You are not logged in.

#1 2013-05-09 10:47:11

kokoko3k
Member
Registered: 2008-11-14
Posts: 2,390

systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I've several entries in kernel messages like this one:

systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

What does it mean?

thanks.

Last edited by kokoko3k (2013-05-09 10:47:26)


Help me to improve ssh-rdp !
Retroarch User? Try my koko-aio shader !

Offline

#2 2013-05-09 11:40:33

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I get it at shutdown sometime. Something is trying to write a log entry that has too many arguments for systemd (I for get the number, I did find it in the source code and it could be 5, but it was a while ago). Problem is, I don't think systemd gives us any clues as to what is doing it (it may not be possible).

I have a vague feeling it might be Cups, but have no actual evidence for that, so I wouldn't base any debugging on it.


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

Offline

#3 2013-05-09 12:51:49

kokoko3k
Member
Registered: 2008-11-14
Posts: 2,390

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

In my logs it happens almost after a segfault:

# grep "ignoring: Argument" -B1 /var/log/everything.log 
May  6 16:45:10 localhost systemd-coredump[30359]: Process 30178 (gtk-window-deco) dumped core.
May  6 16:45:10 localhost [ 3724.934675] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  6 16:51:39 localhost systemd-coredump[32568]: Process 32481 (gimp) dumped core.
May  6 16:51:39 localhost [ 4113.959198] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  6 18:05:42 localhost systemd-coredump[25356]: Process 7007 (firefox) dumped core.
May  6 18:05:45 localhost [ 8559.550980] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:02 localhost systemd-coredump[4312]: Process 4307 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:02 localhost [77037.213119] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:03 localhost systemd-coredump[4344]: Process 4339 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:03 localhost [77038.014471] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:10 localhost systemd-coredump[4844]: Process 4839 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:11 localhost [77045.494442] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:11 localhost systemd-coredump[4865]: Process 4860 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:11 localhost [77045.937519] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:15 localhost systemd-coredump[5339]: Process 5334 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:15 localhost [77050.180873] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:16 localhost systemd-coredump[5360]: Process 5355 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:16 localhost [77050.872983] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:23 localhost systemd-coredump[5866]: Process 5861 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:23 localhost [77058.145142] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:24 localhost systemd-coredump[5889]: Process 5882 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:24 localhost [77058.591433] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:31 localhost systemd-coredump[6574]: Process 6569 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:31 localhost [77066.080790] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  7 13:07:32 localhost systemd-coredump[6595]: Process 6590 (vmis-launcher) dumped core.
May  7 13:07:32 localhost [77066.555159] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
May  8 13:56:34 localhost systemd-coredump[16672]: Process 16548 (Psychonauts) dumped core.
May  8 13:56:35 localhost [166409.530168] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

# dmesg|grep "ignoring: Argument" -B1
[ 3724.426334] gtk-window-deco[30178]: segfault at 20 ip b756dc61 sp bf882cd0 error 4 in libwnck-1.so.22.3.31[b754c000+3e000]
[ 3724.934675] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[ 4113.093177] gimp[32481]: segfault at 8 ip 081f224d sp bf9a4ad0 error 4 in gimp-2.8[8048000+585000]
[ 4113.959198] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[ 8559.550980] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
[77036.655278] vmis-launcher[4307]: segfault at b5ffd1f7 ip b757d0ab sp bf9235ac error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b7441000+1a9000]
[77037.213119] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77037.721170] vmis-launcher[4339]: segfault at b60731f7 ip b75f30ab sp bfc046ac error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b74b7000+1a9000]
[77038.014471] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77045.185135] vmis-launcher[4839]: segfault at b60071f7 ip b75870ab sp bff55a6c error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b744b000+1a9000]
[77045.494442] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77045.632745] vmis-launcher[4860]: segfault at b5fbb1f7 ip b753b0ab sp bff3b63c error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b73ff000+1a9000]
[77045.937519] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77049.755250] vmis-launcher[5334]: segfault at b5fe11f7 ip b75610ab sp bf970bfc error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b7425000+1a9000]
[77050.180873] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77050.607883] vmis-launcher[5355]: segfault at b5fc41f7 ip b75440ab sp bfa131bc error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b7408000+1a9000]
[77050.872983] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77057.859381] vmis-launcher[5861]: segfault at b606d1f7 ip b75ed0ab sp bfe1e71c error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b74b1000+1a9000]
[77058.145142] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77058.308636] vmis-launcher[5882]: segfault at b5fdf1f7 ip b755f0ab sp bfc2e7ac error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b7423000+1a9000]
[77058.591433] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77065.798375] vmis-launcher[6569]: segfault at b605d1f7 ip b75dd0ab sp bfde0e8c error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b74a1000+1a9000]
[77066.080790] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
[77066.266297] vmis-launcher[6590]: segfault at b606c1f7 ip b75ec0ab sp bfae7bac error 4 in libc-2.17.so[b74b0000+1a9000]
[77066.555159] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long
--
[146620.803664] systemd-journald[111]: File /var/log/journal/a761fac3a0a97b32a4a0646949abf276/user-1004.journal corrupted or uncleanly shut down, renaming and replacing.
[166409.530168] systemd-journald[111]: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Help me to improve ssh-rdp !
Retroarch User? Try my koko-aio shader !

