Kill command could not kill

Kanaflloric · 08-18-2005, 08:28 PM

Hi

I made a mistake yesterday by exiting a program (python) using ctrl-Z and not ctrl-D. A python process stayed in memory, locking my CDROm.

I tried to kill it by entering something like :

$ kill 1234

It didn't work, so I tried the same under root. The process was still remaining in memory, and my cdrom was still locked. I had to reboot (like in windows).

Is there something I missed ? Isn't kill a "full powered" command, especially under root ?

Bruce Hill · 08-18-2005, 08:38 PM

# killall -9 python

Matir · 08-18-2005, 08:39 PM

You could've sent it something like SIGCONT to make it keep running (undo Ctrl-Z), or SIGKILL (the strongest signal, also called a -9).

PenguinPwrdBox · 08-18-2005, 08:42 PM

Code:

kill -9 <PID>

-9 is the POSIX signal code for kill. This will stop all but the mightiest processes

man 7 signal for the rest...

Matir · 08-18-2005, 10:32 PM

Also, kill -l for a quick reminder of the signals. Additionally, GNU kill supports -NAME for signal names, like -HUP for SIGHUP.

imitheos · 08-19-2005, 06:39 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Kanaflloric
Hi

I made a mistake yesterday by exiting a program (python) using ctrl-Z and not ctrl-D. A python process stayed in memory, locking my CDROm.

I tried to kill it by entering something like :

$ kill 1234

It didn't work, so I tried the same under root. The process was still remaining in memory, and my cdrom was still locked. I had to reboot (like in windows).

Is there something I missed ? Isn't kill a "full powered" command, especially under root ?

I am sorry if i am wrong, but didn't ctrl-Z put it in background ?
If yes, you can run "fg" to bring it in foreground again and then press ctrl-D or do anything else you want.

Kanaflloric · 08-19-2005, 12:21 PM

I didn't know that.
Thank you everybody.

Also, imitheos, I think you're right. I'll check that tonight.

yongtin · 08-19-2005, 06:53 PM

Always do a man, man!

LinuxSeeker · 08-21-2005, 05:29 AM

I use "kill -s sigkill <PID>"

eddiebaby1023 · 08-21-2005, 09:52 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by LinuxSeeker
I use "kill -s sigkill <PID>"

Well, you obviously like typing!

Matir · 08-21-2005, 09:17 PM

FYI, sending SIGKILL as a first try is a bad idea. SIGKILL should be reserved for the last thing you try on a hung process.

LinuxSeeker · 08-22-2005, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by eddiebaby1023
Well, you obviously like typing!

Well, considering that I currently use HAL91 to write a website in vi, I guess I love typing...