Query about parasitic firefox file

[Bret Busby]

On 09/03/2018, Bret Busby <bret.busby at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 08/03/2018, Bret Busby <bret at busby.net> wrote:
>> On Wed, 7 Mar 2018, Liam Proven wrote:
>>
>>> Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2018 21:42:54
>>> From: Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com>
>>> Reply-To: "Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions"
>>>     <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
>>> To: "Ubuntu user technical support, not for general discussions"
>>>     <ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com>
>>> Subject: Re: Query about parasitic firefox file
>>>
>>> On 7 March 2018 at 13:00, Bret Busby <bret.busby at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> I had removed an earlier OS - Debian 6, including reformatting the
>>>> partition, but, now, can not write to it, so, apart from a HDD
>>>> restructure, I do not have much free space left - about (now) 1.7GB.
>>>
>>> That's not enough for a safe, usable system these days.
>>>
>>> Boot off a live medium, run GParted, remove the old Debian partition,
>>> and extend your /home partition (or / if you don't have a separate
>>> /home) into the free space.
>>>
>>> For more detailed guidance, post the output of
>>>
>>> sudo sfdisk -l
>>>
>>> here.
>>>
>>
>> Whilst it was not requested, here is this;
>>
>> "
>> :~$ df -h
>> Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
>> udev            7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /dev
>> tmpfs           1.6G  9.5M  1.6G   1% /run
>> /dev/sda5        24G   11G   12G  48% /
>> tmpfs           7.8G   97M  7.7G   2% /dev/shm
>> tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
>> tmpfs           7.8G     0  7.8G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
>> /dev/sda13       55G   51G  1.2G  98% /home
>> cgmfs           100K     0  100K   0% /run/cgmanager/fs
>> tmpfs           1.6G   56K  1.6G   1% /run/user/1000
>> /dev/sr1        884K  884K     0 100% /media/bret/HP Launcher
>> /dev/sdb1       466G   14G  452G   3% /media/bret/hp hard drive1
>> /dev/sda9        77G   73G  884K 100% /media/bret/Data01
>> /dev/sda10       77G   73G  4.5M 100% /media/bret/Data02
>> /dev/sda12       37G   35G  7.2M 100% /media/bret/Data03
>> /dev/sda14       68G   64G  6.1M 100% /media/bret/Data04
>> /dev/sda6       9.5G   23M  9.0G   1% /media/bret/Data05-10GB
>> /dev/sda8        77G   73G  348K 100%
>> /media/bret/a3074725-349d-4647-8b07-3a5526f7ee55
>> /dev/sda11       40G   40G  8.6M 100% /media/bret/41B78C85772DD3E4
>> "
>>
>> Note, that is after the particular file was deleted, which freed up
>> about 1.7GB of the home partition, and, after subsequent downloads.
>>
>
>
> And, in the time that has passed since I posted that message, firefox
> has struck again and again expanded the parasite file, to take up all
> of the available free space.
>
> Free space - 0 bytes
>
> places.sqlite-wal  - 1.4GB
>
> It seems to be like a hydatids cyst.
>


And now, having deleted the file, and, "emptied the Rubbish Bin",
where the file was shown as being, after it was "deleted", half an
hour later,  the 1.4GB is still not freed, so, Free space is still 0
bytes, rendering the system unusable.

I will leave it for a few hours, amnd see whether the 1.4GB, wherever
it is hiding, evaporates, and, if it hasn't, then I suppose that I
will have to assume that firefox v58 has corrupted the system to the
extent that the system needs to be rebuilt.

-- 

Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia

..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
 you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
 Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
 "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
 A Trilogy In Four Parts",
 written by Douglas Adams,
 published by Pan Books, 1992

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