Var has 0 bytes left?!

[geekomatic]

This warning just popped up today. It's an old system that I'm going to upgrade with new drives and a new Mint, but is there any way to regain the space as I'm not ready to do the new install just yet. I'm afraid to shut down or restart. Can I safely delete some of the files/folders?

Help?

https://imgur.com/a/kFzNPt1

Code: Select all

System:    Host: bitfenix Kernel: 4.4.0-148-generic x86_64 (64 bit, gcc: 4.8.4) Desktop: N/A Distro: Linux Mint 17.1 Rebecca
Machine:   Mobo: ASRock model: H97M-ITX/ac Bios: American Megatrends version: P1.40 date: 09/01/2014
CPU:       Quad core Intel Core i5-4690 CPU (-MCP-) cache: 6144 KB flags: (lm nx sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx) bmips: 27936.3 
           Clock Speeds: 1: 3714.375 MHz 2: 3856.562 MHz 3: 3856.289 MHz 4: 3898.945 MHz
Graphics:  Card: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor Integrated Graphics Controller bus-ID: 00:02.0 
           X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: intel (unloaded: fbdev,vesa) Resolution: 1920x1080@60.0hz 
           GLX Renderer: Mesa DRI Intel Haswell Desktop GLX Version: 3.0 Mesa 10.1.3 Direct Rendering: Yes
Audio:     Card-1: Intel 9 Series Chipset Family HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
           Card-2: Intel Xeon E3-1200 v3/4th Gen Core Processor HD Audio Controller driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 00:03.0
           Sound: Advanced Linux Sound Architecture ver: k4.4.0-148-generic
Network:   Card: Qualcomm Atheros QCA8171 Gigabit Ethernet driver: alx port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0
           IF: eth0 state: down mac: <filter>
Drives:    HDD Total Size: 856.2GB (62.0% used) 1: id: /dev/sda model: Samsung_SSD_840 size: 256.1GB serial: S1ATNSAF404348M 
           2: id: /dev/sdb model: WDC_WD6000HLHX size: 600.1GB serial: WD-WXG1EB0LHE42 
Partition: ID: / size: 30G used: 3.9G (14%) fs: ext4 ID: /usr size: 9.8G used: 8.8G (96%) fs: ext4 
           ID: /boot size: 488M used: 272M (60%) fs: ext4 ID: /home size: 195G used: 144G (78%) fs: ext4 
           ID: /var size: 5.8G used: 5.8G (100%) fs: ext4 ID: swap-1 size: 4.29GB used: 0.00GB (0%) fs: swap 
RAID:      System: supported: N/A
           No RAID devices detected - /proc/mdstat and md_mod kernel raid module present
           Unused Devices: none
Sensors:   System Temperatures: cpu: 51.0C mobo: N/A 
           Fan Speeds (in rpm): cpu: N/A 
Repos:     Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/colingille-freshlight-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/colingille/freshlight/ubuntu saucy main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/colingille/freshlight/ubuntu saucy main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ffmulticonverter-stable-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ffmulticonverter/stable/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ffmulticonverter/stable/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/flacon-ppa-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/flacon/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/flacon/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fta-gnome3-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/fta/gnome3/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/fta/gnome3/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/gezakovacs-ppa-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/gezakovacs/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list
           deb [arch=amd64] http://dl.google.com/linux/chrome/deb/ stable main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/heyarje-libav-11-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/heyarje/libav-11/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/heyarje/libav-11/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/hollywood-ppa-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/hollywood/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/hollywood/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/linuxgndu-sqlitebrowser-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxgndu/sqlitebrowser/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/linuxgndu/sqlitebrowser/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/maarten-baert-simplescreenrecorder-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/maarten-baert/simplescreenrecorder/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mc3man-trusty-media-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mc3man/trusty-media/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mc3man/trusty-media/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozillateam-firefox-next-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-next/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/mozillateam/firefox-next/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nilarimogard-webupd8-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/nilarimogard/webupd8/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/nilarimogard/webupd8/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/official-package-repositories.list
           deb http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/linuxmint-packages rebecca main upstream import
           deb http://extra.linuxmint.com rebecca main
           deb http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/ubuntu/ubuntu trusty main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://mirror.internode.on.net/pub/ubuntu/ubuntu trusty-updates main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ trusty-security main restricted universe multiverse
           deb http://archive.canonical.com/ubuntu/ trusty partner
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ozmartian-apps-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/ozmartian/apps/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/ozmartian/apps/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/pinta-maintainers-pinta-stable-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/pinta-maintainers/pinta-stable/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/shutter-ppa-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/shutter/ppa/ubuntu trusty main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
           deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.skype.com/deb stable main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/spotify.list
           deb http://repository.spotify.com stable non-free
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/steam.list
           deb [arch=amd64,i386] http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ precise steam
           deb-src [arch=amd64,i386] http://repo.steampowered.com/steam/ precise steam
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ubuntu-esm-infra-trusty.list
           deb https://esm.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-infra-security main
           deb https://esm.ubuntu.com/ubuntu trusty-infra-updates main
           Active apt sources in file: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/yannubuntu-boot-repair-trusty.list
           deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu trusty main
           deb-src http://ppa.launchpad.net/yannubuntu/boot-repair/ubuntu trusty main
Info:      Processes: 243 Uptime: 1 day Memory: 6086.6/15745.5MB Runlevel: 2 Gcc sys: 4.8.4 Client: Shell inxi: 1.8.4 

