Deleting vdi - space still used?

rpw · Post by **rpw** » 4. Apr 2008, 12:41

Hello,

I'm using Kubuntu 7.10 and VirtualBox 1.5.6 from the repository "deb http://www.virtualbox.org/debian gutsy non-free" which is mentioned on the VirtualBox website.

I've created a virtual machine on an external harddisc (hdc1) just to test another Linux distribution. On this disc there are only data and this vdi-file, no system and no temporary fils.

Before creating the virtual vdi-file I had 99 GB free space on that disc. After creating the dynamic vdi-file with a maximum size of 8 GB and installing Mandriva Linux and a lot of applications and doing some testings there was only 91 GB free space left.

Then I deleted the virtual machine and the vdi-file in Virtual Box using the menu "File" and "Manager for virtual drives", and choosed "Delete" (hope this is translated correctly since I use the german version of VirtualBox).

But there are still only 91 GB free space on that disc, and the data on it are about 48 GB (checked it with KDirStat). So the question is - where are the 8 GB of space, that where used by VirtualBox?

And there is no hidden file on tha disc, even the vdi-file was not hidden (I saw it in Dolphin).

I've tried the same thing with a test-vdi with fixed size, and there ist no such problem. It seems to happen only with dynamic vdi-files.

Any ideas what I can do, or where to look?

Best regards,

rpw

Post by **Sasquatch** » 4. Apr 2008, 17:10

I was thinking it might be in the trashcan on the external drive, but as you say that it didn't happen with a fixed size vdi, then perhaps it's not removed properly. Have you searched for the file?

rpw · Post by **rpw** » 4. Apr 2008, 18:04

Yes I searched for it, but without success. Too bad, but there is no vdi-file on the disk.

Is it possible that the file is only marked as deleted but not really deleted, ao it will not be shown in filemanager, but still uses space on the disk?

If this is the case, is there maybe a way to "clean" ext3 filesystems, to get rid of those files?

Regards,

rpw

Post by **Sasquatch** » 4. Apr 2008, 18:39

You could try a forced checkdisk. You have to unmount the drive first and run the checkdisk as root.

rpw · Post by **rpw** » 4. Apr 2008, 20:30

Unfortunatly that did not help. But anyway, thanks. I have to look further, maybe there is a "trick" to get back the lost space.

Best regards,

rpw