couldn't open output file: Read-only file system

command-line permissions python filesystem gnome-terminal

5,254

As a workaround, you can simply redirect the output yourself instead of using the -f option:

adb logcat > log

I am guessing that the program might change it's working directory so it's trying to create log somewhere where you have no write access. If so, you should also be able to get it to work using an absolute path:

adb logcat > /home/username/log

5,254

Totem

Updated on September 18, 2022

Comments

Totem over 1 year

I just installed Ubuntu. My problem is I am attempting to write a log file to home. I am using logcat from a python module called adb. When I attempt the terminal command adb logcat -f <path> I should be able to output this log to a text file on my hard drive, but Instead I get the error:

couldn't open output file: Read-only file system

This is despite attempting the command sudo adb logcat -f <path>. For <path> I have mainly been trying just 'log' and 'log.txt'

I am able to write files to disk using cat > and I can save files without issue. I have read that this can be caused by a failing hard disk, but up until now I haven't seen any other evidence of this. Any help in understanding why this is happening and how to overcome it would be greatly appreciated. In case anyone is wondering, it is necessary for me to output this file to disk.

EDIT:

I should mention that I did in fact have a problem with my swap partition. I was getting an error to the tune of /dev/mapper/cryptswap1 is not ready yet or not present(not exact wording)on the splash screen during boot, but I reformatted and made a new swap partition which got rid of the error. However, both before seeing to the problem, and still now, gparted labels the swap partition as 'unknown'. free -m shows no issues, nor does swapon -s

EDIT: output of sudo mount

/dev/sda5 on / type ext4 (rw,errors=remount-ro)
proc on /proc type proc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
none on /sys/fs/cgroup type tmpfs (rw)
none on /sys/fs/fuse/connections type fusectl (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/debug type debugfs (rw)
none on /sys/kernel/security type securityfs (rw)
udev on /dev type devtmpfs (rw,mode=0755)
devpts on /dev/pts type devpts (rw,noexec,nosuid,gid=5,mode=0620)
tmpfs on /run type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,size=10%,mode=0755)
none on /run/lock type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=5242880)
none on /run/shm type tmpfs (rw,nosuid,nodev)
none on /run/user type tmpfs (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,size=104857600,mode=0755)
none on /sys/fs/pstore type pstore (rw)
/dev/sda7 on /home type ext4 (rw)
binfmt_misc on /proc/sys/fs/binfmt_misc type binfmt_misc (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev)
systemd on /sys/fs/cgroup/systemd type cgroup (rw,noexec,nosuid,nodev,none,name=systemd)
/home/me/.Private on /home/me type ecryptfs (ecryptfs_check_dev_ruid,ecryptfs_cipher=aes,ecryptfs_key_bytes=16,ecryptfs_unlink_sigs,ecryptfs_sig=cbb0ed41b9f457c5,ecryptfs_fnek_sig=9e985b7d47d6e940)
gvfsd-fuse on /run/user/1000/gvfs type fuse.gvfsd-fuse (rw,nosuid,nodev,user=me)

output of apt-cache policy 'sytemd*':