[geekomatic]

Here are the main offenders as far as size goes:

Code: Select all

/var/log $ du -ks * | sort -nr | more
du: cannot read directory ‘samba/cores’: Permission denied
du: cannot read directory ‘speech-dispatcher’: Permission denied
4509804	uvcdynctrl-udev.log
32684	kern.log.1
14324	kern.log
6784	syslog.1
4380	boot-sav
3944	teamviewer13
3044	syslog
2224	samba
2136	boot-repair
2120	kern.log.4.gz
1948	kern.log.2.gz
1836	kern.log.3.gz
1756	teamviewer12
1572	installer
1288	teamviewer11
800	ufw.log.1
724	upstart
668	syslog.3.gz
592	mythtv
428	apache2
420	udev
376	syslog.4.gz
352	syslog.2.gz

I found this on reddit, ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comment ... e_logfile/ ) but I'd like someone here who is more knowledgeable than I to give me a thumbs-up and instruction to remove uvcdynctrl-udev.log

[kuifje09]

You can safely delete all the zipped files in var log.
Maybe some *old files too.
That will give some space to do some work again.

Probably /var/spool/cups can use a cleanup .

[xenopeek]

Removing the zipped files is pointless. That saves a few megabytes.

The solution in the linked Reddit topic will be fine, that removes the 4.5GB file. However, do check that log—like do tail /var/log/uvcdynctrl-udev.log and check it indeed has 10x the same error message. There may be a better solution, like actually fixing that error instead of playing ostrich with that problem. Google the error message if there is no actual solution for removing the error cause?

[geekomatic]

Still searching, I found this: https://askubuntu.com/questions/177312/ ... v-log-file

Can I safely follow this? I realised on reading this that I had connected a webcam earlier to see if it worked. It crashed Cheese just as this person said.

"The problem IS this package: uvcdynctrl-udev.

It's a useles and buggie program. It should be simply removed from debian and ubuntu repos. It shoudn't be installed. This package not only creates this HUGE log files, but it also causes Cheese and other web-cam apps to crash or work very badly (Can't capture video at full resolution with Cheese or Guvcview? REMOVE THIS PACKAGE AND IT WORKS AS IT SHOULD!

This bug has been around for years and the manteiner of uvcdyn.... doesn't seem to care about it.

The solution is simple: sudo apt-get remove uvcdynctrl-udev.

If you wanna be sure about what you are doing, use Synaptic instead. Serch for the buggie package uvcdynctrl-udev and uvcdynctrl-udev-data. Mark'em for complete removal. You'll notice it wont affect other programs, they're not dependencies, so you can safely remove it. Do it.

Then check /var/log, search this huge uvcdynctrl-udev.log, as root, delete it. (open a terminal **

cd /var/log
sudo rm uvcdynctrl-udev.log

** ) Believe me, you wont miss this package."

[Pjotr]

In my Mint 21.1 (upgraded from 21) it's not installed. Not by default present in your system, therefore. Probably came into your system as dependency for something you've installed yourself.

