>> Jan 13 19:46:06 eagle ntfs-3g[4262]: No free mft record for $MFT: No >> space left on device > Hmm, MFT too small? A quick search showed me this (from a forum):
AFAIK the MFT is implemented as a "normal" file; it can grow as needed like any other file. So, as long as there's room on the disk, it should not be "too small" (tho maybe ntfs-3g just fails to implement some growth options, e.g. maybe it only supports a contiguous MFT?). > Note that Dell computers we received were all delivered with 50% MFT > reserve. We use many large files and reducing the MFT reserve to > 12.5% saved these machines from being dog slow when they ‘filled up’ > quickly. How much MFT space is needed? *My rule of thumb for > estimating is ‘number of files times 4k divided by total drive > size’. The result is the percent of drive space needed for MFT. *As > you note, the actual requirement will vary… but you have to start > some place! Note that this "reserve" is only a strategy to reduce the risk of needing to use a fragmented MFT (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-server/backup-and-storage/ntfs-reserves-space-for-mft): Because of the importance of the MFT to NTFS and the possible impact on performance if this file becomes highly fragmented, NTFS makes a special effort to keep this file contiguous. NTFS reserves 12.5 percent of the volume for exclusive use of the MFT until and unless the remainder of the volume is used up. Thus, space for files and directories is not allocated from this MFT zone until all other space is allocated first. So the size of the "MFT reserve" can impact performance but should never cause a disk to appear full when it isn't. Stefan
