[comp.bugs.4bsd] HELP!: Filesystem Full

webb@webb.UUCP (03/24/87)

I am having trouble with a VAX 11/730 running 4.2BSD UNIX.  A couple of days 
ago I was running a process in the background that directed its (very verbose)
output into a file in the /usr partition.  Well, after a bit, the message
`/usr:file system is full' began to appear on the console.  Unthinkingly, I
unlinked the file (with rm -f), expecting the process to die as it lost its
standard output pointer, and the disk space to be freed in the process. 
This is not what happened.  I had to kill the process myself, and my /usr
partition is still 96-100% full.  I will not describe the problems this causes.
I have tried using fsck, both with the -p option and without it, to get rid
of this disk space, but to no avail.  I am not even sure that the problem lies
with the file I unlinked while it was still being written into, but that is
my best guess, since /usr was about 34% full before I ran this process, and I am
the only one who uses this machine.  Does anyone have any suggestions on how
I can identify the source of the problem and fix it?  I have tried searching
/usr for large files, and the only ones I found definitely belonged there.
Thanks in advance.

                                Peter Webb.
				 
{allegra|decvax|mit_eddie|utzoo}!linus!raybed2!applicon!webb
or {amd|bbncca|cbosgd|wjh12|ihnp4|yale}!ima!applicon!webb
				  
				  

dpz@paul.UUCP (04/02/87)

> From: webb@webb.applicon.UUCP

[he deleted a large *open* file which is giving him endless hell]

It would probably help to have some kind of disk editor to prowl
around the directory and free block entries on the disk to manually
fix things.  It problem sounds like the file is allocated for (oh boy
is it allocated :-) but that is all, no filename, nothing.  Have you
tried any of the more advanced ( > fsck) utilities that may have some
with your system?  The goal I believe is to get the system to reclaim
those allocated disk blocks.  As a last resort, I would also think
that since you say you are the only one who uses that machine, a
reformat (gasp!)  isn't as far out of the question as on other
systems.

			Good luck...

					dpz
-- 
David P. Zimmerman	"When I'm having fun, the world doesn't exist."

Arpa: dpz@rutgers.edu
Uucp: ...{harvard | seismo | pyramid}!rutgers!dpz

kurt@hi.UUCP (04/02/87)

In article <315@george.paul.RUTGERS.EDU> dpz@paul.RUTGERS.EDU (David P. Zimmerman) writes:
 > > From: webb@webb.applicon.UUCP
 > [he deleted a large *open* file which is giving him endless hell]
 >
 >				As a last resort, I would also think
 > that since you say you are the only one who uses that machine, a
 > reformat (gasp!)  isn't as far out of the question as on other
 > systems.
 >			Good luck...
 >					dpz

You might want to try "newfs" or "mkfs" before reformatting...
-- 
	Kurt Zeilenga	(zeilenga@hc.dspo.gov)