[xenopeek]

There is no package called uvcdynctrl-udev. But yeah, removing uvcdynctrl may be fine. It says it is a "Command line tool to control v4l2 devices".

See what apt purge uvcdynctrl uvcdynctrl-data says. Will it only remove packages called uvcdynctrl and uvcdynctrl-data? Then go ahead and proceed. If it says it will also remove programs, hold off and share which.

[geekomatic]

Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following packages will be REMOVED:
uvcdynctrl* uvcdynctrl-data*
0 to upgrade, 0 to newly install, 2 to remove and 2 not to upgrade.
After this operation, 215 kB disk space will be freed.
Do you want to continue? [Y/n]

So, that means no dependencies to worry about. At that point, I can then sudo rm uvcdynctrl-udev.log?

[Pjotr]

As a rule, logs should always be safe to remove. There might be exceptions, but I haven't encountered one ever.

[xenopeek]

Yes, and it should not come back. No need to reboot after either, removing the packages and the file solves this issue fully.

[geekomatic]

Good grief...

Do you want to continue? [Y/n] y
dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
unable to fill /var/lib/dpkg/updates/tmp.i with padding: No space left on device
sh: echo: I/O error
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
E: Problem executing scripts DPkg::Post-Invoke 'if [ -d /var/lib/update-notifier ]; then touch /var/lib/update-notifier/dpkg-run-stamp; fi; if [ -e /var/lib/update-notifier/updates-available ]; then echo > /var/lib/update-notifier/updates-available; fi '
E: Sub-process returned an error code

Should I remove uvcdynctrl-udev.log first? It looks like I'm stuck otherwise?

[Pjotr]

Yes, just nuke it.

[kuifje09]

To get rid of the long uvc-log , it grows slow...
( The oldest logging on my system there was from beginning 2020 )
And If you can't remove the software, just shrink the file:
> /var/log/uvcdynctrl-udev.log

[geekomatic]

Firstly, thank you for all of the replies. I successfully removed that log file. Then, used Synaptic to remove the two other files. I got this:

"(synaptic:11812): GLib-CRITICAL **: g_child_watch_add_full: assertion 'pid > 0' failed
dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
unable to fill /var/lib/dpkg/updates/tmp.i with padding: No space left on device
sh: echo: I/O error
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (2)
E: Problem executing scripts DPkg::Post-Invoke 'if [ -d /var/lib/update-notifier ]; then touch /var/lib/update-notifier/dpkg-run-stamp; fi; if [ -e /var/lib/update-notifier/updates-available ]; then echo > /var/lib/update-notifier/updates-available; fi '
E: Sub-process returned an error code
A package failed to install. Trying to recover:
dpkg: unrecoverable fatal error, aborting:
unable to fill /var/lib/dpkg/updates/tmp.i with padding: No space left on device"

[geekomatic]

Looking at my system monitor, it shows var at 100%, yet when I right-click the var folder>properties, it says "17,138 items totalling 1.2GB (some contents unreadable)".

https://imgur.com/a/18OWICp

[Pjotr]

Why did you put /var and /usr on partitions of their own?

An totally needless complication. Anyway, it is what it is....

Nuke all logs in one stroke:

Code: Select all

 sudo rm -v /var/log/*.log* /var/log/syslog*

[geekomatic]

Why did you put /var and /usr on partitions of their own?

An totally needless complication. Anyway, it is what it is....

Nuke all logs in one stroke:

Code: Select all

 sudo rm -v /var/log/*.log* /var/log/syslog*

At the bottom of your sig you have links to "how-to's". I followed similar how-to's when setting up, and iirc it was to benefit the SSD? Not sure now, it's 17.1, so long ago. I certainly wouldn't have done so otherwise (wouldn't purposely make things hard on myself, obviously).

Right now, I'm making a current backup of my files, "just in case". Last backup was about a month ago, so shouldn't take long.

Thank you. And of course, we're now having a freak lightning storm so off I go before our power is out!

PS: even though I post here with issues from time to time, Mint is still head & shoulders above everything else I've tried. The people, the forums, the system- superb. I want to say that I have had many issues over the years. I don't post 99% because I find the answers myself.

[geekomatic]

Everything is okay now. It did take a reboot to show the proper space in /var and to remove uvcdynctrl & uvcdynctrl-data.

Thank you all again!!