Ubuntu
initramfs-tools package

update-initramfs Error 24 (EMFILE? == Too many open files?)

Bug #1871260 reported by jimav on 2020-04-07

This bug report is a duplicate of: Bug #798414: update-initramfs should produce a more helpful error message when there isn't enough free space--or provide an automatic tool for removal of old files. Edit Remove

This bug affects 1 person

Affects		Status	Importance	Assigned to	Milestone
	initramfs-tools (Ubuntu)	New	Undecided	Unassigned

Bug Description

$ sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Fails with:

Setting up linux-image-5.3.0-46-generic (5.3.0-46.38) ...
Processing triggers for linux-image-5.3.0-46-generic (5.3.0-46.38) ...
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/dkms:
* dkms: running auto installation service for kernel 5.3.0-46-generic
...done.
/etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools:
update-initramfs: Generating /boot/initrd.img-5.3.0-46-generic
I: The initramfs will attempt to resume from /dev/nvme1n1p3
I: (UUID=03bd380f-5d5c-433d-9047-0ca550fef461)
I: Set the RESUME variable to override this.
Error 24 : Write error : cannot write compressed block
E: mkinitramfs failure cpio 141 lz4 -9 -l 24

If "Error 24" means errno==24 then it is EMFILE (Too many open files).

Re-running produces an identical failure.

There is nothing unusual going on in the machine. Just rebooted, actually.

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 19.10
Package: linux-image-5.3.0-46-generic 5.3.0-46.38
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 5.3.0-45.37-generic 5.3.18
Uname: Linux 5.3.0-45-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.11-0ubuntu8.8
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
/dev/snd/controlC0: jima 6601 F.... pulseaudio
tu2 10212 F.... pulseaudio
Date: Mon Apr 6 16:48:05 2020
ErrorMessage: run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1
InstallationDate: Installed on 2020-03-24 (13 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 19.10 "Eoan Ermine" - Release amd64 (20191017)
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
ProcFB: 0 i915drmfb
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/vmlinuz-5.3.0-45-generic root=UUID=7c21c040-30e8-456e-bcd9-5f4bcfc2fc92 ro toram priority=low quiet splash vt.handoff=7
PulseList: Error: command ['pacmd', 'list'] failed with exit code 1: No PulseAudio daemon running, or not running as session daemon.
Python3Details: /usr/bin/python3.7, Python 3.7.5, python3-minimal, 3.7.5-1
PythonDetails: /usr/bin/python2.7, Python 2.7.17, python-minimal, 2.7.17-1
RelatedPackageVersions: grub-pc N/A
SourcePackage: initramfs-tools
Title: package linux-image-5.3.0-46-generic 5.3.0-46.38 failed to install/upgrade: run-parts: /etc/kernel/postinst.d/initramfs-tools exited with return code 1
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 12/01/2017
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0605
dmi.board.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.board.name: PRIME Z370-A
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev X.0x
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Default string
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Default string
dmi.chassis.version: Default string
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0605:bd12/01/2017:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKCOMPUTERINC.:rnPRIMEZ370-A:rvrRevX.0x:cvnDefaultstring:ct3:cvrDefaultstring:
dmi.product.family: To be filled by O.E.M.
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.sku: SKU
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

Tags:

Revision history for this message

jimav (james-avera) wrote on 2020-04-07:

AlsaInfo.txt Edit (49.6 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
AptOrdering.txt Edit (800 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
CRDA.txt Edit (2.6 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
CurrentDmesg.txt Edit (76.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Dependencies.txt Edit (2.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Df.txt Edit (763 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Dmesg.txt Edit (76.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
DpkgHistoryLog.txt Edit (6.4 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
DpkgTerminalLog.txt Edit (8.2 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
DuplicateSignature.txt Edit (923 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
IwConfig.txt Edit (318 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Lspci.txt Edit (41.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
Lsusb.txt Edit (441 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcCpuinfo.txt Edit (15.4 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcCpuinfoMinimal.txt Edit (1.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcInterrupts.txt Edit (12.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
ProcModules.txt Edit (6.1 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
RfKill.txt Edit (112 bytes, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
UdevDb.txt Edit (256.8 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")
WifiSyslog.txt Edit (108.3 KiB, text/plain; charset="utf-8")

Apport retracing service (apport) on 2020-04-07

tags:

removed: need-duplicate-check

Revision history for this message

Benjamin Drung (bdrung) wrote on 2023-08-14:

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug 798414, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Please continue to report any other bugs you may find.