Unremoveable ghost snapshots filling root drive

i found that using 'chattr +i' immutable flag on the 'theme.conf.user' file to keep the SDDM login screen background from reverting back to theme's default image on every login to be a very bad idea, as the 'immutable' attribute gets inherited by every single iteration of that file created by manual snapshots.

when this happens snapper/timeshift only LOOKS like it actually deleted the snapshot, but it is still there in it's entirety hidden in a folder that you can't even sudo delete due to the 'immutable' attribute set on ONE FILE.

i found 7 full 6-7GB snapshots filling up my rather small 40GB OS core installation partition.
i was actually able to boot into a snapshot from october that was deleted in mid december >.>
to remove them i had to unflag the attribute on the original parent file, then had to remove the same from every snapshot iteration of that file.

to make this easy i booted into a live-disk environment, set all the hidden snapshot folders' ownership to root and then deleted the folder and contents as root.
this lagged out dolphin for a minute but managed to remove all the folder contents EXCEPT the immutable file, making it easy to find the offending files individually and remove the chattr +i flag.

after this, full deletion of the snapshot folders and all contents was straightforward.

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Full path please.

You use both?

Where? Path please.


Which DE?
snapper-tools, sudo btrfs-assistant dosn’t work?
Maybe we know more if you post your garuda-inxi :slight_smile:

2 Likes

I know I'm probably the one who suggested that approach some time ago, and I apologize for that (I was not aware at all of that drawback). :wink:
At least, in the same post, I suggested a possible different approach (name your background like the standard one, hopefully not changing, at least frequently).

3 Likes

SDDM should honor a custom theme entry in /usr/share/sddm/themes/ if you adhere to the naming convention. You can easily change the background on your custom theme, or any other attribute you wish to modify, without needing to worry about the file that is being overwritten.

From the ArchWiki:

Customizing a theme

To override settings in the theme.conf configuration file, create a custom theme.conf.user file in the same directory. For example, to change the theme’s background:

/usr/share/sddm/themes/*name*/theme.conf.user

[General] background=*/path/to/background.png*
5 Likes

i changed the name of the image i wanted to 'bg.jpg', the same as what's in the theme files, and it seems to stick for now. (Garuda server room image i ninja'd from the forums here)

the login image is a small matter anyway, i just wanted to let others know of the snapshot issue so they can be prepared for the unintended consequences of flagging a file as 'immutable' =-)

1 Like

garuda-inxi is irrelevant imo as i fixed this issue already, but here anyway:

garuda-inxi 
System:
  Kernel: 5.15.91-1-lts arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.1
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/@/boot/vmlinuz-linux-lts
    root=UUID=63f3c83e-5747-44de-974f-c89d4101bd95 rw rootflags=subvol=@
    quiet quiet splash rd.udev.log_priority=3 vt.global_cursor_default=0
    resume=UUID=c0d4fb48-27bb-458a-9d32-db4bea9d7420 loglevel=3 ibt=off
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.26.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 1 dm: SDDM
    Distro: Garuda Linux base: Arch Linux
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: MSI model: Z77A-GD55 (MS-7751) v: 1.0
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: 1.11
    date: 11/20/2013
CPU:
  Info: model: Intel Core i7-3770K bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Ivy Bridge
    gen: core 3 level: v2 built: 2012-15 process: Intel 22nm family: 6
    model-id: 0x3A (58) stepping: 9 microcode: 0x21
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 4 tpc: 2 threads: 8 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 256 KiB desc: d-4x32 KiB; i-4x32 KiB L2: 1024 KiB desc: 4x256 KiB
    L3: 8 MiB desc: 1x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 2410 high: 3473 min/max: 1600/3900 scaling:
    driver: intel_cpufreq governor: performance cores: 1: 1807 2: 1693 3: 1981
    4: 2722 5: 1846 6: 2706 7: 3054 8: 3473 bogomips: 56001
  Flags: avx ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 ssse3 vmx
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 660] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 470.161.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free:
    series: 470.xx+ status: legacy-active (EOL~2023/24) arch: Kepler
    code: GKxxx process: TSMC 28nm built: 2012-18 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s
    lanes: 8 link-max: lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:11c0
    class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK106 [GeForce GTX 660] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 470.161.03 alternate: nouveau,nvidia_drm non-free:
    series: 470.xx+ status: legacy-active (EOL~2023/24) arch: Kepler
    code: GKxxx process: TSMC 28nm built: 2012-18 pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s
    lanes: 8 link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 02:00.0
    chip-ID: 10de:11c0 class-ID: 0300
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 21.1.6 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.7
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: N/A display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080 s-dpi: 94 s-size: 518x291mm (20.39x11.46")
    s-diag: 594mm (23.39")
  Monitor-1: DVI-I-1 res: 1920x1080 hz: 60 dpi: 96
    size: 510x290mm (20.08x11.42") diag: 587mm (23.1") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 470.161.03 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX
    660/PCIe/SSE2 direct render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: Intel 7 Series/C216 Family High Definition Audio
    vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 00:1b.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1e20 class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 8
    link-max: lanes: 16 bus-ID: 01:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:0e0b class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: NVIDIA GK106 HDMI Audio vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 8
    link-max: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 02:00.1
    chip-ID: 10de:0e0b class-ID: 0403
  Sound API: ALSA v: k5.15.91-1-lts running: yes
  Sound Server-1: PulseAudio v: 16.1 running: no
  Sound Server-2: PipeWire v: 0.3.65 running: yes
Network:
  Device-1: Intel 82579V Gigabit Network vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: e1000e
    v: kernel port: f040 bus-ID: 00:19.0 chip-ID: 8086:1503 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eno1 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: ipv6leakintrf0 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A
    mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: proton0 state: unknown speed: 10 Mbps duplex: full mac: N/A
  IF-ID-3: pvpnksintrf0 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 2.91 TiB used: 539.65 GiB (18.1%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Kingston model: SH103S3120G
    size: 111.79 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: BBF0 scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G
    size: 447.13 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0107 scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Kingston model: SA400S37480G
    size: 447.13 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 0107 scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 vendor: Kingston model: SH103S3120G
    size: 111.79 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: BBF0 scheme: GPT
  ID-5: /dev/sde maj-min: 8:64 vendor: Western Digital
    model: WD20EZRX-00D8PB0 size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 4096 B
    logical: 512 B speed: 3.0 Gb/s type: N/A serial: <filter> rev: 0A80
    scheme: MBR
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 39.75 GiB size: 39.75 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.15 GiB (53.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 513 MiB size: 512 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 608 KiB (0.1%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda4 maj-min: 8:4
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 71.04 GiB size: 71.04 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 34.56 GiB (48.7%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-4: /var/log raw-size: 39.75 GiB size: 39.75 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.15 GiB (53.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-5: /var/tmp raw-size: 39.75 GiB size: 39.75 GiB (100.00%)
    used: 21.15 GiB (53.2%) fs: btrfs dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 133 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 512 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
  ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 23.43 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 41.0 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 50 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 36%
Info:
  Processes: 316 Uptime: 3h 54m wakeups: 0 Memory: 23.43 GiB
  used: 2.84 GiB (12.1%) Init: systemd v: 252 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.1 Packages: pm: pacman pkgs: 1980
  libs: 548 tools: octopi,paru Shell: fish v: 3.6.0 running-in: konsole
  inxi: 3.3.24
Garuda (2.6.14-1):
  System install date:     2023-01-15
  Last full system update: 2023-02-02
  Is partially upgraded:   No
  Relevant software:       snapper NetworkManager mkinitcpio
  Windows dual boot:       Probably (Run as root to verify)
  Failed units:            

theme.conf.user -

/usr/share/sddm/themes/Sweet/theme.conf.user

-refers to the original default file found in the default SDDM login screen folder in the default location where it gets installed by default, as suggested in this forum post:

snapper/timeshift:
this happened before, over a year ago with an older version of Garuda with Timeshift, this time it happened with Snapper, so it’s the actual snapshot function - the specific interface software is obviously irrelevant.
i nuked and reinstalled just last october due to my root drive filling up and it’s happened again and now i know why.

path:
the snapshots were in the root directory, each with their own @snapshot folder name, i think they hand the date built into the numbered section of the file name but the metadata like the name i gave the manual snapshot and creation date were gone, most likely deleted when i thought i deleted the entire thing.

i had the idea to look around my root folder from windows because of a randomly numbered btrfs process that repeatedly refused to shut down when shutting down or restarting the system. i think this was a process/s that was trying to delete this crap and hanging due to the immutable flag on the one file it can’t delete.

i could cannot see the snapshots while in the main Garuda install, not from Snapper nor from btrfs Assistant. i first saw them while looking around from windows, which is why i saw to use a live-disk interface to remove them. my windows 7 brtfs driver will not provide admin overrides so i had to do it from a live-disk.

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