MESSAGES(M) XENIX System V MESSAGES(M)
Name
messages - Description of system console messages.
Description
This section describes the various system messages which may
appear on the system console. The messages are categorized
as follows:
Fatal
Recovery is impossible.
System inconsistency
A contradictory situation exists in the kernel.
Abnormal
A probably legitimate but extreme situation exists.
Hardware
Indicates a hardware problem.
Fatal system messages begin with ``panic:'' and indicate
hardware problems or kernel inconsistencies that are too
severe for continued operation. After displaying a fatal
message, the system will stop. Rebooting is required.
System inconsistency messages indicate problems usually
traceable to hardware malfunction, such as memory failure.
These messages rarely occur since associated hardware
problems are generally detected before such an inconsistency
can occur.
Abnormal messages represent kernel operation problems, such
as the overflow of critical tables. It takes extreme
situations to bring these problems about, so they should
never occur in normal system use. However, in some cases
you can raise the limit that causes the error message. In
the message list below, limits for applicable messages are
given. Use the configure(C) utility to make the necessary
changes.
Hardware messages normally specify the device, dev, that
caused the error. Each message gives a device specification
of the form nn/mm where nn is the major number of the
device, and mm is its minor number. The command pipeline
ls -l /dev | grep nn | grep mm
may be used to list the name of the device associated with
the given major and minor numbers.
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System Messages
** ABNORMAL System Shutdown **
This message appears when errors occur during system
shutdown. It is usually accompanied by other system
messages. System inconsistency, fatal.
bad block on dev nn/mm
A nonexistent disk block was found on, or is being
inserted in, the structure's free list. System
inconsistency.
bad count on dev nn/mm
A structural inconsistency in the superblock of a file
system. The system attempts a repair, but this message
will probably be followed by more complaints about this
file system. System inconsistency.
Bad free count on dev nn/mm
A structural inconsistency in the superblock of a file
system. The system attempts a repair, but this message
will probably be followed by more complaints about this
file system. System inconsistency.
error on dev name (nn/mm)
This is the way that most device driver diagnostic
messages start. The message will indicate the specific
driver and complaint. The name is a word identifying
the device.
iaddress > 2^24
This indicates an attempted reference to an illegal
block number, one so large that it could only occur on
a file system larger than 8 billion bytes. Abnormal.
Inode table overflow
Each open file requires an inode entry to be kept in
memory. When this table overflows, the specific
request (usually open(S) or creat(S)) is refused.
Although not fatal to the system, this event may damage
the operation of various spoolers, daemons, the mailer,
and other important utilities. Abnormal results and
missing data files are a common result. Use
configure(C) to raise the number of inodes. Abnormal.
interrupt from unknown device, vec=xxxx
The CPU received an interrupt via a supposedly unused
vector. This message is followed by ``panic: unknown
interrupt.'' Typically, this event comes about when a
hardware failure miscomputes the vector of a valid
interrupt. Hardware.
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no file
There are too many open files. The system has run out
of entries in its ``open file'' table. The warnings
given for the message ``inode table overflow'' apply
here. Use configure(C) to raise the number of files.
Abnormal.
no space on dev nn/mm
This message means that the specified file system has
run out of free blocks. Although not normally as
serious, the warnings discussed for ``inode table
overflow'' apply: often user programs are written
casually and ignore the error code returned when they
tried to write to the disk; this results in missing
data and ``holes'' in data files. The system
administrator should keep close watch on the amount of
free disk space and take steps to avoid this situation.
Abnormal.
** Normal System Shutdown **
This message appears when the system has been shutdown
properly. It indicates that the machine may now be
rebooted or powered down.
Out of inodes on dev nn/mm
The indicated file system has run out of free inodes.
The number of inodes available on a file system is
determined when the file system is created (using
mkfs(C)). The default number is quite generous; this
message should be very rare. The only recourse is to
remove some worthless files from that file system, or
dump the entire system to a backup device, run mkfs(C)
with more inodes specified, and restore the files from
backup. Abnormal.
out of text
When programs linked with the ld -i or -n switch are
run, a table entry is made so that only one copy of the
pure text will be in memory even if there are multiple
copies of the program running. This message appears
when this table is full. The system refuses to run the
program which caused the overflow. Note that there is
only one entry in this table for each different pure
text program. Multiple copies of one program will not
require multiple table entries. Each ``sticky''
program (see chmod(C)) requires a permanent entry in
this table; nonsticky pure text programs require an
entry only when there is at least one copy being
executed. Use configure(C) to raise the number of text
segments. Abnormal.
panic: bad 287 int
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Attempted execution of a real mode 287 instruction.
System incosistency, fatal.
panic: blkdev
An internal disk I/O request, already verified as
valid, is discovered to be refering to a nonexistent
disk. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: devtab
An internal disk I/O request, already verified as
valid, is discovered to be refering to a nonexistent
disk. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: iinit
The super-block of the root file system could not be
read. This message occurs only at boot time.
Hardware, fatal.
panic: IO err in swap
A fatal I/O error occurred while reading or writing the
swap area. Hardware, fatal.
panic: memory failure - parity error
A hardware memory failure trap has been taken. System
inconsistency, fatal.
panic: memory management failure
An error occurred during memory management operations.
System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: no fs
A file system descriptor has disappeared from its
table. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: no imt
A mounted file system has disappeared from the mount
table. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: no procs
Each user is limited in the amount of simultaneous
processes he can have; an attempt to create a new
process when none is available or when the user's limit
is exceeded and refused. That is an occasional event
and produces no console messages; this panic occurs
when the kernel has certified that a free process table
entry is available and can't find one when it goes to
get it. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: Out of swap
There is insufficient space on the swap disk to hold a
task. The system refuses to create tasks when it feels
there is insufficient disk space, but it is possible to
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create situations to fool this mechanism. Abnormal,
fatal.
panic: general protection trap
General protection trap taken in kernel. System
inconsistency, fatal.
panic: segment not present
An attempt has been made to access an invalid segment.
It may also indicate the segment-not-present trap has
been taken in the kernel. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: Timeout table overflow
The timeout table is full. Timeout requests are
generated by device drivers, there should usually be
room for one entry per system serial line plus ten more
for other usages. Use configure(C) to raise the number
of timeout table entries.
panic: Trap in system
The CPU has generated an illegal instruction trap while
executing kernel or device driver code. This message
is preceded with an information dump describing the
trap. System inconsistency, fatal.
panic: Invalid TSS
Internal tables have become corrupted. System
inconsistency, fatal.
panic: unknown interrupt
The CPU received an interrupt via a supposedly unused
vector. Typically, this event comes about when a
hardware failure miscomputes the vector of a valid
interrupt. Hardware, fatal.
proc on q
The system attempts to queue a process already on the
process ready-to-run queue. System inconsistency,
fatal.
Trap type
This message precedes a ``panic:'' message. The type
is the trap number given by the processor. The message
is followed by a dump of registers. System
inconsistency, fatal.
Notes
Not all messages appear on all machines. Some messages are
processor dependent.
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