Solaris / Unix error messages are very short and often we need some more information about the origin of an error and a possible steps to fix the issues.
Here is a list of Solaris / Unix error messages for your reference, most of the error messages are generic Unix error messages but many are specific Solaris Error Messages. Please comment if you can provide some more details about these errors.
This is a multi part document , this part covers error messages starting from E to K
Please scroll down to related posts section for other parts of this document.
E
55. error: DPS has not initialized or server connection failed
56. ERROR: missing file arg (cm3)
57. ERROR [SCCS/s.variable]: writable `variable’ exists (ge4)
58. esp0: data transfer overrun
59. Event not found
60. EXCESSIVE BAD BLKSI=N CONTINUE?
61. EXCESSIVE DUP BLKS I=N CONTINUE?
62. Exec format error
F
63. fd0: unformatted diskette or no diskette in the drive
64. File exists
65. File locking deadlock
66. filemgr: mknod: Permission denied
67. File name too long
68. FILE SYSTEM STATE IN SUPERBLOCK IS WRONG; FIX?
69. File table overflow
70. File too large
71. FREE BLK COUNT(S) WRONG IN SUPERBLK SALVAGE?
72. fsck: Can’t open /dev/dsk/variable
73. fsck: Can’t stat /dev/dsk/variable
G
74. giving up
75. Graphics Adapterdevice /dev/fb is of unknown type
76. group.org_dir: NIS+ servers unreachable
H
77. /home/variable: No such file ordirectory
78. Host is down
79. host name configuration error
80. hosts.org_dir: NIS+ servers unreachable
I
81. I can’t read your attachments. What mailer are you using?
82. ie0: Ethernet jammed
83. ie0: no carrier
84. Illegal Instruction
85. Illegal instruction “0xN” was encounteredat PC 0xN
86. Illegal seek
87. Image Tool: Unable to open XIL Library.
88. Inappropriate ioctl for device
89. INCORRECT BLOCK COUNT I=N (should be N) CORRECT?
90. inetd[N]: execv /usr/sbin/in.uucpd: No such file or directory
91. inetd[N]: variable/tcp: unknown service
92. inetd[N]: variable/udp:unknown service
93. inetd: Too many open files
94. INIT: Cannot create /var/adm/utmp or /var/adm/utmpx
95. InitOutput: Error loading module for /dev/fb
96. Interrupted system call
97. Invalid argument
98. Invalid null command
99. I/O error
100. Is a directory
K
101. kernel read error
102. Killed
103. kmem_free block already free
error: DPS has not initialized or server connection failed
This message appears when trying to run AnswerBook with a generic
X11 window server or on a generic X terminal.Running AnswerBook requires Display PostScript (DPS), or a NeWS
server, or the Adobe DPS NS remote display software. In addition,
a complete LaserWriterII Type-1 font set (including Palatino)
should be installed on the X server. To find out if your X server
has DPS, run xdpyinfo(1) to verify the presence of an “Adobe-
DPS-Extension” line. X servers without this line don’t know about
DPS.
An attempt was madd to run some sccs(1) operation that requires a
filename, such as create, edit, delget, or prt.Supply the appropriate filename after the SCCS operation.
ERROR [SCCS/s.variable]: `SCCS/p.variable’ nonexistent (ut4)
An attempt was made to sccs edit or sccs get a file that is not
yet under SCCS control.
Run sccs create on that file to place it under SCCS control.
ERROR [SCCS/s.variable]: writable `variable’ exists (ge4)
An attempt was made to sccs edit a file that is writable,
probably because it is already checked out.Run sccs info to see who has the file checked out. If it is you,
go ahead and edit it. If it is somebody else, ask that personto
check in the file.
When a user tries to mount a CDROM on a third-party CD drive,
mount(1M) fails with the above error, followed by the “sr0: SCSI
transport failed” message. The CD drive probably comes from a
vendor unknown to the system.Third-party CD drives generally have an 8192 block size, as
opposed to the 512 block size on supported Sun drives. Check with
the vendor to see if any special configuration is possible to
allow the drive to operate on a Sun workstation.
This C shell message indicates that a user tried to repeat a
command from the history list, but that command or number does
not exist in the list.Run the C shell history command to display recent events in the
history list. If a user often tries to run commands that have
disappeared from the history list, make the list longer by
setting history to a higher value.For more information about the C shell, see csh(1).
EXCESSIVE BAD BLKSI=N CONTINUE?
During phase 1, fsck(1M) found more than 10 bad (out-of-range)
blocks associated with the specified inode number.With this many bad blocks, it might be preferable to restore the
filesystem from backup tapes
EXCESSIVE DUP BLKS I=N CONTINUE?
