ureadahead service fails with error Error while tracing: No such file or directory

[Dmitriy Geels]

I'm reporting this as duplicate of #1176536 to provide more info.

dmig@dmig-Inspiron-5379:~$ systemctl status ureadahead.service
● ureadahead.service - Read required files in advance
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ureadahead.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Fri 2018-04-13 13:09:41 +07; 10min ago
 Main PID: 379 (code=exited, status=5)

Apr 13 13:09:41 dmig-Inspiron-5379 ureadahead[379]: ureadahead: Error while tracing: No such file or directory
Apr 13 13:09:41 dmig-Inspiron-5379 ureadahead[379]: Counted 8 CPUs

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 18.04
Package: ureadahead 0.100.0-20
Uname: Linux 4.16.2-041602-generic x86_64
ApportVersion: 2.20.9-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
CurrentDesktop: ubuntu:GNOME
Date: Fri Apr 13 13:13:26 2018
InstallationDate: Installed on 2018-03-27 (16 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS "Bionic Beaver" - Alpha amd64 (20180327)
SourcePackage: ureadahead
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.

[Demon (demonrx)]

My system is being affected as well, I'm running Ubuntu 16.04.4 having the same service failing to start.

There are a few reports of this on stackexchange as well with one particular solution about patching the kernel:

https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/308801/ureadahead-error-while-tracing-possible-kernel-patch-problem.

I've also filed a bug with kernel.org : https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=199861

Running ureadahead with strace directly from terminal yields:

# strace ureadahead --verbose --force-trace /

[..]
openat(3, "events/fs/do_sys_open/enable", O_RDWR) = -1 ENOENT (No such file or directory)
close(3) = 0
write(2, "ureadahead: Error while tracing:"..., 59ureadahead: Error while tracing: No such file or directory
[..]

and "/sys/kernel/debug/tracing/events/fs/do_sys_open/enable" does not exist.

[jiojio (jiojio)]

My system (Ubuntu 18.04) on a Thinkpad X1 Extreme is affected as well. I operate the laptop with closed lid using a Thinkpad TB3 docking station. Here is the relevant output:

$ systemctl status ureadahead.service
● ureadahead.service - Read required files in advance
   Loaded: loaded (/lib/systemd/system/ureadahead.service; enabled; vendor preset: enabled)
   Active: failed (Result: exit-code) since Wed 2018-12-12 11:29:53 CET; 7min ago
  Process: 498 ExecStart=/sbin/ureadahead (code=exited, status=5)
 Main PID: 498 (code=exited, status=5)

Dec 12 11:29:53 ubuntu ureadahead[498]: ureadahead: Error while tracing: No such file or directory
Dec 12 11:29:53 ubuntu ureadahead[498]: Counted 12 CPUs
Warning: Journal has been rotated since unit was started. Log output is incomplete or unavailable.

[Owen (osavill-z)]

This is affecting me running Ubuntu 20.10. Is ureadahead still used, 2 years on, or should I remove it?

[Max Gaukler (mgmax)]

The ureadahead package is no longer available on Ubuntu 20 or 22.
Just uninstall it:
sudo apt-get -qy remove ureadahead

On a standard release upgrade, it should be removed automatically; however I have experienced one case where it was not removed for whatever reason.