Mac mini disk usage mystery resolved - earlier measurement checked wrong volume
Source type:
obs· Harvested: 2026-05-04 · Original date: 2026-05-04T01:50:52.054Z Metadata:{"project":"Desktop","type":"discovery","obs_id":65257}
obs/65257 · discovery · 2026-05-04T01:50:52.054Z
Mac mini disk usage mystery resolved - earlier measurement checked wrong volume
The mac-mini disk scan SSH command revealed that the dramatic disk usage drop from 147 GiB to 15 GiB was a measurement error, not actual data loss. The corrected measurement of /System/Volumes/Data shows 147 GiB used (37% capacity), perfectly consistent with the historical monitoring data from 2026-05-03 (147 GiB) and 2026-05-02 (153 GiB after cache cleanup). The earlier anomalous 15 GiB reading came from checking the root volume (/) which contains only system files, similar to the MacBook Pro’s volume structure. Both machines use APFS volume groups where user data lives in /System/Volumes/Data while system files reside in the root volume. This confirms that disk monitoring automation must specifically target /System/Volumes/Data on both machines to accurately track user data trends.
Concepts: [“problem-solution”,“gotcha”]
Facts: [“Mac mini /System/Volumes/Data volume shows 147 GiB used / 251 GiB available / 37% capacity”,“This matches the most recent historical measurement from 2026-05-03 showing 147 GiB used”,“Earlier SSH command showing 15 GiB used was measuring root volume (/) instead of /System/Volumes/Data”,“Mac mini also uses APFS volume groups with separate system (15 GiB) and data (147 GiB) volumes”,“Script encountered awk syntax error due to shell escaping in nested SSH command”]
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