During phase 1, fsck(1M) found more than 10 duplicate (previously
claimed) blocks associated with the specified inode number.With this many duplicate blocks, it might be preferable to
restore the filesystem from backup tapes.
string.
This often happens when trying to runsoftware compiled for
different systems or architectures, such as when executing
Solaris 2.x programs on a SunOS 4.1.x system, or when trying to
execute SPARC-specific programs on an x86 machine. On a Solaris
2.x system, it can also occur if the BinaryCompatibility Package
was not installed.
Make sure that the software matches the architecture and system
you’re using. The file(1) command can help you determine the
target architecture. If you’re using SunOS 4.1.x softwareon a
Solaris 2.x system, make sure that the Binary Compatibility
Package is installed. You can check for it using this command:$ pkginfo | grep SUNWbcpA request was made to execute a file that, although it has the
appropriate permissions, does not start with a valid format.
fd0: unformatted diskette or no diskette in the drive
This message appears on the system console to indicate that the
floppy driver fd(7) could not read the label on a diskette.
Usually this is either because a new diskette has not yet been
formatted, or a formatted diskette has become corrupted. This
message often appears along with “read failed” and “bad
format”
messages after volcheck(1) is run.If you are certain that the diskette contains no data, run
fdformat -d to format the diskette in DOS format. (You can also
format a diskette in UFS format if you like, although then it is
not transportable to most other systems.) When the diskette is
formatted, you can write on it, if it was not corrupted beyond
repair.
The name of an existing file was mentioned in an inappropriate
context. For example,it is not allowed to establish a link to an
existing file, or to overwrite an existing file when the csh(1)
noclobber option is set.Look at the names of files in the directory, then try again with
a different name or after renaming or removing the existing file.The symbolic name for this error is EEXIST, errno=17.
This is a programming problem, in some cases unavoidable.All a user can do is restart the program and hope deadlock does
not reoccur.Inthe file locking subsystem, two processes tried to modify some
lock at the same time. In the multithreading subsystem, two
threads became deadlocked and could not continue. When a program
using the threads library encounters this error, it should
restart the deadlocked threads.The symbolic name for this error is EDEADLOCK, errno=56.
filemgr: mknod: Permission denied
File Manager issues this message and fails to come up whenever
the /tmp/.removable directory is owned by another user and is not
1777 mode. This can happen, for example, when multiple users
share a workstation.Have the original owner change the mode ((chmod(1)) of this file
back to 1777, its default creation mode. Rebooting the
workstation also resolves this problem.
The specified file name has too many characters.If a file name or path name component is too long, devise a
shorter name. If the totalpath name is longer than PATH_MAX
characters, first change to an intermediate directory, then
specify a shorter path name. Newly-created data will be lost
unless written to another file with a shorter name.In a UFS or NFS-mounted UFS filesystem, the length of a path name
component exceeds MAXNAMLEN (255) characters, or the total length
of the path name exceeds PATH_MAX (1024) characters. In a System
V filesystem, the length of a path name component exceeds
NAME_MAX (14) characters while no-truncation mode is in effect.
These values are defined in the /usr/include/limits.h(4) file.The symbolic name for this error is ENAMETOOLONG, errno=78.
FILE SYSTEM STATE IN SUPERBLOCK IS WRONG; FIX?
The fsck(1M) command has just checked a filesystem, and has
determined that the filesystem is clean. The filesystem’s
superblock, however, still thinks the filesystem is “dirty” in
some way.If you believe that the filesystem is adequately repaired, answer
yes to mark the filesystem as clean.Different “dirty” filesystem types are listed in
/usr/include/sys/fs/ufs_fs.h, and include FSACTIVE, FSBAD, FSFIX,
FSLOG, and FSSUSPEND.
The kernel file table is full because too many files are open on
the system. Temporarily, no more files can be opened. New data
created under this condition will probably be lost.Simply waiting often gives the system time to close files.
However, if this message occurs often, reconfigure the kernel to
allow more open files. To increasethe size of the file table in
Solaris 2.x, increase the value of maxusers in the /etc/system
file. The default maxusers value is the amount of main memory in
MB, minus 2.The symbolic name for this error is ENFILE, errno=23.
The file size exceeded the limit specified by ulimit(1), or the
file size exceeds the maximum supported by the file system. New
data created under this condition will probably be lost.In the C shell, use the limit command to see or set the default
file size. In the Bourne or Korn shells, use the ulimit -a
command. Even when the shells claim that the file size is
unlimited, in fact the system limit is FCHR_MAX (usually 1
gigabyte).
