Simulation Mechanical Forums (Read-Only)
Welcome to Autodesk’s Simulation Mechanical Forums. Share your knowledge, ask questions, and explore popular Simulation Mechanical topics.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Unrecovered Hard Disk Space

5 REPLIES 5
SOLVED
Reply
Message 1 of 6
ctesguerra2010
735 Views, 5 Replies

Unrecovered Hard Disk Space

Hi Everyone!

 

Recently, I was simulating models with heavy mesh (as required). On one instance, I noticed that the solution was taking 50 GB of space in C:\ and still rising, until a network license failure occurred and Sim Mech crashed. After I restarted, the 50 GB was not recovered (as normally would after every successful run). I traced large files, folders, and found a glaring discrepancy between the available space and the used space I am seeing. The 50 GB was seemingly "lost".

 

I would like to ask for the community's support. I am running out of "solving space".

 

Best regards,

Christian

5 REPLIES 5
Message 2 of 6
John_Holtz
in reply to: ctesguerra2010

Hi Christian,

 

Do you think the problem is related to temporary files left somewhere? Since the analysis crashed, the temporary files may be deleted/overwritten if you start the analysis again.

 

Unless your model is stored on a network drive. In that case, the model is copied to the local hard disk, solved, transferred back to the network drive, and then deleted from the local disk. If it crashed, then the local files may still exist. If this is the problem, then try this:

  1. "Start > Programs > Autodesk > Simulation Job Manager > Simulation Job Manager"
  2. Click the down-arrow next to the gear (near the top right corner) and choose Preferences.
  3. On the "Local Solve" tab, not where the Temporary folder is located.
  4. Go to that folder using Windows Explorer and delete all of the files.

Also, be sure to empty the Recycle Bin in case the deleted files are sitting in there.

 

If you cannot find the files taking up the space, then maybe you need to run the "check disk" or defrag it. Both of these are accessible by

  1. Start
  2. right-click on Computer, then Properties
  3. Use either "Check now..." or "Defragment now..." on the Tools tab.

 



John Holtz, P.E.

Global Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.


If not provided already, be sure to indicate the version of Inventor Nastran you are using!

"The knowledge you seek is at knowledge.autodesk.com" - Confucius 😉
Message 3 of 6
ctesguerra2010
in reply to: John_Holtz

Hi John,

 

I checked the folder path you mentioned, but it was clear.

 

There is a huge chunk though, that is sitting at the \userprofile\AppData\Local\Temp - 36.8 GB, mostly .NDB files. Another chunk is sitting at \userprofile\AppData\Local\Autodesk\Simulation Job Manager\2013\Storage. Can you tell which can be deleted?

 

Apart from that, there is still ~70 GB unaccounted for. Kindly check the attached screenshots. Free space (119 GB) + Accounted Size (257 GB) is only 376 GB of the 445 GB total size of Drive C:\.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

Message 4 of 6
John_Holtz
in reply to: ctesguerra2010

Hi Christian,

 

I would assume that anything in a Temp folder can be deleted. The files in the Sim Job Manager folder can be deleted. (Windows will tell you if a file is in use, in which case you can click the "Skip" button to move on to the next file.)

 

As for the other 70 GB of missing data, that seems like a lot for registry settings and other protected areas that Windows probably does not show. I do not know how Windows reports the free space versus the total file size. At one time (maybe still true?), the hard disk was setup in chunks of X bytes each (like 1000 bytes) and anything less than or equal to X would "consume" the entire chunk. So 500 files of 200 bytes each should take up only 500*200=100 Kb in theory but would consume 500*1000=500Kb of disk space; thus, 400 Kb would be "missing".

 

Maybe someone else has more knowledge about the inner workings of disk space and can provide some insight.



John Holtz, P.E.

Global Product Support
Autodesk, Inc.


If not provided already, be sure to indicate the version of Inventor Nastran you are using!

"The knowledge you seek is at knowledge.autodesk.com" - Confucius 😉
Message 5 of 6
ctesguerra2010
in reply to: John_Holtz

Hi John,

 

It seems like a more frequent routine-cleaning of the temp folder is needed for large simulations huh.

 

I also found out the .NDB files were Nastran Data Base files that the Nastran solver creates and just leaves to rot in the Local Temp folder.

 

If I may suggest on future patches or versions of Sim Mech, it would be nice to have a File Control utility or maybe a comprehensive file tutorial, that let's the user know what files EXACTLY are generated, where they are stored, how big they are, and the function to clear everything, especially when the program unexpectedly crashes.

 

It is frustrating to see Storage Space be eaten like peanuts every run, when in fact, more files can be deleted automatically.

 

Thanks.

 

Best Regards,

Christian

Message 6 of 6

Hi Christian,
I would also check your simulation folder for .T* (i.e. .T11) files. They should be deleted normally after successful finish of a simulation but I noticed that they sometimes left over in the simulation folder.

 

See https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/simulation-mechanical/learn-explore/caas/CloudHelp/cloudhelp/...

 

Best regards,

Martin M.

Can't find what you're looking for? Ask the community or share your knowledge.

Post to forums  

Autodesk Design & Make Report