Failed to write entry to system.journal

definitelythere

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Hi, after fresh installation of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS I've encountered issues like:

Failed to write entry to /var/log/journal/.../system.journal
Failed to rotate /var/log/journal/.../system.journal: Read-only file system
Failed to start systemd-resolved.service - Network Name Resolution
systemd-journald.service: Failed to spawn executor: Input/Outpu error

This is not only fresh installation but also new hard disk that is several days old (Lexar 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe NM790 on HP 250 G7). This problem happened during download of very large file and during work of virtual machine (on Gnome Boxes) with Windows 11.

How to make sure that these errors don't happen more times? Thanks!
 


I'm not sure how you installed but some of the errors sound like you left the installation media in the machine. Probably not it but I have done this before.
 
G'day definitelythere, Welcome to Linux.org

24.04 appears to throw some 'unusual' problems.....certainly unexpected

Users experiences appear to be quite ......unexpected.

Have you had any luck since posting?...any improvements?

i hate to mention the dreaded 'reinstall' word.....but maybe ?
 
I have read of updating the firmware on your SSD being a possible 'fix'
 
Hi, after fresh installation of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS I've encountered issues like:

Failed to write entry to /var/log/journal/.../system.journal
Failed to rotate /var/log/journal/.../system.journal: Read-only file system
Failed to start systemd-resolved.service - Network Name Resolution
systemd-journald.service: Failed to spawn executor: Input/Outpu error

This is not only fresh installation but also new hard disk that is several days old (Lexar 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe NM790 on HP 250 G7). This problem happened during download of very large file and during work of virtual machine (on Gnome Boxes) with Windows 11.

How to make sure that these errors don't happen more times? Thanks!
Since the hard disk is so relatively new, it may be the case that the system needs a very recent kernel, in which case it may be helpful to install the very latest kernel that you can. Brief reading indicates than a kernel later that 6.5 may be adequate. Later is better.
 
You will not be able to write to files in /var if the file system is mounted read-only, which appears to be the case. Use /usr/bin/mount to see if you have any file systems mounted read-only. Then use dumpe2fs for the respective device to see if the file system has errors. If it does you will need to reboot to a maintenance file system and run e2fsck to fix them. If they do not have errors then it's a simple matter of remounting the file system to read-write.

Signed,

Matthew Campbell
 
Hi, after fresh installation of Ubuntu 24.04.1 LTS I've encountered issues like:

Failed to write entry to /var/log/journal/.../system.journal
Failed to rotate /var/log/journal/.../system.journal: Read-only file system
Failed to start systemd-resolved.service - Network Name Resolution
systemd-journald.service: Failed to spawn executor: Input/Outpu error

This is not only fresh installation but also new hard disk that is several days old (Lexar 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe NM790 on HP 250 G7). This problem happened during download of very large file and during work of virtual machine (on Gnome Boxes) with Windows 11.

How to make sure that these errors don't happen more times? Thanks!
It sounds like the errors related to the read-only filesystem are appearing, but despite that, the operating system is functioning. Whether the machine is functioning is however, unclear from post #1, but the statement:
How to make sure that these errors don't happen more times?
can be interpreted as meaning that the concern is with the errors appearing, rather than the functioning of the system.

If the system is functioning, then it's unlikely that the root filesystem is mounted as read-only.

It's remotely possible that the journal files are actually located on a partition of their own, and that that partition is mounted read-only, but that is quite unlikely to have been made from the default processes of the installation media. It would likely have depended on specific intervention in the installation process which has not been mentioned if it occurred.

To use the dumpe2fs to check on errors to a filesystem as suggested in post #6, it's useful to search specifically for errors and run it with that option something like:
Code:
sudo dumpe2fs /dev/<rootPartition> |grep -i error
where <rootPartition> is replaced by the correct device name for the root partition. If dumpe2fs has no grep search function applied it will output a mass of data which is tiresome to sift through.

To find the root partition, the lsblk command may help. Here is an example from a machine here:
Code:
$ lsblk
NAME        MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sr0          11:0    1  1024M  0 rom 
nvme0n1     259:0    0 465.8G  0 disk
├─nvme0n1p1 259:1    0   476M  0 part /boot/efi
├─nvme0n1p2 259:2    0  14.9G  0 part [SWAP]
└─nvme0n1p3 259:3    0 450.4G  0 part /
The root partition device name is nvme0n1p3 in this case.

Whilst the above investigation may yield some results, the basic problem from some research online about this particular hard drive suggests that either or both updating firmware, as mentioned by @Condobloke in post #4 and running a most recent kernel, as mentioned in post #5, resolve the issue. Those approaches would be useful to try in the first instance to either confirm their usefulness, or discount them from the problem. YMMV.
 