Offline

#4 2013-05-09 13:10:48

alphaniner
Member
From: Ancapistan
Registered: 2010-07-12
Posts: 2,810

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I get a similar entry during boot:

[   18.381782] systemd-journald[229]: Can't write entry: Argument list too long

It also appears just before the "boot screen" is cleared for the login prompt. It only seems to occur when I have LVM snapshots around, which have caused other issues ever since the LVM2+udev brouhaha back in February.

Last edited by alphaniner (2013-05-09 13:11:56)


But whether the Constitution really be one thing, or another, this much is certain - that it has either authorized such a government as we have had, or has been powerless to prevent it. In either case, it is unfit to exist.
-Lysander Spooner

Offline

#5 2013-05-10 12:27:56

Unia
Member
From: Stockholm, Sweden
Registered: 2010-03-30
Posts: 2,486
Website

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I have it too. I don't have cups running but I do have regular segfaults when my coding attempts fail again tongue I have not yet looked into it, though.


If you can't sit by a cozy fire with your code in hand enjoying its simplicity and clarity, it needs more work. --Carlos Torres

Offline

#6 2013-05-10 13:17:26

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Yeah, I have this too from time to time.  I haven't look into it at all really though.

Offline

#7 2013-05-12 14:32:41

matyilona200
Member
Registered: 2012-06-21
Posts: 77

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I have it too,  after segfaults. I dont have cups.

Offline

#8 2013-05-13 13:40:40

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I don't think I get many segfaults - very rarely anyway - so mine might be a different cause. I expect there's a few as it is just down to the number of arguments passed to a call.
Could be wrong though - don't seem to have this message or segfault currently in my logs. I'll check next time I see it.


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

Offline

#9 2013-05-13 17:57:27

sinatosk
Member
Registered: 2010-11-28
Posts: 107

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

me too tongue

Offline

#10 2013-05-13 18:01:00

ewaller
Administrator
From: Pasadena, CA
Registered: 2009-07-13
Posts: 19,739

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Come on, guys.  The Arch community is usually pretty good about empty posts


Nothing is too wonderful to be true, if it be consistent with the laws of nature -- Michael Faraday
Sometimes it is the people no one can imagine anything of who do the things no one can imagine. -- Alan Turing
---
How to Ask Questions the Smart Way

Offline

#11 2013-05-13 22:09:27

Jristz
Member
From: America/Santiago
Registered: 2011-06-11
Posts: 1,022

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Ok as far I know other programs have issues like this like making a 'chmod ~/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*' give the same error
Skanky meontion about the limit of 5, probably is the same issue here, that was not resolved

but it that work whout problem simply ignore it... (or if you want report that on systemd mailisting/bugtracker)


Well, I suppose that this is somekind of signature, no?

Offline

#12 2013-05-14 09:23:05

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Okay, I got it again on shutdown last night (it gets displayed on screen), but it doesn't appear in the logs. I do however have a segfault in the logs, that occurred during the shutdown process.

The segfault was in xorg-launch-helper and the message was the first thing that occurred after X closed down. So yeah, I think I get it after segfaults, too.

So, ignore my Cups comment above. I was having troubles with Cups a while back, and it was probably segfaulting at times.

Last edited by skanky (2013-05-14 09:23:51)


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

Offline

#13 2013-05-14 14:58:48

WonderWoofy
Member
From: Los Gatos, CA
Registered: 2012-05-19
Posts: 8,414

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I do feel as though this was happening to me when I was still using the CK kernel, and therefore wasn't using systemd --user though.  So I wonder if that xorg-launch-helper segfault is simply coincidental?

Offline

#14 2013-05-14 15:07:48

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Well my thinking was that it may be any segfault (or coredump - are they different things?). kokoko3k's post shows the entry after crashes by a number of different applications.

I only see the message at shutdown (after X has closed) and that's when I see a load of segfault entries (not all though, but as the message isn't appearing in the logs any time, that may not mean much), especially ones that occur due to applications not coping with the X shutdown, it seems to be connected. There's not hard evidence though, I'll grant that.


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

Offline

#15 2013-05-14 16:16:47

skanky
Member
From: WAIS
Registered: 2009-10-23
Posts: 1,847

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I've done a little digging in the source code and I *think* it may be in src/journal/journal-file.c somewhere. The error is E2BIG, which is set in a few places (it's a standard error so that's not surprising). However, the "Failed to write entry, ignoring" message is only used in two lines of code, both in the journald-server.c file, in the "write_to_journal" function.

