Date: Thu, 27 Jun 1996 17:29:33 GMT From: James Raynard <fqueries@jraynard.demon.co.uk> To: info@adn.edu.ph Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: trouble for process to be terminated Message-ID: <199606271729.RAA05522@jraynard.demon.co.uk> In-Reply-To: <Pine.LNX.3.91.960627135731.7355A-100000@sili.adn.edu.ph> (message from Information Help Desk on Thu, 27 Jun 1996 13:58:59 %2B1000 (GMT%2B1000))
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> What's the last resort besides rebooting after killing a process > that still lives but is trying to exit? Are you referring to a "zombie" process - one where a child process exits before its parent and the parent doesn't clean up after it properly (by calling wait())? It's not as bad as it seems, as the process has actually exited, releasing all the memory it was using and closing any files it had open, etc. All it's taking up is an entry in the process table. On the other hand, it effectively reduces the number of processes you can run by one, and makes the ps output look untidy. This is usually the result of a programming mistake - or the parent may be blocking on a resource which never becomes available. Perhaps if you can post some details about which program causes the problem, and how it happens, we may be able to give a more helpful answer. -- James Raynard, Edinburgh, Scotland james@jraynard.demon.co.uk
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