downloads/steinberg/OSX - do I need any of this stuff?

Cubase
1

I’m trying to clean up some of the cruft that accumulates in the dusty corners of my hard drive. There’s a folder /downloads/steinberg/OSX that contains >40GB of stuff, including current and a bunch of past installers of Cubase, Groove Agent, Dorico, etc., lots of sound files (which seem to have been installed in my library), and some miscellaneous. That’s not my default download folder, so I think this must be used by Steinberg Download Assistant, and I guess it doesn’t clean up after itself.

So, is there any reason to keep any of this stuff, or should I mercilessly delete it all?

2

Probably not, but you never know. Rename and/or move the Folder so Cubase can’t find it. If nothing breaks in a week, month or whatever it’s probably safe to delete. And besides you can always retrieve it from your system backups (which of course everyone is making).

3

I did exactly that, moved the directory to a different location. Just out of curiosity, I then installed a new sound library using Steinberg Downloader. It recreated the directory, put the new installer in it, and left it there after installation. It seems like the downloader should have an option to delete the installer after a successful installation.

Anyway, it seems like deleting the directory is fine.

4

and what about the Steinberg Library manager application?

5

Also works fine. I just used it a bunch, to move all my sounds and loops to an external drive. So far, all seems fine.

I doubt that the library mgr looks at the installers at all. What it does is to move the file from where it is - by default on the mac /library/application support/steinberg/content - to where you tell it, and then to put an alias (in Unix-ese a symbolic link) into the content folder that links to the actual file location.

6

I agree. I have Cubase on 2 PCs, but I only download content to one of them. For the other I just copy the files over my LAN - so no Download Assistant involved at all. The Library Manager doesn’t care either way.

7

I always keep a couple previous versions of everything (and I still have my C11/12/13/14 installers as well) JUUUUUUST IN CASE..

You never know when you might randomly run into something and need to roll back, although thankfully, I have never had to with Steinberg.

8

I understand the caution, but what are the odds that C11 will actually install and function on a current computer, with new OS and maybe different CPU?

9

Who said it’s always for a ‘new’ computer? I still have every single Mac I’ve ever owned for the last 26-27 years and can go right back to where I was when I left off with them should I ever have need to.