Hi,

Thank you a lot for your answers. I have more information. I suspected that the problem is with root being bigger than 2 TB. So I have reinstalled the whole system, this time trying with Endeavour OS. Thanks to its nice partitioning tool during installation, I have installed it with 2 GiB efi and LUKS encrypted 500 G / and 3.2 T /home.

Then I've retried downloading the large file. I've left computer unattended for several hours and when I came back the fans were quite, meaning that it wasn't downloading the file anymore. But I wasn't able to log in - the restart and power off buttons disappeared, my account login password didn't work and virtual keyboard was not showing up after clicking its icon. I've restarted my machine by force (using power off button in the computer) and the login worked this time (power off and restart buttons were also present during login screen). I've noticed that the file has downloaded in around 60 GB of 90 GB.

How can I install the most recent kernel with Endeavour OS? How can I install the newest drivers for this disk (Lexar 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe NM790) - I haven't found any download for updated drivers?

Thanks!

PS I'm unable to run dumpe2fs on LUKS encrypted data. It shows:

No such file or directory while trying to open /dev/luks-48...
 
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Hi,

Thank you a lot for your answers. I have more information. I suspected that the problem is with root being bigger than 2 TB. So I have reinstalled the whole system, this time trying with Endeavour OS. Thanks to its nice partitioning tool during installation, I have installed it with 2 GiB efi and LUKS encrypted 500 G / and 3.2 T /home.

Then I've retried downloading the large file. I've left computer unattended for several hours and when I came back the fans were quite, meaning that it wasn't downloading the file anymore. But I wasn't able to log in - the restart and power off buttons disappeared, my account login password didn't work and virtual keyboard was not showing up after clicking its icon. I've restarted my machine by force (using power off button in the computer) and the login worked this time (power off and restart buttons were also present during login screen). I've noticed that the file has downloaded in around 60 GB of 90 GB.

How can I install the most recent kernel with Endeavour OS? How can I install the newest drivers for this disk (Lexar 4TB M.2 PCIe Gen4 NVMe NM790) - I haven't found any download for updated drivers?

Thanks!

PS I'm unable to run dumpe2fs on LUKS encrypted data. It shows:
Thanks for extra info. It appears that the problem is not so much with the operating system, one of which you now have working, but rather a problem with the downloading of a large file.

The question arises as to which downloading app you are using.

A common means of downloading large files is to use the wget command. If the -c option is applied to the wget command, wget will resume downloading the named file if it has previously stopped. In the case where a cessation of downloading has occurred for some reason, with the -c option, wget will resume and continue to download what was the previous partially downloaded file. In a terminal one would run something like:
Code:
wget -c https://<file.to.be.downloaded>
where <file.to.be.downloaded> is the relevant URL. For such a large file, the -c option sounds like it would be useful.

The wget command, by default, will retry downloading of its own accord 20 times. So for example, if the link to the download is broken and then reconnected, wget will restart the download up to 20 times. This number can be altered in the wget config file: /etc/wgetrc. It might be worth considering increasing this value for such a large file that you have mentioned.

In the olden days when connections were flakey, this configuration of 20x was often useful, but modern reliable connections often won't need it, but it's there by default as a sort of safety net I guess.

The man page of wget is quite extensive, and usefully informative, but for a simple single download the user may not need much more info that is provided for a few of the options there.
 
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Hi, thanks. I believe it's not just the issue with file that couldn't download but something more - in case of file downloading failure it wouldn't make it impossible for me to log in to the machine again. I would simply have file that hasn't downloaded and is only partially available but not login failure. And I had login failure to my machine and had to reboot.

I'm downloading it from Proton Drive so I'm not really sure if it is possible to download it in any other way, especially that I don't have a link to that file, it reads it as a stream, if I'm not mistaken. They don't have Linux application and I'd rather not play with rsync or install some third-party tools. Actually, I can play with rsync but first I want to download the file in normal way, to be sure that my data won't be lost if I play with rsync. (The reason being that rsync has bidirectional synchronization only in beta version). That would be better to switch to other cloud drive provider than Proton Drive.

Also, in my earlier attempt with Ubuntu I had crash of Windows 11 machine. I don't want to risk that my license key bought on Microsoft website would become unavailable if I try installing OS many times on Gnome Boxes. That's why I want to be sure that first I can download very large file, before attempting to install OS on VM again.
 
