Memory Confusion

Hello all, I've had an LAte 2013 MBP for just over a year now.
I'm trying to make sense of my flash storage numbers.

When I check through "about my mac", it says I have 17.71 GB free.
When I check through the Finder "get info", it says I have 48.45 GB available.

Screen shot:

You're confused because these are two completely separate storage devices!

The "Macintosh HD"…is the storage device inside your MacBook Pro. The "transcend" device is an external storage device of some sort…attached via the USB port.

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

You're confused because these are two completely separate storage devices!

The "Macintosh HD"…is the storage device inside your MacBook Pro. The "transcend" device is an external storage device of some sort…attached via the USB port.

- Nick

Click to expand...

Thanks, but look again. I should have cut out the transcend drive. Compare the two listings just for the Macintosh HD.

Are you using Time Machine for backups. If ao, local snapshots and how they are handled might explain things. Some parts of the system count the space used by local snapshots as available space and some parts of the system do not count that space. About Time Machine and local snapshots

Slydude said:

Are you using Time Machine for backups. If ao, local snapshots and how they are handled might explain things. Some parts of the system count the space used by local snapshots as available space and some parts of the system do not count that space. About Time Machine and local snapshots

Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of this, and yes, I had TM running all the time. I read the info on the link you provided (Thank you!). I've turned it off, and I will watch this "back-ups" portion.

I just checked after posting, and the back-ups portion is already gone. It shows 48 GB free now. Thanks again for the help.

revjim said:

Thanks, but look again. I should have cut out the transcend drive. Compare the two listings just for the Macintosh HD.

Click to expand...

Ok sorry…I see what you mean now. When I saw the two different drives…I thought that was where the confusion was. But it was me that was confused! Thanks for the correction!

- Nick

revjim said:

I wasn't aware of this, and yes, I had TM running all the time. I read the info on the link you provided (Thank you!). I've turned it off, and I will watch this "back-ups" portion.

I just checked after posting, and the back-ups portion is already gone. It shows 48 GB free now. Thanks again for the help.

Click to expand...

You're welcome. Glad that explained things for you.

In theory the local snapshots shouldn't let available drive space get low enough to affect performance. I wish that information were either more well known or that it was handled better by the software. Either solution would address the confusion you were experiencing.

In theory the local snapshots shouldn't let available drive space get low enough to affect performance. I wish that information were either more well known or that it was handled better by the software. Either solution would address the confusion you were experiencing.

Click to expand...

Actually, I wish Apple would add turning off local snapshots to Time Machine's options in System Preferences. In my opinion (and I don't currently own a portable Mac) it's a hand holding useless bother that causes more problems than it resolves.

It certainly causes some confusion. IIRC when this was introduced I discovered it by accident. I was searching for answers to a Time Machine related problem for one of our members.

Ahh the joy of CCC and SD! I dislike TM with a passion.

I use TimeMachineEditor to control when TM makes the backup. TM is technically turned off, then TME turns it on, makes the backup and turns it off again. I could do that manually, but TME keeps me from forgetting and regretting later.