.ld directory is huge over 300gb

[mccltd]

After a while my time machine keeps coming up saying not enough space.
So today I decided to look into it.
Using disk inventory I have found that under User/dave there is a .LD directory.
Within this is a sub directory called $LOGS$ and this is 302GB in size.
Now wonder I'm running out of room.

Can someone advise whether this can be removed or why it is so large?

 

[chscag]

I have no such directory under my user name or anywhere else. Did you try to look at what's in the sub directory $LOGS$? I can't imagine any program creating logs that size.

I would go ahead and remove it. Since you have Time Machine backups, if it turns out to be something you need (which I doubt) you can always restore it.
Also, I would try to find out what created it in the first place. Removing it may not solve the problem if you have some program running that's creating all those log entires.

 

[mccltd]

F I try to find that directory normally I cannot see it either.
I presume it's hidden but under the disk tool it always shows up

 

[bobtomay]

I'm sure chscag would have looked at hidden folders - the . in front of the name tells you it's a hidden file or folder.

There is no such folder here on any of my Macs and was unable to find any info about such a directory through some time spent searching google either.

I'd try what he suggested and just move that 300GB file to the trash and see what happens. Perhaps spend some time watching that location before and after opening non-Apple apps to try and determine which one is using it.

 

[mccltd]

Thanks for your replies.
I didnt realise the . in front meant it was hidden.
What program can I use to view the file within the hidden folder and erase them?

Looking at the directory from within disk inventory I can see a large zip file, a log2.txt files and loads of files that are 40.0mb in size with names like 129624458091890180

 

[chscag]

I use a Unix file manager program called "muCommander" which shows hidden files, folders, and likewise system files and folders. "muCommander" is free and can be downloaded from here.

Looking at the directory from within disk inventory I can see a large zip file, a log2.txt files and loads of files that are 40.0mb in size with names like 129624458091890180

Something is or was creating large temporary files. You're going to need to do some detective work to find out what's going on.

 

[skullshoes2010]

Follow up on the .ld folder

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and to the Mac world, but I'm loving the switch more and more everyday! Your problem seems similar to the one I'm having as well. Could the .ld file be from LiveDrive? Do you use the cloud based storage service? I noticed problems with hard drive space after I tried transferring stuff from my external drive to the cloud. What happened when you deleted the folder? Did it cause any problems?

Thx in advance,
Skullshoes

 

[roylong]

LiveDrive cache folder

Hi,

I'm new to the forum and to the Mac world, but I'm loving the switch more and more everyday! Your problem seems similar to the one I'm having as well. Could the .ld file be from LiveDrive? Do you use the cloud based storage service? I noticed problems with hard drive space after I tried transferring stuff from my external drive to the cloud. What happened when you deleted the folder? Did it cause any problems?

Thx in advance,
Skullshoes

Skullshoes is correct:: the hidden .LD directory on the macintosh is used by LiveDrive as a cache folder - I would check with LiveDrive before removing this - it may affect the way your stuff is backed up to LiveDrive, although I agree it should not be 320GB - are you sure that's correct? It may be that installing a newer version of LiveDrive will clean this up a little. If not, check with LiveDrive support to see what they recommend before deleting this directory and it's contents.

To view this directory and it's contents you can simply open a terminal session, navigate to your Users\username directory and type 'ls -la' this will list all directories including hidden. Then cd .LD and this will change directory to the .LD directory, you can then ls to see what's in there. I took a look at one of the largest files in one of the directories $LDMAP$ the data.dat file -- 'cat data.dat' and although it's difficult to see much of any use in there, I do see the occasional filename of files which have been backed up to LiveDrive.

This is from the LiveDrive web site, and refers to that directory for removal of of the LD application::

How do I uninstall Livedrive for Mac?
Currently we don't have an uninstaller. This will be addressed. If you wish to completely remove Livedrive for Mac remove all files from the following locations (an administrator password will be required for some items).
/Library/Application Support/Livedrive/
/Applications/Livedrive Client.app
~/Library/Preferences/com.livedrive.livedriveapp.plist
Cache Directory (contains your cached Livedrive files) The following are the default locations for the cached directory (you can configure a different cache directory during the welcome/setup process and with options -> online files).
1.0.26.4 ~/Library/Caches/Livedrive/~LD
1.0.26.31+ ~/.LD

hope this helps.

roymondo