Failed to spawn thermald main process

[Michael Heuberger]

In dmesg I see this line

[ 10.152016] init: Failed to spawn thermald main process: unable to execute: No such file or directory

How do I know which file or directory is missing and why can't the thermald process generate one itself?

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 14.10
Package: linux-image-3.16.0-24-generic 3.16.0-24.32
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.16.0-24.32-generic 3.16.4
Uname: Linux 3.16.0-24-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.14.7-0ubuntu8
Architecture: amd64
AudioDevicesInUse:
 USER PID ACCESS COMMAND
 /dev/snd/controlC1: michael-heuberger 2178 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC2: michael-heuberger 2178 F.... pulseaudio
 /dev/snd/controlC0: michael-heuberger 2178 F.... pulseaudio
CurrentDesktop: Unity
Date: Tue Nov 4 16:06:49 2014
HibernationDevice: RESUME=UUID=b0b47183-895a-4f27-bb25-40bd23028028
InstallationDate: Installed on 2014-10-31 (3 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 14.10 "Utopic Unicorn" - Release amd64 (20141022.1)
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
ProcFB:

ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.16.0-24-generic root=UUID=b5b38333-3694-4441-8a13-50bf4dbf2f41 ro quiet
RelatedPackageVersions:
 linux-restricted-modules-3.16.0-24-generic N/A
 linux-backports-modules-3.16.0-24-generic N/A
 linux-firmware 1.138
RfKill:
 0: phy0: Wireless LAN
  Soft blocked: yes
  Hard blocked: no
SourcePackage: linux
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 08/06/2012
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0803
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: P6X58D-E
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0803:bd08/06/2012:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP6X58D-E:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Brad Figg (brad-figg)]

This change was made by a bot.

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

What does the following command report:

which thermald

[Michael Heuberger (michael.heuberger)]

$ which thermald
thermald not found

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

So try re-installing it and seeing if that fixes things for you:

sudo apt-get --reinstall install thermald

[Michael Heuberger (michael.heuberger)]

Good, re-installing solved it.

But tell me, why didn't the package, complaining about the missing thermald process, list thermald itself as a dependency? I guess thermald is missing as a dependency somewhere in a core package.

[Tim Gardner (timg-tpi)]

Colin - we did change thermald to a Recommends. Does that mean it is no longer installed by default from the ISO ?

meta-source/debian/control.d/generic:Recommends: thermald [i386 amd64]

[Colin Ian King (colin-king)]

@Tim, I believe the improvements to passive thermal controls in the Vivid kernel mean that the relaxation of the "Recommends" means that it is not really required to be installed by default, so I'm relatively relaxed about the current defaults wrt to thermald