Was there space for the update on the correct drive? I had something similar happen to me on my Windows machine recently and as far as I can tell it was due to my SSD being full. I ended up uninstalling and reinstalling the game after I freed up some space and that went much faster than finishing the update would have.

Yes, it was a 12GB update, and the "C" drive where the game was installed has 150GB free.

Isn't it a bit dangerous to have "DUPLICATED" folders for the same App on 2 separate hard drives ?
Personally I would avoid that sort of setup like the plague, knowing how well Windozzzzzzzzzze handles the File structures (NOT)

It's funny that you say "DUPLICATED" in quotes, no one said that. And it's not what anyone is talking about.

Well, I changed it so that "C" would be my default library and waited for another large update to come around. And it changed nothing.

Downloading a 6GB update for a game installed on SSD "C".
Steam is using 100% disk usage on HDD "D".
"C" has 146GB of free space.
The game being updated has a 90GB install.

I like to have a secondary HDD for large single-player games. And only keep competitive games on my high-performance SSD. But for some reason, steam keeps using the slower drive for downloads, even for games that are not installed on the slower drive.

I can't imagine any way to stop it other than to remove the second library, or spend money to make my secondary drive also an SSD.

Update:
I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game. This seems to have worked.
This download is not using "D" anymore. My guess is that the setting for where this game caches downloads was probably established back when it was first installed. Back before I changed the default library from "D" to "C". I reasoned that installing the game now with "C" set as default would reestablish the cache location.

I might have to repeat this for a few other games.

Ok, that didn't work either.
After I did that reinstall, I noticed that the StagingFolder line from appmanifest_XXXXXX.acf was gone.

but now another update happened that was using the HDD instead of the SSD and I checked the appmanifest file again and now it has StagingFolder 2.

I removed the StagingFolder line, the update continued on the SSD. But, clearly the StagingFolder is going to reestablish as being on my HDD again anyway. Even when its not the default library.

aa

I have noticed in the past that Steam does tend to take initiative with available storage hardware. I think it was in response to complaints about installs failing due to lack of drive space because modern UE packing/unpacking can want a lot of space. It used to be that the installs would simply fail out to low space, and then Steam started using different drives for it if it could.

Steam shouldn't be choosing a HDD over an SSD so readily and certainly not if the SSD has 100+ gb free to use.

It's an ugly hack but why not just use Disk Management to unmount the drive before you let an update fire?

Do you have the Steam Client on 'C' or 'D'? My best guess is that it is probably using Steam Client's install directory to cache the download (if it were on 'D').

Edit:

Originally posted by Realigo Actual:

I have noticed in the past that Steam does tend to take initiative with available storage hardware. I think it was in response to complaints about installs failing due to lack of drive space because modern UE packing/unpacking can want a lot of space. It used to be that the installs would simply fail out to low space, and then Steam started using different drives for it if it could.

Steam shouldn't be choosing a HDD over an SSD so readily and certainly not if the SSD has 100+ gb free to use.

It's an ugly hack but why not just use Disk Management to unmount the drive before you let an update fire?

That... I say, is faulty design. (on Steam's end, assuming it is doing that)

There is plenty enough reason that Steam should trust us when we specify whichever drive we wish to install content onto. Also, running out of space on 'C' isn't 'fun'.

Yeah, Steam client is installed on C.
I've given up on this... I guess I just need to set large live-service games that I put on C to not auto-update. It's not ideal, since these games update often and are big, so I'll have to wait for the manual update when I want to start playing.

But with the current behavior on my setup, I randomly find my HDD is 100% busy chewing on a big update, and it impairs playback of my music that I keep on the HDD.

What is the install size of the game you're trying to update?

Pagefile?

Originally posted by HIVEmind:

Pagefile?

C

Just had a 3.7GB update for Helldivers 2 on the C drive. The C drive has over 200GB free. I don't even know what was going on this time. I found the update fully downloaded, in the "patching" phase. With the Steam client claiming the process has *2 HOURS REMAINING*. Task manager shows *WRITING* to D DRIVE, not C where the game is installed!

I pause the update, clear the download cache and close steam. Remove "StagingFolder 2" from appmanifest file. Relaunch Steam. And the entire update restarts from scratch and finishes in *5 MINUTES!!!*
What the heck is going on for the Steam client to be shuffling so much garbage back and forth between my HDD and SSD to cause a 5 minute update to take SEVERAL HOURS!!!!