[SOLVED] "is a directory while trying to write" : what does this error mean?

RandomTroll · 12-21-2014, 03:38 PM

When e2fsck runs at initialization I get:

Quote:

/sbin/e2fsck: is a directory while trying to write /

I can't find this error in the kernel or the source for e2fsck.

e2fsck works otherwise.

ljb643 · 12-21-2014, 05:19 PM

The error "is a directory" is from a system call returning an error and setting the error condition EISDIR. (A library call retrieves the text - that's why you won't find that exact text in the sources.) The error occurs when the write() system call tries to write to a directory, for example. (Try: echo > /tmp)

But I have no idea why e2fsck is doing this.

Ser Olmy · 12-21-2014, 06:15 PM

It could be that somewhere in your file system, in a certain location, there's a directory with a name identical to a file e2fsck expects to be able to access. The error message seems quite misleading, as it seems to imply that "/" should be a writable file, which is obviously nonsense.

You should be able to locate the directory in question by running e2fsck through strace. Be prepared for a lot of output, though (piping to a file might be a good idea).

veerain · 12-22-2014, 01:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomTroll

When e2fsck runs at initialization I get:

I can't find this error in the kernel or the source for e2fsck.

e2fsck works otherwise.

What exactly your are command with e2fsck is?

RandomTroll · 12-22-2014, 01:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by veerain

What exactly your are command with e2fsck is?

Code:

exec /sbin/e2fsck -C 0 $*

What /etc/rc.d/rc.S, my initialization script, has.

veerain · 12-22-2014, 03:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RandomTroll

Code:

exec /sbin/e2fsck -C 0 $*

What /etc/rc.d/rc.S, my initialization script, has.

We should pass a block special file or unusually a regular file for checking by e2fsck.

So in above rc.S init script it is passed a list of arguments with "$*" .

If one or many argument happens to be a directory because of setup/installation/someother error. Then this error shows up.

Try running

e2fsck /tmp

or

e2fsck /

RandomTroll · 12-23-2014, 11:06 AM

I made a mistake. fsck had stopped working at initialization; I replaced it with e2fsck. The '-C' argument to fsck doesn't need a file-to-write-to (-C without an argument writes to stdout); for e2fsck it does. Instead of trying to check / e2fsck was trying to write to it.