Mac OS X 10.3.8: Free disk space disappears after updating to 10.3.8

After updating to Mac OS X 10.3.8, free disk space may slowly "disappear" if a certain third-party gaming device driver is installed.

This issue can occur when the Macally iShock game controller device driver (used for devices such as the iShockII) is installed, but the device isn't connected. The "missing" disk space is actually being filled by one or more system.log files that are recording iShock driver issues.

To resolve this issue, first check out Macally's Drivers webpage and read the section, "Attention: iShock/iShockII users and Panther OS 10.3.8 update," which tells you how to remove iShock drivers that can cause this issue, as well as how to install newer drivers that avoid this issue.

Once you've removed the old driver and installed the newer one, reclaim the missing disk space by deleting system.log files:

1. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal)
2. Type this command at the prompt:
   
   sudo sh -c "echo > /var/log/system.log"
   
   
3. Press Return. Enter the admin password if prompted.

Tip: If removing the system.log file does not restore all the missing disk space, delete the archived system log files; for example, system.log.X.gz (where X is a number). These files are also stored in /var/log. You can access the files from the Finder.

1. From the Finder Go menu, choose Go to Folder.
2. In the "Go to this folder" field, type: /var/log
3. Delete any large system.log.X.gz files.

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