Hi, thanks. I believe it's not just the issue with file that couldn't download but something more - in case of file downloading failure it wouldn't make it impossible for me to log in to the machine again. I would simply have file that hasn't downloaded and is only partially available but not login failure. And I had login failure to my machine and had to reboot.

I'm downloading it from Proton Drive so I'm not really sure if it is possible to download it in any other way, especially that I don't have a link to that file, it reads it as a stream, if I'm not mistaken. They don't have Linux application and I'd rather not play with rsync or install some third-party tools. Actually, I can play with rsync but first I want to download the file in normal way, to be sure that my data won't be lost if I play with rsync. (The reason being that rsync has bidirectional synchronization only in beta version). That would be better to switch to other cloud drive provider than Proton Drive.

Also, in my earlier attempt with Ubuntu I had crash of Windows 11 machine. I don't want to risk that my license key bought on Microsoft website would become unavailable if I try installing OS many times on Gnome Boxes. That's why I want to be sure that first I can download very large file, before attempting to install OS on VM again.
Not being familiar with proton drive, it's probably hard to help on that one. I've had a look here:
but it wasn't of any help that I could see in relation to filenames to use for wget.

There's some interesting info in the following links, the second two linked from the first:

On updating firmware, one can install and run the app: fwupd.
One can also run:
Code:
dmesg | grep -i firmware
to see if the kernel thinks there's some missing.

On running very recent kernels, one can be a bit dependent on what the distro provides. It's possible to install alternative kernels like xanmod or liquorix if they are based on recent enough kernel releases, or build one from the vanilla kernel source from the very latest. Rolling release distros like arch tend to have very up to date kernels available, and development releases like debian trixie do so as well. A distro like siduction almost specialises in being up to date.
 
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Thank you. However, I still believe that just downloading the file is not the real problem here. I've also started hitting another problem. After I log in to my machine and work for a bit, it stops responding to my laptop's keyboard or touchpad. It works correctly, as it was working before, with external keyboard and mouse.

But regarding main problem, it shouldn't make it impossible to log in after failed download. Is there any other test large file I can download from the Internet with wget, preferably similar size? Then I will know if it's real problem.

This is the output:

sudo dmesg | grep -i firmware
[ 1.751172] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8232DE3D-663D-4327-A8F4-E293ADB9BF05 has zero inst
ances
[ 1.751176] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8F1F6436-9F42-42C8-BADC-0E9424F20C9A has zero inst
ances
[ 1.751178] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8F1F6435-9F42-42C8-BADC-0E9424F20C9A has zero inst
ances
[ 1.751179] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: DF4E63B6-3BBC-4858-9737-C74F82F821F3 has zero inst
ances
[ 28.470506] systemd[1]: Clear Stale Hibernate Storage Info was skipped because of an unmet condition check
(ConditionPathExists=/sys/firmware/efi/efivars/HibernateLocation-8cf2644b-4b0b-428f-9387-6d876050dc67).
[ 29.518234] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.15, H2C version 15
[ 29.518911] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: WOW Firmware version 9.9.4, H2C version 15
[ 29.545247] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/icl_dmc_ver1_09.bin (v1.9)

Additionally:

Idle…: 0%
Host Security ID: HSI:0! (v1.9.25)


HSI-1
✔ BIOS firmware updates: Enabled
✔ MEI key manifest: Valid
✔ csme manufacturing mode: Locked
✔ csme override: Locked
✔ Platform debugging: Disabled
✔ SPI write: Disabled
✔ SPI lock: Enabled
✔ SPI BIOS region: Locked
✔ Supported CPU: Valid
✔ TPM empty PCRs: Valid
✔ TPM v2.0: Found
✔ UEFI bootservice variables: Locked
✔ UEFI platform key: Valid
✘ csme v0:13.0.32.1478: Invalid


HSI-2
✔ Intel BootGuard: Enabled
✔ Intel BootGuard OTP fuse: Valid
✔ Intel GDS mitigation: Enabled
✔ Platform debugging: Locked
✔ TPM PCR0 reconstruction: Valid
✘ Intel BootGuard ACM protected: Invalid
✘ Intel BootGuard verified boot: Invalid
✘ IOMMU: Not found


HSI-3
✔ Pre-boot DMA protection: Enabled
✘ Intel BootGuard error policy: Invalid
✘ CET Platform: Not supported
✘ Suspend-to-idle: Disabled
✘ Suspend-to-ram: Enabled


HSI-4
✔ SMAP: Enabled
✘ Encrypted RAM: Not supported


Runtime Suffix -!
✔ fwupd plugins: Untainted
✔ Linux swap: Disabled
✔ Linux kernel: Untainted
✘ Linux kernel lockdown: Disabled
✘ UEFI secure boot: Disabled


This system has a low HSI security level.
» https://fwupd.github.io/hsi.html#low-security-level


This system has HSI runtime issues.
» https://fwupd.github.io/hsi.html#hsi-runtime-suffix

How do I update kernel and firmware?
 