My C understanding is minimal, so I could be way off here, but it looks to me (and I don't know where/why I messed up above, but apologies for that) that it could be to do with log allocation. The error is returned by the "journal_file_append_entry" function in journald-file.c, but once in there we're starting to see multiple return points, so I had a look for the error explicitly. It is explicitly returned from two functions, one as a result of 32bit limitations (I use 64bit, so I discounted that one) and (potentially) twice from "journal_file_allocate".

This function is called from "journal_file_append_object", which is called from a few places, but one of which is "journal_file_append_entry". The return from that call is returned via the chain above. So it seems like a reasonable candidate to me.

This function is listed below:

static int journal_file_allocate(JournalFile *f, uint64_t offset, uint64_t size) {
        uint64_t old_size, new_size;
        int r;

        assert(f);

        /* We assume that this file is not sparse, and we know that
         * for sure, since we always call posix_fallocate()
         * ourselves */

        old_size =
                le64toh(f->header->header_size) +
                le64toh(f->header->arena_size);

        new_size = PAGE_ALIGN(offset + size);
        if (new_size < le64toh(f->header->header_size))
                new_size = le64toh(f->header->header_size);

        if (new_size <= old_size)
                return 0;

        if (f->metrics.max_size > 0 &&
            new_size > f->metrics.max_size)
                return -E2BIG;

        if (new_size > f->metrics.min_size &&
            f->metrics.keep_free > 0) {
                struct statvfs svfs;

                if (fstatvfs(f->fd, &svfs) >= 0) {
                        uint64_t available;

                        available = svfs.f_bfree * svfs.f_bsize;

                        if (available >= f->metrics.keep_free)
                                available -= f->metrics.keep_free;
                        else
                                available = 0;

                        if (new_size - old_size > available)
                                return -E2BIG;
                }
        }

        /* Note that the glibc fallocate() fallback is very
           inefficient, hence we try to minimize the allocation area
           as we can. */
        r = posix_fallocate(f->fd, old_size, new_size - old_size);
        if (r != 0)
                return -r;

        if (fstat(f->fd, &f->last_stat) < 0)
                return -errno;

        f->header->arena_size = htole64(new_size - le64toh(f->header->header_size));

        return 0;
}

All the files are here: http://cgit.freedesktop.org/systemd/sys … rc/journal

As I say, I'm not very good with C so I could be way off.

Last edited by skanky (2013-05-14 16:17:23)


"...one cannot be angry when one looks at a penguin."  - John Ruskin
"Life in general is a bit shit, and so too is the internet. And that's all there is." - scepticisle

Offline

#16 2013-06-10 06:51:10

doman18
Member
Registered: 2012-11-03
Posts: 9

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

So did anybody found any track of solution for this?

Offline

#17 2013-07-29 10:11:18

Smoerrebroed
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2011-07-24
Posts: 106

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

*bump*

I'm also encountering this issue. On my system, the error message is spit out precisely when I see the "Oops, something went wrong" screen rather than the gdm greeter. This happens approx. two minutes later than usual (i. e. when the error doesn't occur which can still be the case once in a while). When I

sysctl disable gdm

I can log in but as soon as I

startx

I see the same behaviour (X starts up, then I get a black screen for two minutes and then I see the Oops screen) - sometimes. Clearing the journal as well as doing a filesystem check seems to positively affect this - again, sometimes.

Cheers

Smoerrebroed

Offline

#18 2013-08-23 17:04:32

deathwarrior
Member
From: México, D.F.
Registered: 2012-07-18
Posts: 3
Website

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Hi there, I've been dealing with this issue for a few weeks. The kernel versions with this issue is  3.10.7-ck - 3.10.9-ck and the intel driver 2.21.14. If I create the file /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf and I select the UXA method for acceleration I can avoid this problem. The contents of the file are:

Section "Device"
        Identifier "Intel Graphics"
        Driver "intel"
        Option "AccelMethod" "uxa"
EndSection

I hope this helps,
Ivan

Offline

#19 2013-08-25 09:08:15

krszalay
Member
Registered: 2013-08-25
Posts: 1

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

I think the problem is that journald is trying to log the whole core file after segfaults.

The log lines in dmesg are not a big annoyance for me, but the default behavior logs it to the console messing up the current line. dmesg -n alert fixes this. You can fully remove it from dmesg with dmesg --level if you wish (you can find important information in journald anyway)

Offline

#20 2013-10-29 21:33:59

Humar
Member
Registered: 2013-09-13
Posts: 66

Re: systemd: Failed to write entry, ignoring: Argument list too long

Same error.

Today I suspended my netbook and when it woke it said it had too less energy left (but it was at 50%!). It shutdown.

Since then I can't start Cinnamon or Gnome 3, no matter what I try.
Did everything that was said here, still nothing sad

Offline

Board footer

Powered by FluxBB