Ted Gervais <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> In my /proc directory I have a bunch of files and they are nearly all '0'
> bit except one; and it is LARGE. Here is what I see (in part)..
> -r-------- 1 root root 134221824 Aug 24 07:55 kcore
By now, you've already read the other replies to this so I'll try not
to cover too much of what's already been said.
Basically, the proc filesystem is a "virtual filesystem" it exists
only in RAM (not on your hard disk). And that file /proc/kcore
represents your RAM (you have 128meg+ of RAM don't you). The
discrepancy is because a megabyte isn't 1 million bytes or 1 thousand
kilobytes. A megabyte is 1,048,576 bytes which is
2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2*2=1,048,576. Computers work on
base 2 (1's and 0's) not base 10 like we do. And 1,048,576 is as
close to 1,000,000 as you can get with base 2, hence we call it a
"megabyte" (mega meaning 1,000,000). Just like a kilobyte isn't 1,000
bytes, it is 1,024 bytes.
> Kcore is over 134 megs large, and it really does occupy this much space.
It only occupies space in RAM, not on your hard disk.
> Does this appear normal. Why is this file so large? How do I reduce it or
> kill it?
It is very normal, as a matter of fact you would have a problem if you
didn't have it. It is that size it is because you have that much
RAM. (I have 32Mb RAM and my /proc/kcore is 33558528). The only way
to reduce the size of it would be to physically remove some of your
computer's RAM. Which, you probably don't want to do. :-)
> I tried booting things up with rescue disks and then deleted
> that file. I then rebooted normally and it was back.
This is because the entire proc filesystem is re-created at boot
time. Remember that the only place it exists is in RAM. Think of the
proc filesystem as a special kind of ramdisk.
> It just seems odd to
> have such a large file there which I never noticed before. And of course I
> would like to recover that drive space.
There is no drive space to recover.
--
Regards, Steve Youngs <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> ICQ: 34307457
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