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Thank you. However, I still believe that just downloading the file is not the real problem here. I've also started hitting another problem. After I log in to my machine and work for a bit, it stops responding to my keyboard or touchpad. I think the system is still running because I could see blinking vertical line in Web browser's URL text box. I could also press power button and the shutdown options appeared. I suspect it will work correctly, as it was working before, with external keyboard and mouse. But I will check later again.

But regarding main problem, it shouldn't make it impossible to log in after failed download. Is there any other test large file I can download from the Internet with wget, preferably similar size? Then I will know if it's real problem.
Note that I added some info to post #11 on kernels and firmware which you had asked about.

There's this website with test files for download, but nothing as large as yours:

At this point I'd be inclined to do a health check on the computer. The following are the sorts of commands I'd run to check the output. I'll leave the details of each for the moment:
Code:
journalctl -b -x -p 3
memtest86+
smartctl -a /dev/sda
sensors
dmesg | grep -i firmware
dmesg | grep -i microcode
grep -i -e 'error' -e '\[EE\]' Xorg.0.log
grep -i -e 'error' -e '\[EE\]' .local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log
speedtest-cli
e2fsck -c /dev/sda

The e2fsck needs to run on unmounted partitions.
 
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Thanks. I have also edited my last answer. Is it safe to send here on the forum the details of all these commands or do they contain any sensitive information? How to run e2fsck (it's encrypted system)?

PS These are the results (some of these commands didn't work at all):

[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ journalctl -b -x -p 3
paź 09 09:59:36 yerbamate-laptop kernel: x86/cpu: SGX disabled by BIOS.
paź 09 09:59:36 yerbamate-laptop kernel: ACPI BIOS Error (bug): Could not resolve symbol [\_SB.PCI0.DGPV], AE>
paź 09 09:59:36 yerbamate-laptop kernel: ACPI Error: Aborting method \_SB.PCI0.RP05.PCRP._ON due to previous >
paź 09 10:00:45 yerbamate-laptop kwin_wayland[1682]: kwin_scene_opengl: Invalid framebuffer status: "GL_FRAM>
paź 09 10:00:58 yerbamate-laptop kwin_wayland[1682]: kwin_scene_opengl: Invalid framebuffer status: "GL_FRAM>
paź 09 10:01:14 yerbamate-laptop kwin_wayland[1682]: kwin_scene_opengl: Invalid framebuffer status: "GL_FRAM>

[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ memtest86+
bash: memtest86+: command not found
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ memtest86
bash: memtest86: command not found
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ smartctl -a /dev/sda
smartctl 7.4 2023-08-01 r5530 [x86_64-linux-6.10.10-arch1-1] (local build)
Copyright (C) 2002-23, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org

Smartctl open device: /dev/sda failed: No such device
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ sensors
coretemp-isa-0000
Adapter: ISA adapter
Package id 0: +44.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 0: +41.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 1: +42.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 2: +42.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)
Core 3: +41.0°C (high = +100.0°C, crit = +100.0°C)

BAT1-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
in0: 12.74 V

nvme-pci-0300
Adapter: PCI adapter
Composite: +33.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +89.8°C)
(crit = +94.8°C)
Sensor 1: +33.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)
Sensor 2: +23.9°C (low = -273.1°C, high = +65261.8°C)

