NOT ENOUGH FREE DISK SPACE

[CmdrJudas]

I am getting this error when trying to download the current update.

I have tried everything, I think, in this discussion thread to no avail: https://steamcommunity.com/app/219740/discussions/0/810924133957492301/?ctp=3

This is the _second_ time I've gotten this error. I got this with the last update as well, and the only solution that finally worked was to uninstall the game entire and download from scratch. That takes a huge amount of time and is a waste of electricity and bandwidth, so I'm looking for another solution.

An interesting observation that may help: whenever downloading starts, I suddenly get a folder appearing: \Steam\steamapps\downloading with a sub folder 612880 (i.e. this game) that's 3.39 GB big. This download is only 1.5 GB big, so it shouldn't relate to this download, it also appears instantaneously when downloading starts, and actually has that data in it; my internet connection can't download data that fast, so something weird is going on. Perhaps my SSD is somehow caching this data?

[CmdrJudas]

Oh, and to be clear, I have 7 GB free on this particular drive; that shouldn't be causing this issue.

[Alex.P]

The same problem with disk space :(

[SteveHard]

This problem has nothing to do directly with the game.

The situation you are facing with is caused by the Steam Client downloading mechanism itself.

The Steam Client
1. is downloading the content in a compressed format
2. staging file modifications in a separate folder ( merging existing local content + currently downloaded patch )
3. copying/moving patched files inplace

This just gives you some basic idea how it does work and why you may have insufficient space downloading/applying the update.

So make sure that you have got planty of space on the drive where your game is stored.

[CmdrJudas]

7GB of free space for a 1.5GB download? I can see needing extra space, but 4 times the download size?

[SteveHard]

Yes...

And I think the theoretical maximum free space required during content update is "compressed patch size" + "current content size" + "uncompressed patch size".

You can accept this fact and move on looking for alternative solutions like:
- moving the game on a HDD with enough free space
- update the game
- move game back to SSD

Or you can wait for a solution from Valve for a better updating mechanism...
Which is BTW not going to happen in the near future. :)

[CmdrJudas]

I managed to get this to install by freeing up space NOT where the game is installed (F:\), but on the drive where Steam is installed (E:\). That's curious as there is a download cache on F:\, and that's where I was seeing a lot of data. I now don't recall how much free space I had on E:\, but I now have tons, so perhaps it was caching to E:\ despite it aiming to install on F:\.

[SteveHard]

I just took a look on the settings and looks like this can be managed via Steam itself.

First of all there is a possibility to clear download cache under Settings\Downloads -> button on bottom of the panel.
There is also a button on top of the panel called "Steam Library Folders".
If you open it you can see one of the registered drives marked as "Default". I think the drive marked as default is used to store the downloaded content and for staging patches. In theory you just need to set the drive as "default" where you have got planty of space.
When you download a new game on the displayed window you can override the default drive.