# /dev/sda2 full **URL:** \ **Category:** SLES Install-Boot\ **Created:** [December 28, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760 "2015-12-28T13:11:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 1:11pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/1 "2015-12-28T13:11:56Z")
on a server with SLES 12, noticed that all of a sudden, the system would not go into the GUI, and complains that there is ‘no space left on device’. It does take me to the prompt, where doing a ‘df -kP’ command i can see that /dev/sda2 is 100%. i have tried to truncate system log files, but only gained small space in Kbytes. I then planned on removing orphaned RPM packages, but observed that removal of RPM packages also complains that there is no space on device, therefore this plan of action did not work. Please provide input in order to gain space so that i can boot properly into the GUI. ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/2 "2015-12-28T18:15:52Z")
> [@](#): > > On Mon 28 Dec 2015 11:14:02 AM CST, rashidM wrote: > > on a server with SLES 12, noticed that all of a sudden, the system would > not go into the GUI, and complains that there is ‘no space left on > device’. It does take me to the prompt, where doing a ‘df -kP’ command i > can see that /dev/sda2 is 100%. > i have tried to truncate system log files, but only gained small space > in Kbytes. I then planned on removing orphaned RPM packages, but > observed that removal of RPM packages also complains that there is no > space on device, therefore this plan of action did not work. > Please provide input in order to gain space so that i can boot properly > into the GUI. Hi Sounds like you haven’t configured snapper with btrfs as your filesystem… [https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/stor\_admin/data/trbl\_btrfs\_volfull.html](https://www.suse.com/documentation/sles11/stor_admin/data/trbl_btrfs_volfull.html) I also look at the /etc/snapper/configs/root file and set the number snapshot numbers down. Also if doing peicemeal installs of this and that package the number snapshots can grow quick in a day, so manually running the suse.de-snapper cronjob can help as well. – Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890) SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 | GNOME 3.10.1 | 3.12.51-52.31-default If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/3 "2015-12-29T20:27:43Z")
ok , let me try your suggestions and will let you know of the outcome ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 8:50pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/4 "2015-12-30T20:50:34Z")
It has been a tough battle and here is how it went. So i change the number of snapshots for TIMELINE\_LIMIT\_HOURLY,DAILY and MONTHLY to 5, it was originally 10. in /.snapshots i can see a lot of 2 and 3 digits folders, which relate to the snapshot taken. I try deleting the snapshot by using ‘snapper -c root delete #’ and manage to delete some snapshots but am unable to delete snapshot number 99. As i am in the process of deleting, suddenly the GUI appears and voila, i find my self inside the GUI (although the screen is on a low resolution). i check the usage using ‘df -kP’ and still have 100% usage on /dev/sda2 with around 8000 bytes free. I again try deleting snapshot 99, try to change permissions, but to no avail. I decide to reboot the machine, and i end up at the ‘grub rescue\>’ prompt. Then i loose 3-4 hours trying to atleast have a bootable machine with a valid grub. I manage to go from a ‘grub rescue\>’ prompt to ‘grub\>’ prompt by loading the normal.mod file, which in my case was not inside (hd0,msdos2)/boot/grub2 folder but i had to navigate to the snapshot folder and restore it from there. Then i restored grub.cfg from (hd0,msdos2)/usr/lib/grub folder, and manage to get to the GUI, alas! once in the gui, i try to remove some software installation that are not used any more. I notice that whenever i uninstall something the log file size increases. I then truncate the log files in /var/log. At this stage i have remove snapper, so that it stops taking snapshots every few minutes. Also i have shut the system, until i can figure out what is causing the high space usage on /dev/sda2. ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2015, 9:21pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/5 "2015-12-30T21:21:51Z")
> [@](#): > > On Wed 30 Dec 2015 06:54:01 PM CST, rashidM wrote: > > It has been a tough battle and here it how it went. So i change the > number of snapshots for TIMELINE\_LIMIT\_HOURLY,DAILY and MONTHLY to 5, it > was originally 10. in /.snapshots i can see a lot of 2 and 3 digits > folders, which relate to the snapshot taken. I try deleting the snapshot > by using ‘snapper -c root delete #’ and manage to delete some snapshots > but am unable to delete snapshot number 99. As i am in the process of > deleting, suddenly the GUI appears and voila, i find my self inside the > GUI (although the screen is on a low resolution). i check the usage > using ‘df -kP’ and still have 100% usage on /dev/sda2 with around 8000 > bytes free. I again try deleting snapshot 99, try to change permissions, > but to no avail. I decide to reboot the machine, and i end up at the > ‘grub rescue\>’ prompt. > Then i loose 3-4 hours trying to atleast have a bootable machine with a > valid grub. I manage to go from a ‘grub rescue\>’ prompt to ‘grub\>’ > prompt by loading the normal.mod file, which in my case was not inside > (hd0,msdos2)/boot/grub2 folder but i had to navigate to the snapshot > folder and restore it from there. Then i restored grub.cfg from > (hd0,msdos2)/usr/lib/grub folder, and manage to get to the GUI, alas! > once in the gui, i try to remove some software installation that are not > used any more. I notice that whenever i uninstall something the log file > size increases. I then truncate the log files in /var/log. > At this stage i have remove snapper, so that it stops taking snapshots > every few minutes. Also i have shut the system, until i can figure out > what is causing the high space usage on /dev/sda2. Hi You need to run the balance job to help clean things out, it may also help with the stuck snapshot. Boot and shutdown the GUI and drop to runlevel 3 and work from the console VT (press ctrl+alt+F1); – Cheers Malcolm °¿° LFCS, SUSE Knowledge Partner (Linux Counter #276890) SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 | GNOME 3.10.1 | 3.12.51-52.31-default If you find this post helpful and are logged into the web interface, please show your appreciation and click on the star below… Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 6:58am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/6 "2015-12-31T06:58:27Z")
can you tell me how to run the balance job? how do I initiate this? ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2015, 7:41am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/7 "2015-12-31T07:41:26Z")
> [@rashidM;31008](#): > > can you tell me how to run the balance job? how do I initiate this? Hi From the link 😉 ```auto btrfs fi usage btrfs fi balance start /dev/sda2 -dusage=5 ``` That should help clean it up, it may take some time so be patient. ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2016, 9:49am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/8 "2016-01-04T09:49:14Z")
it says ERROR: can’t access /dev/sda2 ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 8:22am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/9 "2016-01-05T08:22:30Z")
alright, so i mounted /dev/sda2 as /mnt: mount -t btrfs /dev/sda2 /mnt then did: btrfs fi balance start /mnt -dusage=5 and now i get the following message: Done, had to relocate 0 out of 54 chunks ---
**Author:** ![malcolmlewis](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex022/user_avatar/forums.suse.com/malcolmlewis/32/11375_2.png) [@malcolmlewis](https://forums.suse.com/u/malcolmlewis)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2016, 9:25pm UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/10 "2016-01-05T21:25:55Z")
Hi You might need to run it a few times, also try increasing the dusage number. ---
**Author:** ![rashidM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f4b2a3/32.png) [@rashidM](https://forums.suse.com/u/rashidM)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://forums.suse.com/t/dev-sda2-full/27760/11 "2016-01-06T11:28:36Z")
i increased the dusage number to 100 and it says: ERROR : error during balancing /mnt no space left on device