acpitz-acpi-0
Adapter: ACPI interface
temp1: +27.8°C
temp2: +10.0°C

[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ dmesg | grep -i firmware
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ dmesg | grep -i microcode
dmesg: read kernel buffer failed: Operation not permitted
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ sudo dmesg | grep -i firmware
[sudo] password for yerbamate:
[ 1.751172] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8232DE3D-663D-4327-A8F4-E293ADB9BF05 has zero instances
[ 1.751176] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8F1F6436-9F42-42C8-BADC-0E9424F20C9A has zero instances
[ 1.751178] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: 8F1F6435-9F42-42C8-BADC-0E9424F20C9A has zero instances
[ 1.751179] wmi_bus wmi_bus-PNP0C14:03: [Firmware Info]: DF4E63B6-3BBC-4858-9737-C74F82F821F3 has zero instances
[ 28.470506] systemd[1]: Clear Stale Hibernate Storage Info was skipped because of an unmet condition check (ConditionPathExists=/sys/firmware/efi/efivars/HibernateLocation-8cf2644b-4b0b
-428f-9387-6d876050dc67).
[ 29.518234] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: Firmware version 9.9.15, H2C version 15
[ 29.518911] rtw_8822ce 0000:02:00.0: WOW Firmware version 9.9.4, H2C version 15
[ 29.545247] i915 0000:00:02.0: [drm] Finished loading DMC firmware i915/icl_dmc_ver1_09.bin (v1.9)
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ sudo dmesg | grep -i microcode
[ 0.273472] SRBDS: Mitigation: Microcode
[ 0.273475] GDS: Mitigation: Microcode
[ 0.758272] microcode: Current revision: 0x000000c6
[ 0.758274] microcode: Updated early from: 0x00000096
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ grep -i -e 'error' -e '\[EE\]' Xorg.0.log
grep: Xorg.0.log: No such file or directory
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ grep -i -e 'error' -e '\[EE\]' .local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log
grep: .local/share/xorg/Xorg.0.log: No such file or directory
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$ speedtest-cli
bash: speedtest-cli: command not found
[yerbamate@yerbamate-laptop ~]$
 
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Thanks. I have also edited my last answer. Is it safe to send here on the forum the details of all these commands or do they contain any sensitive information? How to run e2fsck (it's encrypted system)?

PS These are the results (some of these commands didn't work at all):
Okay :) Some commands need to be run as root: dmesg, smartctl.
If the command is not found, then check if it can be run as root, and if not, you need to install the program, e.g. speedtest-cli (which when installed runs as user).
With smartctl, you need to use the device name on your system which you can find from the output of the command: lsblk. It's the disk name in that output.
Looks like you are on wayland, so the X commands are irrelevant.
With memtest86+, it can either be installed and then be run from the grub menu, or it can be run from a live disk, which is the way I run it using a rescue live disk called systemrescue.
Firmware and microcode appear to have none missing. That doesn't mean they are the latest though.

The temperature outputs are fine. The acpi errors are not a problem.
It was perhaps remiss of me not to explain each command, but I took a chance and hoped that they were hint enough to get some results :)
 
I am quite familiar with Proton Drive myself. You may experience a size limitation on the files that you download based on the type of file system and any options you are using. You might be able to use /usr/sbin/tune2fs to make sure you have the large_file and huge_file options set. If your current type of file system does not allow for this then you may be unable to download files larger than 2 GiB. If the file system was full you would get a No space left on device error when trying to download your file.

Signed,

Matthew Campbell
 
Hi, thank you for your all answers. I was desperate and installed Windows 11. But I've noticed that the same issues also happened on Windows 11. After downloading many files from Google Drive (they were either small files or some videos so no single file with 90 GB), I've hit two BSODs. Event viewer showed "Dump file creation failed due to error during dump creation. BugCheckProgress was: 0x00040049".

In the meantime, I have also discovered this thread: https://askubuntu.com/questions/152...eps-crashing-my-fresh-install-of-ubuntu-24-04

I have also run simple test with MiniTool Partition Wizard and there were no bad sectors in their Surface Test.

I'm thinking about giving another try for Linux Ubuntu and this time applying advise from the link mentioned two paragraphs earlier. But I have some questions - what is the meaning of this part of the accepted answer below horizontal line? I mean, do I also need to change BOOT_IMAGE part in /proc/cmdline file? How do I edit grub when it first boots and how to add this latency parameter after ro? Does it have to happen during first boot? These are my main questions.

And regarding commands to be run (dmesg, smartctl), can I run them using Linux Ubuntu running live, not installed on my machine yet?

Regarding very big file from Proton Drive, I understand that this tune2fs is utility that lets me choose large_file and huge_file. But isn't this option turned on by default? At what point do I need to make this change, I understand that after changing grub and before downloading the file.

Is there any test I can perform in order to simulate this behaviour that can lead to troubles (I don't want to wait for big files to download again and set up virtual machine)? Maybe I can somehow redirect random data to single big file of 90 GB, but I would need to know the command. Would it suffice as a test?

Thank you!
 
No, I was thinking about first downloading my backup from Proton Drive as a single file in case later, when I play with bidirectional synchronization in rsync, I still have a working copy of my data, if this bidirectional synchronization fails and starts deleting my files for whatever reason. Unfortunately bidirectional synchronization in rsync is still in beta version. I'm not fully convinced if using rsync with bidirectional synchronization is good idea though because of this being in beta.
 

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