The symbolic name for this error is EFBIG, errno=27.
FREE BLK COUNT(S) WRONG IN SUPERBLK SALVAGE?
During phase 5, fsck(1M) detected that the actual number of free
blocks in the filesystem did not match the superblock’s free
block count.The df(1M) command accesses this free block count
when measuring filesystem capacity.Generally you can answer yes to this question without harming the
filesystem.For more information on superblocks, see the section on checking
filesystem integrity in the System Administration Guide, Volume
I. If you are using the AnswerBook, “bad superblock” is a good
search string.
fsck: Can’t open /dev/dsk/variable
The fsck(1M) command cannot open the disk device, because
although a similar filesystem exists, the partition specified
does not.
Run the mount(1M) or the format(1M) command to see what
filesystems are configured on the machine. Then run fsck again on
an existing partition.
fsck: Can’t stat /dev/dsk/variable
The fsck(1M) command cannot open the disk device, because the
specified filesystem does not exist.
Run the mount(1M) or the format(1M) command to see what
filesystems are configured on the machine. Then run fsck again on
an existing filesystem.
This message appears in the SCSI log to indicate that a read or
write operation has been retried until it timed out. With SCSI
disk the timeout period is usually 30 seconds; with tape the
period is usually 20 attempts. Timeout periods are generally
coded into the drivers.Check that all SCSI devices are connected and powered on. Make
sure that SCSI target numbers are correct and not in conflict.
Verify that all cables are no longer than six meters, total, and
that all SCSI connections are properly terminated.
The scsi_log(9F) routine usually displays messages on the system
console and in the /var/adm/messages file. Run the dmesg(1M)
command to see the most recent message buffer.
Graphics Adapterdevice /dev/fb is of unknown type
The /dev/fb driver is either missing or corrupted.
See “InitOutput: Error loading module for /dev/fb” for details.
group.org_dir: NIS+ servers unreachable
This is the second of three messages that an NIS+ client prints
when it cannot locate an NIS+ server on the network.
See the message “hosts.org_dir: NIS+ servers unreachable” for
details.
/home/variable: No such file ordirectory
An attempt was made to change to a user’s home directory, but
either that user does not exist or the user’s fileserver has not
shared (exported) that filesystem.To check on the existence of a particular user, run the
ypmatch(1) or nismatch(1) command, specifying the user name and
then the passwd map.To export filesystems from the remote fileserver, become
superuser on that system and run the share(1M) command with the
appropriate options. If that system is sharing (exporting)
filesystems for the first time, also invoke
/etc/init.d/nfs.server start to begin NFS service.For more information on sharing filesystems.
A transport connection failed because the destination host was
down. For example, mail delivery was attempted over several days,
but the destination machine was not available during any of these
attempts.Report this error to the system administrator for the host. If
you are the person responsible for this system, check to see if
the machine needs repair or rebooting.This error results from status information delivered by the
underlying communication interface. If there is no known
connection to the host, a different message usually results. See
“No route to host” for details.The symbolic name for this error is EHOSTDOWN, errno=147.
This is an old sendmail message, which replaced “I refuse to talk
tomyself” and is now replaced by the “Local configuration error”
message.See the message “554 variable… Local configuration error” for
details.
hosts.org_dir: NIS+ servers unreachable
This is the third of three messages that an NIS+ client prints
when it cannot locate an NIS+ server on the network.If other NIS+ clients are behaving normally, check the Ethernet
cabling on the workstation showing this message. On SPARC
machines, disconnected network cablingalso produces a series of
“no carrier” messages. On x86 machines, the NIS+ messages might
be your only indication that network cabling is disconnected.If many NIS+ clients on the network are giving this message, go
to the NIS+ server in question and reboot or repair it, as
necessary. When the server machine is back in operation, NIS+
clients will give an “NIS server for domain OK” message.
This message can appear on SPARCservers or x86 machines with an
Intel 82586 Ethernet chip. It indicates that 16 successive
transmission attempts failed, causing the driver to give up on
the current packet.If this error occurs sporadically or at busy times, it probably
means that the network is saturated. Wait for network traffic to
clear. If bottlenecks arise frequently, think about reconfiguring
the network or adding subnets.Another possible cause of this message is a noise source
somewhere in the network, such as a loose transceiver connection.
Use snoop(1M)or a similar program to isolate the problem area,
then check and tighten network connectors as necessary.
