[SOLVED] Disk full - single user mode

[janeylondon]

My disk is full on my macbook pro. I can only open in recovery mode and single user mode. I cant even open in safe mode. It seems the only way I can get in right now is to delete some files/apps via single user mode. However I do not know much about it. Can someone advise me please what commands I need to delete a few apps in single user mode. I have tried every reset going including disk utility but to no avail. This is the only way.

 

[kanewolf]

My disk is full on my macbook pro. I can only open in recovery mode and single user mode. I cant even open in safe mode. It seems the only way I can get in right now is to delete some files/apps via single user mode. However I do not know much about it. Can someone advise me please what commands I need to delete a few apps in single user mode. I have tried every reset going including disk utility but to no avail. This is the only way.

Mac OS is Linux. Here is a tutorial on using the command line in Mac OS -- https://www.davidbaumgold.com/tutorials/command-line/
This page talks about two very important tools on how to see disk usage -- https://osxdaily.com/2007/03/20/command-line-disk-usage-utilities-df-and-du/
You will use the "df" command to tell you which partition (probably the root "/" partition) is full. Then use the "du" command to help identify which folders are using the space.
You would use the "cd" command to change directories. The "ls" command to list directories and the "rm" command to remove files.
You CAN break your system.
I don't use Mac so I have no recommendations on WHERE to look to free up space but on most Linux systems "/tmp" or "/temp" is a good place to look. But also look in your home directory.

 

[dat789]

It will be challenging prescribe for you correctly without knowing much about what you have installed, what's on your Macbook Pro, and what can/cannot be deleted & purged from your machine. It will also be time consuming going back and forth like that. Know that. Before any of us would suggest having a Zoom session (probably best, and depending on which timezone you and your helper is in), I'd suggest you to list out for yourself:

1. All applications you've installed. Finder> Applications.
2. Identify the ones you no longer use.
3. Search for "how to remove {application name} macos"
4. After doing all that, as @kanewolf mentioned, list out the output for "df"
5. If you don't already have an external drive, get one. When you have it, plug it in, and then start COPYING all your files -- data, images, documents, etc. -- onto that drive. This will be your backup.
6. From here on, you can have the confidence that your data is already backed up and you can try a few things on your machine to restore it to optimum performance.