Request for explanation of error message

Mike Marchywka marchywka at hotmail.com
Sun Jul 28 17:30:04 UTC 2019


On Mon, Jul 29, 2019 at 01:01:03AM +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
> And, as I got a no free space warning, although I can't find where
> there is no free space, apart from the snap (?) area,
> 
> "
> bret at bret-MD34045-2521:~$ df -h
> Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
> udev             16G     0   16G   0% /dev
> tmpfs           3.2G  1.6M  3.2G   1% /run
> /dev/sda7        92G   58G   30G  67% /
> tmpfs            16G  469M   16G   3% /dev/shm
> tmpfs           5.0M  4.0K  5.0M   1% /run/lock
> tmpfs            16G     0   16G   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
> /dev/loop0      128K  128K     0 100% /snap/software-boutique/39
> /dev/loop1      8.0M  8.0M     0 100% /snap/pulsemixer/23
> /dev/loop7       88M   88M     0 100% /snap/core/5328
> /dev/loop2      161M  161M     0 100% /snap/midori/451
> /dev/loop3       72M   72M     0 100% /snap/software-boutique/31
> /dev/loop4       87M   87M     0 100% /snap/ubuntu-mate-welcome/335
> /dev/loop5       89M   89M     0 100% /snap/core/7270
> /dev/loop8      8.0M  8.0M     0 100% /snap/pulsemixer/250
> /dev/loop6       88M   88M     0 100% /snap/ubuntu-mate-welcome/199
> /dev/sda1        96M   31M   66M  32% /boot/efi
> /dev/sda8        92G   63G   25G  73% /home
> tmpfs           3.2G   64K  3.2G   1% /run/user/1000
> /dev/sda9        92G   61M   87G   1% /media/bret/Data1
> /dev/sda10       92G   61M   87G   1% /media/bret/Data2
> "
> 
> 
> so I looked in the /var area, I noticed that the 48GB log file has
> much smaller zipped predecessors;

This is probably log rotate. From the sizes, absent some activity you know about,
things probably went bad between 16th and 22nd and then escalated.

> 
> "
> bret at bret-MD34045-2521:~$ ls -l /var/log/lightdm/x*.*
> -rw------- 1 root root 48233766147 Jul 28 02:49 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log
> -rw------- 1 root root     9770700 Jul 23 03:45 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.3.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root    26392833 Jul 22 23:42 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.4.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         768 Jul 16 20:13 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.5.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         784 Jul 15 16:42 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.6.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         144 Jul 14 21:33 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.7.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         100 Jul 13 01:14 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log.8.gz
> "
> 
> Weirdness abounds.
> 
> I note that, in the /var/log/lightdm directory, the other log files
> have log1.gz and log2.gz , but, that one does not;
> 
> "
> bret at bret-MD34045-2521:~$ ls -l /var/log/lightdm/
> total 47138780
> -rw------- 1 root root           0 Jul 28 02:53 lightdm.log
> -rw------- 1 root root        2822 Jul 28 02:50 lightdm.log.1.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        2130 Jul 23 03:46 lightdm.log.2.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         121 Jul 22 23:42 lightdm.log.3.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        2252 Jul 16 20:13 lightdm.log.4.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1747 Jul 15 16:43 lightdm.log.5.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1691 Jul  7 01:09 lightdm.log.6.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1673 Jul  6 23:23 lightdm.log.7.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root           0 Jul 28 02:53 seat0-greeter.log
> -rw------- 1 root root        2294 Jul 28 02:50 seat0-greeter.log.1.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1912 Jul 23 03:46 seat0-greeter.log.2.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1934 Jul 16 20:13 seat0-greeter.log.3.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1459 Jul 15 16:43 seat0-greeter.log.4.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1501 Jul  7 01:09 seat0-greeter.log.5.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1432 Jul  6 23:23 seat0-greeter.log.6.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root        1429 Jul  6 23:33 seat0-greeter.log.7.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root 48233766147 Jul 28 02:49 x-0.log
> -rw------- 1 root root     9770700 Jul 23 03:45 x-0.log.3.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root    26392833 Jul 22 23:42 x-0.log.4.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         768 Jul 16 20:13 x-0.log.5.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         784 Jul 15 16:42 x-0.log.6.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         144 Jul 14 21:33 x-0.log.7.gz
> -rw------- 1 root root         100 Jul 13 01:14 x-0.log.8.gz
> "
> 
> So, I am assuming that that file corrupted, on or about 23 July, or,
> whatever automatically compacts and archives it, and, starts a new log
> file, failed, at about that time.

Again, that is probably logrotate but the easiest thing to do is look at the last few lines
in any of the larger files and find similar lines farther up to establish a period of
error messages ( while they could all be unrelated as if being attacked likely it is in an
infinite loop trying to get something restarted ). Once you have a full period it
may be obvious what the problem is. Alternative, if you unzip the x-0.log.4.gz file to the
console and just "more" it probably a few lines in you will see whatver started it
as the earlier gzip files are quite small. 

If you boot in single user mode and have the console messages pop up, you may
be able to execute some of the failed steps by hand and see if it triggers any error messages.

> 
> -- 
> 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
> 
> ....................................................
> 
> -- 
> ubuntu-users mailing list
> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users

-- 

mike marchywka
306 charles cox
canton GA 30115
USA, Earth 
marchywka at hotmail.com
404-788-1216
ORCID: 0000-0001-9237-455X




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