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Greetings,
I've got some weird files populating my root directory. I want to remove them, if it is safe to do so. I have no idea what the nature or origin of these files are. Thats why I'm asking here.
Some terminal outputs...
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop ~]$ cd /
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$ ls
''$'\200'' '$'\004\002' bin home mnt run tmp
''$'\200''@'$'\275' boot lib opt sbin usr
''$'\200\240\371' dev lib64 proc srv var
''$'\200''@b'$'\002' etc lost+found root sys
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$ file ''$'\200'' '$'\004\002'
: ASCII text
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$ cat ''$'\200'' '$'\004\002' | head -n15
2050 407617 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/lvm2-activation-generator
2050 678487 /etc/ld.so.cache
2050 407615 /usr/lib/liblvm2app.so.2.2
2050 406610 /usr/lib/libdevmapper.so.1.02
2050 406375 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-system-update-generator
2050 396472 /usr/lib/librt-2.22.so
2050 396400 /usr/lib/libpthread-2.22.so
2050 396419 /usr/lib/libc-2.22.so
2050 406376 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-debug-generator
2050 406378 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-gpt-auto-generator
2050 406377 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-hibernate-resume-generator
2050 406380 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-cryptsetup-generator
2050 406373 /usr/lib/systemd/system-generators/systemd-getty-generator
2050 404071 /usr/lib/libblkid.so.1.1.0
2050 404070 /usr/lib/libuuid.so.1.3.0
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$
All of the entries contain similar data. Where could these files have come from, and can I remove them? Thanks in advance!
Last edited by JohnBobSmith (2016-07-27 13:30:04)
I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As it turns out, what I thought was my greatest weakness is now my greatest strength.
Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...
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FWIW, my first guess would be that the second column indicates the inode number of the respective file. But other than that I have no clue.
I'd think they are safe to remove, but I'd be more worried about where they came from which won't be easy to determine. Do you run anything hacky as root for any game?
If the timestamps are recent, you'll probably have to keep an eye on / to see if they re-appear. Otherwise you'll probably never know and probably shouldn't worry much... well, beyond the fact that some rogue application with root permissions wrote garbage to your disk.
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
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Have you tried ls -l and lsof? So you know who created the files, when they were created, what their permissions are and what processes they are used by?
"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present." - Master Oogway
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It's likely some misconfigured logging etc. Best guess is that you mistyped a location into a systemd configuration file. But there's no real limit to the rabbit hole in terms of what exactly could be causing it.
Allan-Volunteer on the (topic being discussed) mailn lists. You never get the people who matters attention on the forums.
jasonwryan-Installing Arch is a measure of your literacy. Maintaining Arch is a measure of your diligence. Contributing to Arch is a measure of your competence.
Griemak-Bleeding edge, not bleeding flat. Edge denotes falls will occur from time to time. Bring your own parachute.
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@Starfish: Here is the output of ls -l with un-necessary stuff (remaining directories and files) removed:
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$ ls -l
total 332
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 111509 Feb 12 13:24 ''$'\200'' '$'\004\002'
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 131914 Feb 12 12:29 ''$'\200''@'$'\275'
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 16509 Feb 12 13:50 ''$'\200\240\371'
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 14673 Feb 12 13:35 ''$'\200''@b'$'\002'
...
I'm not sure how to use lsof but I will figure it out when I can
I have no idea what could have been/was run on February 12th. I don't recall doing anything hacky with any game or my root directory. Honestly, since they are a bunch of ASCII text, I will remove the offending files. If they comes back, or end up crashing something, I will let you guys know. Otherwise I will mark as solved if removing them is harmless.
But, as you guys have mentioned, i'm much more worried about how they even got there in the first place than the seemingly harmless contents of said files. Oh well.
EDIT: And being from February 12, how did I not notice there presence sooner? Haha XD.
Last edited by JohnBobSmith (2016-07-27 13:26:12)
I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As it turns out, what I thought was my greatest weakness is now my greatest strength.
Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...
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Well, I guess topic solved. Rebooted, they didnt re-generate or anything, nothing crashed the system and I find it unlikely any of the applications would need such garbage to function.
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop ~]$ cd / && ls
bin dev home lib64 mnt proc run srv tmp var
boot etc lib lost+found opt root sbin sys usr
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop /]$
Thanks guys!
I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As it turns out, what I thought was my greatest weakness is now my greatest strength.
Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...
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I doubt that any program would create files with unreadable names. I am betting on 0) a bug in the file system driver or 1) hardware crash or improper power-off. If you publish the type of the file system of the root directory, it may be useful for statistics.
we are not condemned to write ugly code
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I am betting that you tried to cat a binary file. I've seen bash do some strange things whilst trying that.
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
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Ewaller, that is entirely possible given the fact that I spend a great deal of time on the command line for some of my hobby coding stuff. I was also was experience power outages in that time of year due to winter. All in all, as long as they dont come back I am good to go.
EDIT: File system is ext4:
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop ~]$ sudo parted /dev/sda2 print
Model: Unknown (unknown)
Disk /dev/sda2: 21.5GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: loop
Disk Flags:
Number Start End Size File system Flags
1 0.00B 21.5GB 21.5GB ext4
[jbs@dmb-gaming-laptop ~]$
sda1 is /boot formatted to fat32. sda3 is swap. sda4 is /home and ext4.
Last edited by JohnBobSmith (2016-07-27 20:46:17)
I am diagnosed with bipolar disorder. As it turns out, what I thought was my greatest weakness is now my greatest strength.
Everyday, I make a conscious choice to overcome my challenges and my problems. It's not easy, but its better than the alternative...
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