How to solve the "no Space for DB" error message.

[electron]

Some people have been asking for help in regards to the "No Space for DB" error message on the P3. This issue is caused by "._[name of file here]"files. These files are created by Apple's Mac OSX (I believe that they help the mac access the info in the "Get info" window, but I am not sure. also please note that these are NOT files used by Spotlight. Spotlight index files are placed in a hidden folder in the root of the P3 drive. if you delete this folder, or any of its contents, Spotlight will re-create the entire folder next time you plug the device into the mac.) I use OSX Leopard daily, and therefore have encountered this error message many times. Please use common sense when following this guide. I am not responsible for any data lost from this operation. That said, you should not run into any issues with this. I have done both ways successfully many times.

FROM A WINDOWS COMPUTER
1. Plug your P3 into any Windows Computer (I use windows XP, vista or 7 may be a little different)

2. open a my computer or my documents window, and go to Tools>Options.

3. in the options window, go to the View tab, and enable the show hidden files and folders option. click ok.

4. go to Start and click on Search. when in the search, type in " ._ "

5. delete any/all the files that show up in the results of the search.

6. there you go! you should be all set!




Solution for OSX users

1. Download the ejectdriveapp.dmg.zip file attached below and unzip if necessary (safari usually does this for you)
2. Mount the .dmg if you have to (again, safari is nice enough to do this usually) and install as shown.
3. Any time you want to eject your P3 or any other flash drive style USB drive (like a MSC mp3 player or a USB thumb drive) just run this app and select your drive.
4. The app will automatically delete any of the hidden resource crap and eject the device for you. It will even delete the old stuff that might have been on there from before, so you don't need to run the "dot_clean" app from terminal
5. You must eject from this app if you want to make sure the device is clean because OSX will put stuff on there the next time you connect.

For more information, see this post:
http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...27&postcount=9


Aftermath
(for windows and OSX options)
Now, your P3 may still give you the error message. if it does, back up ALL the files on your P3. when the back is complete, format the drive. (make sure that you are formating the P3 drive, and not any other. accidentally performing a format to the wrong drive may result in permanent data loss.)
in Windows: in my computer, right click the P3 drive, and click format.
in OSX: open Disk Utility, and use the erase option on the P3 drive.

now restore everything on your P3. if you performed the format operation in OSX, use the dot_clean command once again, just in case.

[CrowdAds]

[sassafras]

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ghlight=delete

This problem has been around for a long time, it actually happens to the P2 as well. But luckily, so has the solution.

Either way, it's stuck.

[electron]

Originally Posted by sassafras

http://www.anythingbutipod.com/forum...ghlight=delete

This problem has been around for a long time, it actually happens to the P2 as well. But luckily, so has the solution.

Either way, it's stuck.

yeah, I know, it happened to my P2 as well as my P3. I wanted to give people a solution other than reformatting, which does work, it just takes a longer time, and results in a total data loss if you have no backup.

I also just wanted P3 users to not have to hunt high and low for the solution.

anyway, thanks for the sticky

[electron]

first post updated. I found a really easy way to remove the nasty files from a mac

[Unanimated]

Bleh, hopefully Linux doesn't do this. At least I can hope that since this doesn't happen on my Fuze, it hopefully won't happen on my P3...

[bird.brains.jason]

I run OSX 10.5.8 and tried the terminal trick, but it didnt work. I still get the "No Space for DB" error though once its reformatted, it works fine. The problem comes when I load my music on. It still has 957MB left free. Any fixes?

[sassafras]

Originally Posted by Unanimated

Bleh, hopefully Linux doesn't do this. At least I can hope that since this doesn't happen on my Fuze, it hopefully won't happen on my P3...

No, linux is not the unruly houseguest that Windows and OSX are. Linux reads resource data from the file and doesn't save it elsewhere like Windows and OSX, so you are in the clear.

Also, Electron:

In windows Vista/7, there is a reason why the filesystem is getting choked. Windows saves resource information about files (what size to show them, special icons, list or icon view, etc etc) in a file called Thumbs.db. This can also cause a problem, even if you don't own OSX and never come near it. In the same window where you show hidden files, just also check the option "Do not cache thumbnails" and this will fix your problem on a Windows machine.

There is no permanent solution on OSX apart from a program (that costs 17 bucks) called BlueHarvest. Stupid OSX, and I thought Apple thought of everything.

[Unanimated]

Originally Posted by sassafras

No, linux is not the unruly houseguest that Windows and OSX are. Linux reads resource data from the file and doesn't save it elsewhere like Windows and OSX, so you are in the clear.

GOOD. I really didn't feel like dealing with all of this. Thanks.

[sassafras]

I have created a nice little utility for Mac users that will allow you to eject your P3 or any other USB style drive (Like a thumb drive) while getting rid of those annoying resource files. Using this program to eject your P3 (Or thumb drive) will delete the crap OSX puts on there and eject it without it putting it back on. You will have to use this app when you eject every time if you want to make sure nothing gets put on your P3 (or thumb drive). I have added the link to the original post.

By the way, I use this on 10.6 and I believe it needs Automator to run (which means you need like 10.3 or above I think). If you accidentally select something that is not a drive, it will exit and not do anything... At all... It wont even tell you it exited. If it tells you it encountered an error then that means something is still using your drive. Close all finder windows or anything that might be using your P3/thumb drive and try again

This app is by me and is my property. Please don't redistribute it without asking me first. I can't guarantee it won't destroy your computer (though I have written it so even if you do something stupid like select your whole hard drive it won't let you do anything) so run at your own risk.

sassafras

[electron]

wow, thanks sassafras! I tried the app, and so far so good

oh btw, about the Thumbs.DB files, I did notice those, but I haven't found those to be an issue (so far)

[sassafras]

Well thanks!

I tried it on both my P2 (which works the same as a P3) and a couple of different USB flash drives, but that was the extent of my R & D. I am glad the installer I made worked as well, it was my first time making a .dmg installer.

If you are curious, it is just a simple program that invokes a little BASH scripting to delete anything that starts with "._" on the drive and then unmount it. I coded in a failsafe so it will only work on external drives, but I didn't take the time to make it tell you what it is doing, so if you select something that it doesn't like it just exits without doing anything, though it doesn't tell you why.

BTW, this also works for network drives, though there is a better solution for keeping network drives litter free.

sassafras

[electron]

Originally Posted by sassafras

I am glad the installer I made worked as well, it was my first time making a .dmg installer.

If you are curious, it is just a simple program that invokes a little BASH scripting to delete anything that starts with "._" on the drive and then unmount it. I coded in a failsafe so it will only work on external drives, but I didn't take the time to make it tell you what it is doing, so if you select something that it doesn't like it just exits without doing anything, though it doesn't tell you why.

yeah, if you ever make another Mac application (probably not, lol. you wisely avoid them like the plague :P), I can make the dmg stuff for you

anyway, yeah, that is what I figured. its pretty much a little GUI on the dot_clean command, right?

[sassafras]

No, dot_clean doesn't work before 10.4 I believe, so I just wrote a BASH 'for' loop to find and remove the correct files. If you open the app in automator it will show you what is going on.

[electron]

oh, ok, yeah, I opened it in automator... although I don't understand much of the code (and I know, there is only like 8 lines :P ), I get the general idea

btw, for the sake of clarity, why don't you call it Clean Eject

[ypp3]

thanks for this dude

[djloekee27]

Originally Posted by electron

Aftermath
(for windows and OSX options)
Now, your P3 may still give you the error message. if it does, back up ALL the files on your P3. when the back is complete, format the drive. (make sure that you are formating the P3 drive, and not any other. accidentally performing a format to the wrong drive may result in permanent data loss.)
in Windows: in my computer, right click the P3 drive, and click format.
in OSX: open Disk Utility, and use the erase option on the P3 drive.

now restore everything on your P3. if you performed the format operation in OSX, use the dot_clean command once again, just in case.

this fix really works.

i was in korea and my friend's macbook did this to my p3 back in october. i was relying on the P3's subway maps and i didn't want to carry a paper map around. my friend was going to take me a samsung's repair center in seoul to get it fixed, so i decided "my p3 is unusable, i might as well try the format hard drive method and see if i can skip the trip to the samsung repair center and avoid waiting a couple of days for them to fix it".

and it worked. i was even able to load up my subway maps. it only took 15-20 minutes to transfer ALL of the files to the macbook. and it only takes 1 minute to format the hard drive under disk utility. but it takes 2+ hours to transfer the data back to the 16gb p3 using the usb cable.

and when i got back to the states for thanksgiving, i had no problems transferring files back on forth using winxp. i was afraid that maybe i had a "lemon" at first.

Originally Posted by bird.brains.jason

I run OSX 10.5.8 and tried the terminal trick, but it didnt work. I still get the "No Space for DB" error though once its reformatted, it works fine. The problem comes when I load my music on. It still has 957MB left free. Any fixes?

when i wanted to add new music to my p3 in korea. i would add it to the p3 backup folder i had created on my friend's macbook first (i copied over my music/videos and all of the system files from the other folders). i would then format the hard drive and then copy the backup folder back onto the p3. this would take 2+ hours to transfer over the usb cable from the macbook to the p3. so i would collect alot of music and only do this when i really wanted to listen to some new music on my subway rides around seoul. if i tried to "drag and drop" files from the macbook to the p3, then i would get that db error message. and i was only using 11gb on my 16gb p3. but the funny thing was that i was able to "drag and drop" files between the macbook and p3 for my first month in korea with no problems (i bought right before i left for korea).

i'll be buying a pc laptop to use with my p3 when i go back to korea in feb. to avoid this "db error" message that is caused by the macbook.

[fickle]

Hi peeps,

I just got a YP-R1 as a present and instantly encountered the "._" issue when transferring files from my macbook (10.4.11). I have downloaded the app and will give it a go. My question is whether the app will work if I have the music files in a folder system (ie Muse>Showbiz>Sunburn) and whether I need to run the eject every time I charge the player with my mac or only when I transfer files to it?

Cheers

[sassafras]

Originally Posted by fickle

Hi peeps,

I just got a YP-R1 as a present and instantly encountered the "._" issue when transferring files from my macbook (10.4.11). I have downloaded the app and will give it a go. My question is whether the app will work if I have the music files in a folder system (ie Muse>Showbiz>Sunburn) and whether I need to run the eject every time I charge the player with my mac or only when I transfer files to it?

Cheers

It's odd that it's not working for you. I replied in PM that it needed 10.5 or more, but I tested it on a 10.4 build I have and it seemed to work. You should check to see if you have Automator installed and that your OS is updated to it's latest version. Let me know.

Also, you only need to run the program when you have modified the file system on the player (so not for charging) and it DOES search recursively so it will get all of that crap out.

sassafras

[fiss99]

Hi I have been trying to follow all the instructions for sorting out the problems but don't seem to be having any luck, i have a MAC OS X 10.4.11 and when I have tried to use the programme it says it isn't compatible, I don't know what to try next

[NicoRegis]

Hey,


I'am using your app to eject my Q2 player. It sorted the problem ! Thx a lot for coding it, this bug was such pain in the ass...

Mac os x 10.6.8, Q2 firmware 2.23 UK (long story....)