This message can appear on SPARCservers or x86 machines with an
Intel 82586 Ethernet chip. It indicates that thechip has lost
input to its carrierdetect pin while trying to transmit a
packet, causing the packet to be dropped.Check that the Ethernet connector is not loose or disconnected.
Other possible causes include an open circuit somewhere in the
network and noise on the carrier detect linefrom the
transceiver. Use snoop(1M) or a similar program to isolate the
problem area, then check the network connectors and transceivers,
as needed.
A process has received a signal indicating that it attempted to
execute an instruction that is not allowed by the kernel. This
usually results from running programs compiled for a slightly
different machine architecture. This message is usually
accompanied by a core dump, excepton read-only filesystems.If you are booting from CDROM or from the net, check README files
to make sure you are using an image appropriate for your machine
architecture. Run df to make sure there is enough swap space on
the system; too little swap space can cause this error. If you
recently upgraded your CPU to a new architecture, replace your
operating system with one that supports the new architecture (an
operating system upgrade might be required).Sometimes this condition results from programming error, such as
when a program attempts to execute data as instructions. This
condition can also indicate device file corruption on your
system.
Illegal instruction “0xN” was encountered at PC 0xN
The machine is trying to boot from a non-boot device, or from a
boot device for a different hardware architecture.If you are booting from the net, check README files to make sure
you are using a boot image for that architecture. If you are
booting from disk, make sure the system is looking at the right
disk, which is usually SCSI target 3. Failing these solutions,
connect a CD drive to the system and boot from CDROM.
Using a pipe (“|”) on the command line doesn’t work here.
Rather than using a pipe on the command line, redirect the output
of the first program into a file and then run the second program
on that file.A call to lseek(2) was issued to a pipe. This error condition can
also be fixed by altering the program to avoid using lseek().The symbolic name for this error is ESPIPE, errno=29
.
Image Tool: Unable to open XIL Library.
This message follows multiple multi-line “XilDefaultErrorFunc”
errors, indicating that ImageTool could not locate the X Imaging
Library. Many OpenWindows and CDE deskset programs require XIL.Run pkginfo(1) to determine what packages are installed on the
system. If the following packages are not present, install them
from CDROM or over thenet: SUNWxildg, SUNWxiler, SUNWxilow, and
SUNWxilrt.
Inappropriate ioctl for device
This is a programming error.
Ask the program’s author to fix this condition. The program needs
to be changed so it employs a device driver that can accept
special character device controls.The ioctl() system call was given as an argument for a file that
is not a special character device. This message replaces the
traditional but puzzling “Not a typewriter” message.
The symbolic name for this error is ENOTTY, errno=25.
INCORRECT BLOCK COUNT I=N (should be N) CORRECT?
During phase 1, fsck(1M) determined that the specified inode
pointed to a number of bad or duplicate blocks, sothe block
count should be corrected to the actual number shown.
Generally you can answer yes to this question without harming the
filesystem.For more information on bad blocks.
inetd[N]: execv /usr/sbin/in.uucpd: No such file or directory
This message indicates that the Internet services daemon
inetd(1M) tried to start up the UUCP service without the UUCP
daemon existing on the system.The SUNWbnuu package must be installed before the machine can run
UUCP. Run pkgadd(1M) to install this package from the
distribution CDROM or over the network.
inetd[N]: variable/tcp: unknown service
This message indicates that the Internet services daemon
inetd(1M) could not locate the TCP service specified after the
first colon.Check the current machine’s /etc/services file, and the NIS
services map, to see if the service is described. To start this
service, add an appropriate entry into the /etc/services file and
possibly the services map as well. Note that NIS+ does not
consult the local /etc/services file unless you put “files” right
after “nisplus” on the services line of the system’s
/etc/nsswitch.conf file.If you do not want to start this service, edit the system’s
/etc/inetd.conf file and delete the entry that tries to start it
up.
inetd[N]: variable/udp:unknown service
This message indicates that the Internet services daemon
inetd(1M) could not locate the UDP service specified after the
first colon.See the message “inetd[N]: variable/tcp: unknown service” fora
solution.
This message can appear when someone runs a command from the
shell or uses a third-party application. The sar(1M) command does
not indicate that the system-wide open file limit has been
exceeded.The probable cause for this is that the shell limit has been
exceeded. The default open file limit is 64, but can be raised to
256.
INIT: Cannot create /var/adm/utmp or /var/adm/utmpx
This console message indicates that init(1M) cannot write in the
/var directory, which is usually part of the / (root) filesystem.
