[mythtv-users] TV recordings not expiring, disk filling up

[Michael T. Dean]

On 04/14/2014 06:52 AM, Simon Hobson wrote:
> Anthony Hill wrote:
>
>> My disk keeps filling up with recorded TV. It has become a real problem.
>>
>> I've looked for hours - but I cannot find the auto-expire settings.
>>
>>  From the wiki http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythTV-HOWTO_-_0.26#Auto-Expire  :-
>>
>> The default setting is for all scheduled recordings to be eligible for auto-expiration; this can be changed in the Settings->TV Settings->General page by manipulating the "Auto Expire Default" checkbox.
>>
>> ..um ok - I dont seem to have a Settings menu item - are we talking about the frontend or the backend ? Either way - I dont have one. (I am running 0.26 on debian wheezy).
> mythtv-setup on the backend, but also available via MythWeb
>
>> I've changed AutoExpireExtraSpace to 20 in mythweb - but that doesnt seem to have done anything.
>>
>> Any suggestions on where I should look for this  ?
> Note that there are several interacting settings which control this.
>
> The first is "how much free space to maintain" which is a per-filesystem control. Eg, if you set it to 20G then Myth will try and keep 20G of free space in each recording group directory.

Or, more precisely, on each file system used by directories within the 
TV (non-special) recording groups.  (So, if you have 3 directories 
listed in the Default recording group that happen to be on the same file 
system, it will only keep 20GB extra space free on that file system, not 
60GB--and 20GB on any other file systems used by other directories in 
the SG.)

>   This is only done (I believe) when it is recording to that filesystem. Basically, *after* having chosen which directory to record into, the system will then monitor free space in that filesystem and expire recordings as required - starting with live TV and deleted recordings, and after those, recordings marked as auto expire.
>
> Then you have the "is this recording expirable" flag which is more complicated. Each individual recording has the flag, and if set then it is eligible to be expired. You can manually change this, but the default comes from the recording rule that was used to record it. In turn, the default value for *new* rules is the default expire flag -

Actually (and this is the answer to the OP's confusion about the 
no-longer-existing "Auto Expire Default" checkbox) the default value for 
new rules is specified in your Default Recording Rule Template, which 
you can edit in Manage Recordings|Recording Rules.

>   ie changing the default does *not* alter the setting in any existing rules. Similarly, changing a rule does not affect any existing recordings.

Exactly.

You should look in the backend status page (available, for example, 
through MythWeb at Backend Status) under "Disk Usage Summary" in the 
"Total Disk Space" section to see your "Space Used by Auto-expirable 
Recordings".  It should be a large value, and if it's "significantly" 
smaller than "Space Used", you have a large number of recordings that 
are marked to disallow auto-expiration (at which point you're saying, 
"Don't worry, MythTV, I'll never let you run out of space, so I'll 
always delete recordings preemptively myself," so you'd better do so).

To mark a large number of existing recordings to allow auto-expiration, 
go to Watch Recordings, then choose some group (i.e. "All Programs" or 
"Here Comes Honey Boo-Boo" or whatever) in the left column, then, 
MENU|Add Group to Playlist, then MENU|Playlist Options|Storage 
Options|Enable Auto Expire.

To make future recordings from existing recording rules create expirable 
recordings, you'll need to edit the individual recording rules in Manage 
Recordings|Recording Rules.

Alternatively, go in and delete recordings manually, then verify that 
you have "sufficient" available space on all file systems to which 
MythTV may choose to record.  Note, too, that deletion may take time 
(minutes to hours or even a day or so) when removing a large number of 
recordings, depending on configuration.

Mike