init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs

Anton Shterenlikht mexas at bristol.ac.uk
Wed Jan 5 12:12:41 UTC 2011


On Mon, Dec 27, 2010 at 03:04:44PM +0000, Matthew Seaman wrote:
> On 27/12/2010 14:11, Anton Shterenlikht wrote:
> > On 9.0-CURRENT r216732 ia64 I get this message:
> > 
> > % grep getty /var/log/messages | tail
> > Dec 27 13:26:57 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:27:27 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:27:57 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:45:22 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:45:53 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:46:23 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:52:55 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:53:25 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:57:56 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > Dec 27 13:58:26 mech-cluster241 init: getty repeating too quickly on port /dev/ttyv8, sleeping 30 secs
> > %
> > 
> > % grep ttyv8 /etc/ttys 
> > ttyv8   "/usr/local/bin/xdm"    xterm   on secure
> > 
> > % cat /var/log/xdm.log 
> > %
> > 
> > And no other indication of anything going wrong.
> > 
> > I've seen quite a few similar reports on the net,
> > but no conclusive answer.
> > 
> > What exactly does the above message mean?
> 
> Usually that xdm is failing to start.  getty will keep trying to run it,
> and wil fill your log files with messages of failure until you fix the
> problem.
> 
> I'd turn off xdm on that vty temporarily, [change 'on' to 'off' in that
> line in /etc/ttys, and 'kill -HUP 1' to restart init] and then try
> running xdm manually from the console to see what happens.  It could be
> all sorts of things causing the problem.

Matthew, yes, this helped.

I don't get this message in the logs anymore.

Perhaps the problem is that this node has no graphics card.
It accepts XDMCP connections only via network.
All virtual terminals are off, only serial terminals are
allowed in /etc/ttys. Maybe this conficts with the normal
operation of getty..

I'd still like to start xdm automatically on reboot.
If I can't do it via /etc/ttys,
what would be the alternative way?

many thanks
anton

-- 
Anton Shterenlikht
Room 2.6, Queen's Building
Mech Eng Dept
Bristol University
University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK
Tel: +44 (0)117 331 5944
Fax: +44 (0)117 929 4423


More information about the freebsd-questions mailing list