1

Yesterday I was trying to recover some lost files from an external drive using r-linux. I think this filled my laptop's hard drive and my computer suddenly crashed and went into low graphics mode which doesn't let me log in at all.

I searched on here about low graphics mode and confirmed that full disk is one of the reasons.

Following the advice I managed to get to a VT and run the commands

sudo apt-get install --reinstall ubuntu-desktop
sudo reboot

But they didn't help. Then I managed to do the command

df -h

and this showed me a table, which shows I have no space.

That's where I am stuck, I can't out figure how to delete things. I tried the command

sudo du -kxa / | sort -nr | head

but it doesn't work.

How can I find the contents I want to delete and then how to actually select the big/not important ones and delete them through the commands?

df -h returns:

filesystem  size  used  avail  use%  Mounted on
dev/sda1    455gb 449g  0      100%  /
udev        2,0G  4,0K  2,0G   1%    /dev
tmpfs       806M   820K 805M   1%   /run
none        5,0M     0  5,0M   0%   /run/lock
none        2,0G     0  2,0G   0%   /run/shm
none        100M  8,0K  100M   1%   /run/user
overflow    1,0M  4,0K  1020K  1%   /tmp
11
  • Why is sudo du -kxa / | sort -nr | head not working? It must do something. Jun 20, 2015 at 11:12
  • You can delete files from a terminal using the rm command. For more information execute man rm.
    – s3lph
    Jun 20, 2015 at 11:13
  • Please show us the output of df -h. Basically, you need to use rm to delete files but we can't tell you which ones unless you give us more details. The sudo du -kxa / | sort -nr | head might not work if you have no space left. Try sudo du -ch / | grep -P '^\d+G' instead. That should give you a list of files/dirs whose size is in the gigabytes. They should serve as a starting point. Since there's no sorting, that is likely to run with no errors. Post the output here and we'll what we can do.
    – terdon
    Jun 20, 2015 at 11:38
  • Hi. thank you for getting back to me. I am still stuck so let me try to copy what i see on the screen after I do the df -H filesystem size used avail use% Mounted on
    – Nancy K.
    Jun 20, 2015 at 11:45
  • sorry, I run out of time this is it Hi. thank you for getting back to me. I am still stuck so let me try to copy what i see on the screen after I do the df -H filesystem size used avail use% Mounted on dev/sda1 455gb 449g 0 100% / udev 2,0G 4,0K 2,0G 1% /dev tmpfs 806M 820K 805M 1% /run none 5,0M 0 5,0M 0% /run/lock none 2,0G 0 2,0G 0% /run/user none 100M 8,0K 100M 1% /run/user overflow 1,0M 4,0K 1020K 1% /tmp
    – Nancy K.
    Jun 20, 2015 at 11:53

1 Answer 1

2

You need to delete some files. The best place to search is in your home directory. Most likely in your ~/Videos folder. So, from the command line (Ctrl Alt F1) first run this:

cd ~/Videos

Then, look at what you have there. This command will show you the files ordered by size:

ls -lSr

Now, remove some of the bigger files:

rm "video file name.avi"

Once you have removed enough files, restart your computer and you can continue the cleanup using the GUI.

4
  • Thank you Terdon and everyone here! This solved the issue! I could never have done it without you! (now going to open a bottle of wine and celebrating my initiation in the amazing community of Ask Ubuntu!!)
    – Nancy K.
    Jun 20, 2015 at 14:51
  • are you around? prospathisa na sou steilo minima sto chat mas alla einai frozen. Psaxno texniko na me voithisei se kati kai ithela na rotiso esena, an mporeis @terdon
    – Nancy K.
    Aug 11, 2015 at 14:24
  • @NancyK. Sorry, holidays. I'm not at my computer and won't be for most of August. :(
    – terdon
    Aug 12, 2015 at 10:23
  • kala na peraseis, sygnomi gia tin enoxlisi, tha vro texniko apo to internet, kales diakopes! @terdon
    – Nancy K.
    Aug 12, 2015 at 20:22

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .