many apps on there and have removed all but the most necessary ones. However, when I look at my summary of free space, it tells me that I have 20+ GB of apps using space. There really isn't much more that I can remove and when I look at the list of apps, none of the remaining ones seem to be taking up any significant space. Likewise, I have, in the summary box, several movies that are showing as duplicates and I can't de-select them so as to remove the duplication.
Thanks in advance for any help ideas.

Settings>General>Usage>Storage>Delete what is not needed.

HT1848 I'm trying to sync my ipad mini with itunes and i get an error message '' there is no free space on your ipad mini''..... any ideas on how to empty some space on ipad mini manually? currently i run on 6.0.2

I'm trying to sync my ipad mini with itunes and i get an error message '' there is no free space on your ipad mini''..... any ideas on how to empty some space on ipad mini manually? currently i run on 6.0.2

iOS device backups are stored in your iTunes library.
Move your iTunes library to an external drive.

How much free space before updating iPad to 5?

I have an original, 64gb iPad One.
from what I am reading here, free disc space seems to be important before doing the upgrade.
how much free space do those of who have updated suggest, BOTH on then iPad, and on
my PC hard drive?
Not looking forward to a bricked-install

The more stuff you got, the longer the whole update will take...increasing the chances something might not go smoothly.
So delete movies/videos first as they take up the most space. You can copy them back later. It's worth the small hassle imo.

Ipad and itunes free space discrepancy

Hi,
I'm trying to sync new itunes purchases onto my ipad. My ipad tells me there is 12 GB left but itunes is convinced there is only 1GB free space. The former must be right because it has automatically removed a whole bunch of watched TV shows.
How can I correct it so it will let me sync?
Ta
C

HI,
To see exactly how much free storage space is available... connect your iPad to your computer. In the iTunes window select the Summary tab. At the bottom of that window you'll see Capacity and Free.
Try resetting your iPad. Press and hold both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
Restart both your G5 and your iPad. Try syncing again.
Carolyn

IPad free space fragmentation

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