Version table:
 *** 204-0ubuntu19.1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     204-0ubuntu18 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
root-system-bin:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.34.09-1
  Version table:
     5.34.09-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libboost-filesystem1.50-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-data4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-runtime4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-windows-forms4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qemu-system-or32:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
xen-system:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system2.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libsystemu-ruby1.8:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.5.1-1
  Version table:
     2.5.1-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
system-image-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.9.1-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
     1.9.1-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libsystemsettings1:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.1+13.10.20131015.2-0ubuntu1
  Version table:
     0.1+13.10.20131015.2-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
xen-linux-system-686-pae:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-data-linq4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
ubuntu-system-service:
  Installed: 0.2.5
  Candidate: 0.2.5
  Version table:
 *** 0.2.5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
qemu-system-s390x:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libboost-filesystem1.53.0:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.53.0-6+exp3ubuntu8
  Version table:
     1.53.0-6+exp3ubuntu8 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-runtime-serialization4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qemu-system-ppcemb:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-ldap4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
systemc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
system-config-printer:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
systemd:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-sh4:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
xen-linux-system-amd64:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-xtensa:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-transactions4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libghc-system-fileio-prof-0.3.10-17c22:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-windows-forms-datavisualization4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libghc-system-filepath-prof:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.4.7-2build1
  Version table:
     0.4.7-2build1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libqtsysteminfo1:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.2.0-3ubuntu5
  Version table:
     1.2.0-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
system-tools-backends-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.2-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
     2.10.2-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libboost-system1.52-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
system-config-samba:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.2.63-0ubuntu5
  Version table:
     1.2.63-0ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libmono-system-security4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libboost-filesystem1.46-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libghc-filesystem-conduit-doc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.0.0-2build1
  Version table:
     1.0.0-2build1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
root-system-common:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.34.09-1
  Version table:
     5.34.09-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
system-config-printer-gnome:
  Installed: 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2
  Candidate: 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-servicemodel-routing4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qemu-system-ppc64:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-web-abstractions4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-xaml4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
liblua5.1-filesystem0:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+16+g84f1af5-1
  Version table:
     1.5.0+16+g84f1af5-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
system-tools-backends:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.2-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
     2.10.2-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
qemu-system-x86:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/main amd64 Packages
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
system-config-printer-kde:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
init-system-helpers:
  Installed: 1.7
  Candidate: 1.7
  Version table:
 *** 1.7 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
systemd-shim:
  Installed: 6-0ubuntu0.13.10
  Candidate: 6-0ubuntu0.13.10
  Version table:
 *** 6-0ubuntu0.13.10 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     3+real-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libghc-system-fileio-doc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.3.10-2build1
  Version table:
     0.3.10-2build1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
systemtap-grapher:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-enterpriseservices4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libghc-system-filepath-dev-0.4.7-c7b27:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-x86-64:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
system-config-printer-udev:
  Installed: 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2
  Candidate: 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2
  Version table:
 *** 1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1.2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
     1.4.2+20130920-0ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libsystem-command-perl:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.09-1
  Version table:
     1.09-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libboost-system1.42-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/main amd64 Packages
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
systemtap-doc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.2.1-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
     2.2.1-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libboost-system1.48-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
lua5.2-filesystem-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
system-config-kickstart:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.5.20-0ubuntu22
  Version table:
     2.5.20-0ubuntu22 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
live-config-systemd:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 3.0.23-1
  Version table:
     3.0.23-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
systemtap:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.2.1-1ubuntu1
  Version table:
     2.2.1-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libsystemd-login-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 204-0ubuntu19.1
  Version table:
     204-0ubuntu19.1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
     204-0ubuntu18 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
x-window-system:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-mips64el:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libsystemu-ruby-doc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.5.1-1
  Version table:
     2.5.1-1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
xen-system-amd64:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 4.3.0-1ubuntu1.3
  Version table:
     4.3.0-1ubuntu1.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/universe amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/universe amd64 Packages
     4.3.0-1ubuntu1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
qemu-system-sparc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/main amd64 Packages
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
xen-linux-system-686:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
gnome-system-log:
  Installed: 3.8.1-1svn1
  Candidate: 3.8.1-1svn1
  Version table:
 *** 3.8.1-1svn1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status
libmono-system4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libqt5systeminfo5:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.0~git20130712-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
     5.0~git20130712-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
libmono-system-xml-linq4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qtdeclarative5-systeminfo-plugin:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 5.0~git20130712-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
     5.0~git20130712-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages
xen-system-i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-configuration4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libboost-system1.53-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.53.0-6+exp3ubuntu8
  Version table:
     1.53.0-6+exp3ubuntu8 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qemu-system-m68k:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-mips:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/main amd64 Packages
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libfsosystem-dbg:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
libmono-system-numerics4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libmono-system-data-services4.0-cil:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2
  Version table:
     2.10.8.1-5ubuntu2 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
qemu-system-i386:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: (none)
  Version table:
qemu-system-misc:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3
  Version table:
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5.3 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-updates/main amd64 Packages
        500 http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy-security/main amd64 Packages
     1.5.0+dfsg-3ubuntu5 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/main amd64 Packages
libghc-system-filepath-dev:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 0.4.7-2build1
  Version table:
     0.4.7-2build1 0
        500 http://ie.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ saucy/universe amd64 Packages

terdon about 10 years

Please include the actual path of your desired output file. If the path is simply log in your current directory, please explain which directory you are running from. Do you get the same message if you do this from your $HOME?
Totem about 10 years

Running from HOME :)
Totem about 10 years

strange, all my other comments have disappeared
terdon about 10 years

Yes, comments can be deleted without warning, that's why details should always be added to the question body. Now, if I understand correctly, you only get this from a python script. Is that right? Can you run the command itself from the terminal correctly? Can we see the relevant parts of your script?
Totem about 10 years

if I run 'adb logcat' then I get the desired output to the terminal, option -f <path> should output to a file. So it's working without the -f <path> bit
Totem about 10 years

This is not part of a script, I just wanted the log file to troubleshoot some unrelated issues. If I just output to the terminal then too much info gets passed by
terdon about 10 years

Well, you can always use adb logcat > log of course, are you sure the -f option does what you think it does? I don't know where to get this adb in order to test.
Totem about 10 years

from adb logcat --help is the following on -f: -f <filename> Log to file. Default to stdout