Some other messages follow, andthe system usually comes up
single-user. The problem is often that / or /var is mounted
read-only. Sometimes a brief power outage leaves the system
believing that many filesystems are still mounted.If /var is a separate filesystem on the machine, andis not yet
not mounted, mount it now. If the filesystem containing /var is
mounted read-only, remount it read-write with a command similar
to this:# mount -o rw,remount /Then type Control-d and try to bring up the system multi-user. If
that fails, the root filesystem is probably corrupted. Run
fsck(1M) on the root filesystem, halt the machine, power cycle
the CPU, and wait for the system to reboot. Should this problem
still occur, restore the root filesystem from backup tapes, or
re-install the system from net or CDROM to replace the root
filesystem.
InitOutput: Error loading module for /dev/fb
This fatal X server error message indicates that /dev/fb, the
“dumb frame buffer,” is either missing or corrupted. It is
usually followed by a “giving up” message and a few xinit errors.If other devices on the system are working correctly, the most
likely reason for this error is that the SUNWdfb package was
removed or never installed. Insert the installation CD-ROM,
change to the Solaris_2.xdirectory, and run the following
command to install the packages SUNWdfbh and SUNWdfb (for your
machine architecture):
pkgadd -d .If other devices on the system are not working correctly, the
system might havea corrupt /devices directory. Halt the system
and boot using the -r (reconfigure) option. The system will run
fsck(1M) if the /devices filesystem is corrupted, most likely
fixing the problem.
The user issued an interrupt signal (usually Control-c) while the
system was in the middle of executing a system call. When network
service is slow, interrupting cd(1) to a remote-mounted directory
can produce this message.Proceed with your work, this message is purely informational.
An asynchronoussignal (such as interrupt or quit), which a
program was set up to catch, occurred during an internal system
call. If execution is resumed after processing the signal, it
will appear as if the interrupted programming function returned
this error condition, so the program might exit with an incorrect
error message.The symbolic name for this error is EINTR, errno=4.
An invalid parameter was specified that the system cannot
interpret. For example, trying to mount an uncreated filesystem,
printing without sufficient system support, or providing an
undefined signal to a signal(3c) library function, can all
produce this message.
If you see this message when you are trying to mount a
filesystem, make sure that you have run newfs(1M) to create the
filesystem. If you see this message when you are trying to read a
diskette, make sure that the diskette was properly formatted with
fdformat(1), either in DOS format (pcfs) or as a UFS filesystem.
If you see this message while you are trying to print, make sure
that the print service is configured correctly.The symbolic name for this error is EINVAL, errno=22.
This C shell message results from a command line with two pipes
(|)in a row or from a pipe without a command afterwards.Change the command line so that each pipe is followed by a
command.
Some physical Input/Output error has occurred. If the process was
writing a file, data corruption is possible.First find out which device is experiencing the I/O error. If the
device is a tape drive, make sure a tape is inserted into the
drive. When this error occurs with a tape in the drive, it is
likely that the tape contains an unrecoverable bad spot.If the device is a floppy drive, an unformatted or defective
diskette could be at fault. Format the diskette, or obtain a
replacement.If the device is a hard disk drive, you might need to run
fsck(1M) and possibly even reformat the disk.
In some cases this error might occur on a call following the one
to which it actually applies.The symbolic name for this error is EIO, errno=5.
An attempt was made to read or write a directory as if it were a
file.Look at a listing of all the files in the current directory and
try again, specifying a file instead of a directory.The symbolic name for this error is EISDIR, errno=21.
This message appears when savecore(1M), if activated, tries to
copy a debugging image of kernel memory to disk but cannot read
various kernel data structures correctly. Generally this occurs
after a system panic has corrupted main memory. Data corruption
on the systemis possible.Look at the kernel error messages that preceded this one to try
to determine the cause of the problem. Error messages such as
“BAD TRAP” usually indicate faulty hardware. Until the problem
that caused the kernel panic is resolved, a kernel core image
cannot be saved for debugging.
This message is purely informational. If the killed process was
writing a file, some data might be lost.Continue with your work.This message from the signal handler or various shells indicates
that a process has been terminated with a SIGKILL. However, if
you don’t see this message and cannot terminate a process with a
SIGKILL, you might have to reboot the machine to get rid of that
process.
This is a programming error,probably from a device driver.Determine which driver is giving this message and contact the
vendor for a software update, as this message indicates a bug in
the driver.
This message is from the DDI programming function kmem_free(9F),
which releases a block of memory at address addr of size siz that
was previously allocated by the DDI function kmem_alloc(9F). Both
addr and siz must correspond to the original allocation. If you
have source code for the driver, follow kmem_alloc() and
kmem_free() in the code to make sure they allocate and free the
same chunk of memory.