INTRO(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual INTRO(2) NAME intro, errno - introduction to system calls and error numbers SYNOPSIS #include DESCRIPTION This section describes all of the system calls. Most of these calls have one or more error returns. An error condi- tion is indicated by an otherwise impossible return value. This is almost always -1; the individual descriptions specify the details. As with normal arguments, all return codes and values from functions are of type integer unless otherwise noted. An error number is also made available in the external variable _e_r_r_n_o, which is not cleared on successful calls. Thus _e_r_r_n_o should be tested only after an error has occurred. The following is a complete list of the errors and their names as given in <_e_r_r_n_o._h>. 0 Error 0 Unused. 1 EPERM Not owner Typically this error indicates an attempt to modify a file in some way forbidden except to its owner or super-user. It is also returned for attempts by ordi- nary users to do things allowed only to the super-user. 2 ENOENT No such file or directory This error occurs when a file name is specified and the file should exist but doesn't, or when one of the directories in a path name does not exist. 3 ESRCH No such process The process whose number was given to a system call does not exist, or is already dead. 4 EINTR Interrupted system call An asynchronous signal (such as interrupt or quit), which the user has elected to catch, occurred during a system call. If execution is resumed after processing the signal, it will appear as if the interrupted system call returned this error condition. 5 EIO I/O error Some physical I/O error occurred during a _r_e_a_d or _w_r_i_t_e. This error may in some cases occur on a call following the one to which it actually applies. Printed 7/30/83 1 INTRO(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual INTRO(2) 6 ENXIO No such device or address I/O on a special file refers to a subdevice that does not exist, or beyond the limits of the device. It may also occur when, for example, a tape drive is not dialed in or no disk pack is loaded on a drive. 7 E2BIG Arg list too long An argument list longer than 5120 bytes is presented to _e_x_e_c_v_e. 8 ENOEXEC Exec format error A request is made to execute a file which, although it has the appropriate permissions, does not start with a valid magic number, see _a._o_u_t(5). 9 EBADF Bad file number Either a file descriptor refers to no open file, or a read (resp. write) request is made to a file that is open only for writing (resp. reading). 10 ECHILD No children _W_a_i_t and the process has no living or unwaited-for children. 11 EAGAIN No more processes In a _f_o_r_k, or _v_f_o_r_k either the system's process table is full or the user is not allowed to create any more processes. 12 ENOMEM Not enough core During an _e_x_e_c or _b_r_e_a_k, a program asks for more core than the system is able to supply. This is not a tem- porary condition; the maximum core size is a system parameter. The error may also occur if the arrangement of text, data, and stack segments requires too many segmentation registers. 13 EACCES Permission denied An attempt was made to access a file in a way forbidden by the protection system. 14 EFAULT Bad address The system encountered a hardware fault in attempting to access the arguments of a system call. 15 ENOTBLK Block device required A plain file was mentioned where a block device was required, e.g. in _m_o_u_n_t. 16 EBUSY Exclusive use facility busy An attempt to use a system facility which requires exclusive use failed because the facility is already in Printed 7/30/83 2 INTRO(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual INTRO(2) use. This can occur when an attempt is made to mount a device that is already mounted or an attempt is made to dismount a device on which there is an active file (open file, current directory, mounted-on file, active text segment). 17 EEXIST File exists An existing file was mentioned in an inappropriate con- text, e.g. _l_i_n_k. 18 EXDEV Cross-device link A link to a file on another device was attempted. 19 ENODEV No such device An attempt was made to apply an inappropriate system call to a device; e.g. read a write-only device. 20 ENOTDIR Not a directory A non-directory was specified where a directory is required, for example in a path name or as an argument to _c_h_d_i_r. 21 EISDIR Is a directory An attempt was made to write on a directory. 22 EINVAL Invalid argument An invalid argument was given: (for example) dismount- ing a non-mounted device, mentioning an unknown signal in _s_i_g_n_a_l, reading or writing a file for which _l_s_e_e_k has generated a negative pointer. Also set by math functions, see _i_n_t_r_o(3). 23 ENFILE File table overflow The system's table of open files is full, and tem- porarily no more _o_p_e_n_s can be accepted. 24 EMFILE Too many open files Customary configuration limit is 20 per process. 25 ENOTTY Inappropriate ioctl for device The file mentioned in an _s_t_t_y, _g_t_t_y, or _i_o_c_t_l is not a character special device, or the operation is not one supported by the device driver. 26 ETXTBSY Text file busy An attempt to execute a pure-procedure program that is currently open for writing (or reading!). Also an attempt to open for writing a pure-procedure program that is being executed. 27 EFBIG File too large The size of a file exceeded the maximum (about 1.0E9 Printed 7/30/83 3 INTRO(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual INTRO(2) bytes). 28 ENOSPC No space left on device During a _w_r_i_t_e to an ordinary file, there is no free space left on the device. 29 ESPIPE Illegal seek An _l_s_e_e_k was issued to a pipe. This error should also be issued for other non-seekable devices. 30 EROFS Read-only file system An attempt to modify a file or directory was made on a device mounted read-only. 31 EMLINK Too many links An attempt to make more than 32767 links to a file. 32 EPIPE Broken pipe A write on a pipe for which there is no process to read the data. This condition normally generates a signal; the error is returned if the signal is ignored. 33 EDOM Math argument The argument of a function in the math package (3M) is out of the domain of the function. 34 ERANGE Result too large The value of a function in the math package (3M) is unrepresentable within machine precision. 35 EQUOT Quota exceeded An attempt to exceed the allocated disk space has been made. 36 EWOULDBLOCK Operation would block An operation which would cause a process to block was attempted on an object in non-blocking mode. SEE ALSO intro(3) ASSEMBLER as /usr/include/sys.s file ... The PDP11 assembly language interface is given for each sys- tem call. The assembler symbols are defined in `/usr/include/sys.s'. Return values appear in registers r0 and r1; it is unwise to count on these registers being preserved when no value is expected. An erroneous call is always indicated by turning on the c-bit of the condition codes. The error number is Printed 7/30/83 4 INTRO(2) UNIX Programmer's Manual INTRO(2) returned in r0. The presence of an error is most easily tested by the instructions _b_e_s and _b_e_c (`branch on error set (or clear)'). These are synonyms for the _b_c_s and _b_c_c instructions. On the Interdata 8/32, the system call arguments correspond well to the arguments of the C routines. The sequence is: la %2,errno l %0,&callno svc 0,args Thus register 2 points to a word into which the error number will be stored as needed; it is cleared if no error occurs. Register 0 contains the system call number; the nomenclature is identical to that on the PDP11. The argument of the _s_v_c is the address of the arguments, laid out in storage as in the C calling sequence. The return value is in register 2 (possibly 3 also, as in _p_i_p_e) and is -1 in case of error. The overflow bit in the program status word is also set when errors occur. Printed 7/30/83 5