“20179 – Disk memory critically low” Need help identifying unnecessary files.

Hello,

I have an IRB 6700 with IRC5 controller that I have started working on recently and I'm attempting to work through a number of issues with it. I am currently trying to clear up some space on the disk but I'm unsure if some of the files can be safely deleted and I was hoping someone with more experience might be able to tell. Until I can clear up some space, I am unable to take a backup of the controller either through the pendant or through robotstudio.

There are a number of folders with 8 character names that appear to be random hex symbols (0-9, a-f) sitting in the TEMP folder. They have the normal file structure of a backup, with the BACKINFO, HOME, RAPID and other folders. However, like I mentioned I am pretty new to working on this robot and ABB robots in general so I don't want to delete them unless I'm sure it's safe to do so. My best guess is that some backups were interrupted by power loss or a system crash leaving behind the incomplete backup in the temp folder. Does this sound like a plausible explanation for these folders or do they serve some other purpose?

If there's any more info that would help diagnose this, please let me know.

Thanks,

Wyatt

Quote from Lemster68

Is there a BACKUP folder in the HOME directory? If so, I would delete all but the most recent two or three backups in there. Any stray backups in directories where they don't belong? If you are concerned about losing important files, MOVE them instead to a removable USB.

There is not a backup folder in the HOME directory but there is one at the drive root. It is empty however. We normally do backups to robotstudio or a USB drive plugged into the pendant.

Quote from Skooter

What RobotWare version?

Post a pic of a directory containing these oddly named backups.

As Lemster68 says, there should be a designated folder for backups. I've seen systems with filled with dozens of backups in multiple directories. It's great to do backups but housekeeping of the backup directory should be done regularly. Make sure everyone doing backups are on the same page.

We are on RobotWare Version: 6.07.01.00

Here is an image of the temp directory.

And here is an image of the inside of one of them.

I am not sure how to upload an image directly to the forum so I put them on imgur. I hope that is alright.

Thank you both for your help.

Quote from robiman

this looks like unsuccessful backups

I think you can delete them.

Do you have Robotstudio?

Then you can make a copy befor.

Thank you for the confirmation on that.

I don't have a paid license for RobotStudio, just the free features. The person working on this robot before me did not use RobotStudio for much so my company did not keep renewing.

When you say "make a copy before" do you mean just copying the controller files to my PC with the file transfer tool? I can't use the backup tool in robotstudio because of the storage space on the controller being low but I have transferred individual files this way. Should I just select everything I'm going to delete and transfer them to the PC? Sorry if these are really basic questions, I'm still pretty new to ABB robots.

Quote from robiman

First step,i mean is make a Backup an USB device Check the "Home" Folder inside In this Folder should be are no backups inside

Yes, we did previously have some backups inside the home folder that nested and caused a problem. I have cleared those out before storage space filled up again this most recent time. I have checked again and it is clear of backups now. Even backing up to USB seems to copy everything to the temp folder to prepare to move to the USB and it is at this point that the storage error pops up. I will do a manual backup with the file transfer tool and then go ahead and delete the partial backups from the temp folder.

Quote from Lemster68

Yes, you ought to be able to do as you described. While you are in the flexpendant explorer, you can highlight folders or files, menu, details. That will tell you the space used for storage. You may also move or delete files with the explorer.

This was how I figured out the TEMP folder was the issue in the first place.

I will go ahead and copy everything off and then delete those folders after we finish running for the day. Thanks.

Alright so yesterday evening I went ahead and copied everything over and then deleted those folder. It seems to have worked and not caused any problems and it cleared up more than enough space to be able to do backups again. Thank you all for your help.

Quote from Skooter

Regarding backups, it's good to use RobotStudio but I always keep the most recent one in the 'BACKUP' folder in the root directory. Just in case something happens to RobotStudio laptop when you need it.

I am also going to start doing this. We do keep a second copy of the backups on a network drive but it doesn't hurt to have a 3rd copy of the most recent one. Thanks again.

Also, how do I mark my post as resolved? Do I just need to select a "best answer"?