PostgreSQL taking up hard drive space

[shaney0]

Hi

I am encountering some sort of error / issue where PostgreSQL is taking up ridiculous amounts of hard drive space. A few months ago I got a new laptop (lenovo legion), before that I had used an old laptop for years without issues with pokertracker. Already once after making the switch PostgreSQL took up literally all of the hard drive space (1000GB) quite quickly, I found the issue where one of the data files was repeatedly making 1GB files. I thought this might be a random bug and tried to resolve the issue by deleting the data folder with the files, but this caused issues so I needed to reinstal pokertracker and start with a fresh new database. The issue however has quickly come back. Currently my database has only 25000 cash and 4000 tournament hands, but PostgreSQL is already taking up 150GB of hard drive space.

The issue seems to be some sort of error within a specific folder of the data files, in the other folders files are <600kb, but in one there are multiple files taking up 1GB of space of a file that seems to be repeated. I have attached a jpeg showing what I mean. Could someone explain what on earth is going on? If I don't find a way to resolve this issue pokertracker will be unusable for me as PostgreSQL would quickly take up the entire hard drive space long before getting a database size of any meaningful value.

Thanks

[Flag_Hippo]

Can you please try uninstalling PostgreSQL v10 and then delete the C:\Program Files\PostgreSQL\10 folder. Next download and install PostgreSQL v12 from here. After downloading right-click the file and run as administrator. When it suggests the folder to install in remove the 'Program Files' part so you end up with this:

C:\PostgreSQL\12

For the two password boxes use 'dbpass' (no qoutes) and you can disable the StackBuilder option when installing. If that PostgreSQL version installs successfully create a new database in PokerTracker 4 and try things out again.

[shaney0]

Thanks for the reply, I've tried what you've suggested, I'll have to wait until I've got some more hands in the new database played to see if this helps resolve the issue!

cheers

[shaney0]

Hi there, bit of a delay in reply, didn't play any poker for a while. I tried the suggested fix however it hasn't helped the issue for me unfortunately. I've played 2.5k of cash hands and 1.7k of tournament hands and PostgreSQL is taking up 487.5GB of hard drive space. Any other ideas about what I can try to fix this issue? I'm encountering the same problem as I described before in the earlier post, there's a folder named in PostgreSQL/12/data/base/ taking up all of the space mentioned.

This effectively makes pokertracker useless for me now as its impossible to obtain a big enough database of hand histories for any stats on opponents to be meaningful

[Flag_Hippo]

Unfortunately I've not seen anything like this before. If a completely different PostgreSQL install hasn't changed this behaviour then something with your device is likely causing this issue. Have you done a full virus scan on your computer? If you open a Support Ticket and attach your 5 latest PostgreSQL log files along with a link to this thread we can check the logs to see if there are any clues as to what's going on. If you used the directory I suggested for the PostgreSQL v12 install the log files can be found here:

C:/PostgreSQL/12/data/pg_log

Guide: PostgreSQL log files

[shaney0]

Hi ok thanks I'll try support ticket some time soon, I think its pretty unlikely to be a virus, the issue started occurring on a brand new laptop with not much else installed other than chrome, steam and pokerstars (unless it already had a virus on it when bought, I'd hope not!). I installed malwarebytes the day I got the laptop too, its not picked up anything since I purchased it

[Flag_Hippo]

Security software can sometimes cause strange issues so if that's all you've installed I'd recommend completely uninstalling Malwarebytes, restarting your computer with Windows Defender active instead and then trying a fresh install of PostgreSQL to see how that behaves.

[shaney0]

Don't think I'll be able to show the log files in a ticket as they are 1GB in size each, I downloaded EmEditor to have a look at them, attached a couple of screenshots of the latest file in ascii and hexadecimal views, 33 million lines of hexadecimal! I had a look comparing a few different files and they are all different in terms of the gibberish the files contain. I can try the suggestion of uninstalling malwarebytes but I'd have assumed its a fairly commonly used program and others would have had this issue pop up if it was caused by it.

[Flag_Hippo]

I can try the suggestion of uninstalling malwarebytes but I'd have assumed its a fairly commonly used program and others would have had this issue pop up if it was caused by it.

You should try it given that you have barely anything else installed on your computer. Just because other people might be using Malwarebytes doesn't mean they would have the same issue since you are in different PC environments. It's also useful to rule Malwarebytes in or out before doing any further troubleshooting.

[shaney0]

Hi after uninstalling malwarebytes and notecaddy the issue seems to have gone away, played a few thousand hands so looks like the issue has resolved, seems like malwarebytes was the most likely cause if anyone else gets the same problem

cheers