Request for explanation of error message

[Bret Busby]

On 29/07/2019, Bret Busby <bret.busby at gmail.com> wrote:
> On 29/07/2019, Mike Marchywka <marchywka at hotmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sun, Jul 28, 2019 at 03:22:06PM -0400, Paul Smith wrote:
>>> On Mon, 2019-07-29 at 02:51 +0800, Bret Busby wrote:
>>> > Whatever is happeing, I now have
>>> >
>>> > "
>>> > bret at bret-MD34045-2521:~$ ls -l /var/log/lightdm/x*.*
>>> > -rw------- 1 root root 64086904832 Jul 29 02:49
>>> > /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log
>>> > "
>>> >
>>> > and no space left on the / partition.
>>> >
>>> > So, whatever is happening, the file, as it stands, has to be deleted,
>>> > as it has rendered the system unusable.
>>>
>>> I haven't been following this thread, but I mean, have you looked at
>>> the contents of that file to see what it says?
>>>
>>> You can view the last 20 lines, for example, by opening a terminal
>>> window and running:
>>>
>>>   tail -n20 /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log
>>>
>>> It could be that it's spewing errors or warnings to that file, which
>>> could lead you to a poorly-behaving program on your system or warn you
>>> about some hardware or configuration issue.
>>>
>>> I don't use lightdm (I use standard gdm) so I can't say for sure but
>>> it's possible simply deleting that file won't solve your disk space
>>> problem: if lightdm keeps the file open to write to it then removing it
>>> via "sudo rm -f /var/log/lightdm/x-0.log" won't actually free the disk
>>> space: on POSIX systems disk space is only cleaned up when there are no
>>> more references to the file.  If you try to delete it and you're still
>>> out of space you'll have to at least log out and log back in to restart
>>> the display manager, and/or possibly kill the process.
>>
>>  I keep suggesting to find an entire loop to post- he posted last
>> few lines before but it may help to get an entire period or go back
>> to first logfile that seemed too big and start there too.
>> Although deleting it and catching the new one starting to fill
>> may be easier. One of problems was inability to get a /tmp/x-lock or
>> something similar that may have simple explanation.
>>
>
> I have previously posted, a number of times, a copy of a repeating
> error that loops.
>

See the first message in the thread.


>>
>> That is a good point though- I remember with the nullmailer problem
>> I had to do something like a service restart but yeah you should be able
>> to see it with "lsof | grep filename " although fixing the problem
>> may require more drastic action anyway or at least a restart to
>> change a configuration.
>>
>>
>>
>>>
>>> In general those log files are for your information, for helping to
>>> track down issues.  The system itself doesn't need them for proper
>>> operation so if you need to delete them you should feel free to do so.
>>> It won't break anything.
>>>
>>>
>>> --
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>>> 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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>> ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
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>>
>
>
> --
> 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
>
> ....................................................
>


-- 
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

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