Weird nonprintable characters in log file keep QSI from reading the log completely

[FadeToGrey]

The attached bootlog fom a current MX Linux KDE contains some unprintable characters which manage to stop QSI from reading it completely. This one is just an example, it seems to happen at other log files as well, rendering QSI somewhat useless - you need to open the log in /var/log with a text editor to see everything...

Even the KDE clipboard is caused to fail by these characters. In the example file, they occur at the beginning of lines, 53, 61, 90, 125, 133 and 163. QSI and KED clipboard both stop displaying / copying anything after the first occurrence of this character.

Does anyone happen to know where this comes from and how to solve it?

[Eadwine Rose]

According to the forum rules (please read): Please provide full Quick System Info, use copy for forum button, no edits.
LiveUSB version is OK if needed.

[fehlix]

The attached bootlog fom a current MX Linux KDE contains some unprintable characters which manage to stop QSI from reading it completely. this one is just an example, it seems to happen at other log files as well, rendering QSI somewhat useless - you need to open the log in /var/log with a text editor to see everything...

Even the KDE clipboard is caused to fail by these characters. In the example file, they occur at the beginning of lines, 53, 61, 90, 125, 133 and 163. QSI and KED clipboard both stop displaying / copying anything after the first occurrence of this character.

Does anyone happen to know where this comes from and how to solve it?

Would the cli qsi tool work?
Running on the terminal command line as normal user:

Code: Select all

quick-system-info-mx

If so, perhaps post it.

[FadeToGrey]

Sorry, here it is:

Code: Select all

System:
  Kernel: 6.1.0-30-amd64 [6.1.124-1] arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 12.2.0
    parameters: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-6.1.0-30-amd64 root=UUID=<filter> ro
    quiet splash resume=UUID=<filter> resume_offset=125800448
  Desktop: KDE Plasma v: 5.27.5 tk: Qt v: 5.15.8 wm: kwin_x11 vt: 7 dm: SDDM
    Distro: MX-23.5_KDE_x64 Libretto July 31 2023 base: Debian GNU/Linux 12
    (bookworm)
Machine:
  Type: Desktop Mobo: ASRock model: B450 Gaming-ITX/ac
    serial: <superuser required> UEFI: American Megatrends v: P3.70
    date: 11/18/2019
Battery:
  Device-1: wacom_battery_0 model: Wacom Intuos Pro M serial: N/A charge: 100%
    status: full
CPU:
  Info: model: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen+ gen: 2
    level: v3 note: check built: 2018-21 process: GF 12nm family: 0x17 (23)
    model-id: 8 stepping: 2 microcode: 0x800820D
  Topology: cpus: 1x cores: 6 tpc: 2 threads: 12 smt: enabled cache:
    L1: 576 KiB desc: d-6x32 KiB; i-6x64 KiB L2: 3 MiB desc: 6x512 KiB
    L3: 16 MiB desc: 2x8 MiB
  Speed (MHz): avg: 1550 min/max: 1550/3400 boost: enabled scaling:
    driver: acpi-cpufreq governor: ondemand cores: 1: 1550 2: 1550 3: 1550
    4: 1550 5: 1550 6: 1550 7: 1550 8: 1550 9: 1550 10: 1550 11: 1550 12: 1550
    bogomips: 81589
  Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm
  Vulnerabilities: <filter>
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA TU117 [GeForce GTX 1650] vendor: Micro-Star MSI
    driver: nvidia v: 535.216.03 non-free: 530.xx+
    status: current (as of 2023-03) arch: Turing code: TUxxx
    process: TSMC 12nm FF built: 2018-22 pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16
    bus-ID: 0a:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:1f82 class-ID: 0300
  Device-2: Polycom EagleEye Mini Camera type: USB
    driver: hid-generic,usbhid,uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-7.3:9 chip-ID: 095d:3001
    class-ID: 0300 serial: <filter>
  Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.7 with: Xwayland v: 22.1.9
    compositor: kwin_x11 driver: X: loaded: nvidia gpu: nvidia display-ID: :0
    screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 3840x1440 s-dpi: 107 s-size: 912x342mm (35.91x13.46")
    s-diag: 974mm (38.35")
  Monitor-1: DP-0 pos: primary,top-left res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109
    size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (26.97") modes: N/A
  Monitor-2: DVI-D-0 pos: top-left res: 2560x1440 hz: 60 dpi: 109
    size: 597x336mm (23.5x13.23") diag: 685mm (26.97") modes: N/A
  Monitor-3: HDMI-0 pos: bottom-r res: 1280x1024 hz: 60 dpi: 87
    size: 375x300mm (14.76x11.81") diag: 480mm (18.91") modes: N/A
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.216.03 renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GTX
    1650/PCIe/SSE2 direct-render: Yes
Audio:
  Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: Micro-Star MSI driver: snd_hda_intel bus-ID: 3-3:2
    v: kernel pcie: chip-ID: 0b0e:245e gen: 3 class-ID: 0300 speed: 8 GT/s
    serial: <filter> lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0a:00.1 chip-ID: 10de:10fa
    class-ID: 0403
  Device-2: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASRock driver: snd_hda_intel
    v: kernel pcie: gen: 3 speed: 8 GT/s lanes: 16 bus-ID: 0c:00.3
    chip-ID: 1022:1457 class-ID: 0403
  Device-3: GN Netcom Jabra Link 370 type: USB
    driver: jabra,snd-usb-audio,usbhid
  API: ALSA v: k6.1.0-30-amd64 status: kernel-api tools: alsamixer,amixer
  Server-1: PipeWire v: 1.0.0 status: active with: 1: pipewire-pulse
    status: active 2: wireplumber status: active 3: pipewire-alsa type: plugin
    4: pw-jack type: plugin tools: pactl,pw-cat,pw-cli,wpctl
Network:
  Device-1: Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 3168NGW [Stone Peak] driver: N/A
    modules: iwlwifi pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 bus-ID: 08:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:24fb class-ID: 0280
  Device-2: Intel I211 Gigabit Network vendor: ASRock driver: igb v: kernel
    pcie: gen: 1 speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 1 port: f000 bus-ID: 09:00.0
    chip-ID: 8086:1539 class-ID: 0200
  IF: eth0 state: up speed: 1000 Mbps duplex: full mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-1: vmnet1 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
  IF-ID-2: vmnet8 state: unknown speed: N/A duplex: N/A mac: <filter>
Bluetooth:
  Device-1: Intel Wireless-AC 3168 Bluetooth type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8
    bus-ID: 1-6:3 chip-ID: 8087:0aa7 class-ID: e001
  Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: N/A
    rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address: <filter>
  Info: acl-mtu: 1021:4 sco-mtu: 96:6 link-policy: rswitch sniff
    link-mode: peripheral accept
Drives:
  Local Storage: total: 4.1 TiB used: 1.04 TiB (25.4%)
  SMART Message: Unable to run smartctl. Root privileges required.
  ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 maj-min: 259:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 970 PRO 512GB
    size: 476.94 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 31.6 Gb/s
    lanes: 4 type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 1B2QEXP7 temp: 48.9 C scheme: GPT
  ID-2: /dev/sda maj-min: 8:0 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 2TB
    size: 1.82 TiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 3B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-3: /dev/sdb maj-min: 8:16 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 870 EVO 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 2B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-4: /dev/sdc maj-min: 8:32 vendor: Samsung model: SSD 860 EVO 1TB
    size: 931.51 GiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B speed: 6.0 Gb/s
    type: SSD serial: <filter> rev: 4B6Q scheme: GPT
  ID-5: /dev/sdd maj-min: 8:48 type: USB model: USB007 mini-USB6BU
    size: 28 MiB block-size: physical: 512 B logical: 512 B type: N/A
    serial: <filter> rev: 1.16
  SMART Message: Unknown USB bridge. Flash drive/Unsupported enclosure?
Partition:
  ID-1: / raw-size: 877 GiB size: 862.16 GiB (98.31%) used: 80.38 GiB (9.3%)
    fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda2 maj-min: 8:2
  ID-2: /boot/efi raw-size: 650 MiB size: 648.7 MiB (99.80%)
    used: 292 KiB (0.0%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/sda1 maj-min: 8:1
  ID-3: /home raw-size: 800 GiB size: 786.37 GiB (98.30%)
    used: 77.36 GiB (9.8%) fs: ext4 dev: /dev/sda3 maj-min: 8:3
Swap:
  Kernel: swappiness: 25 (default 60) cache-pressure: 100 (default)
  ID-1: swap-1 type: file size: 40 GiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: -2
    file: /swap/swap
  ID-2: swap-2 type: zram size: 256 MiB used: 0 KiB (0.0%) priority: 100
    dev: /dev/zram0
Sensors:
  System Temperatures: cpu: 39.2 C mobo: N/A gpu: nvidia temp: 40 C
  Fan Speeds (RPM): N/A gpu: nvidia fan: 30%
Repos:
  Packages: 3097 pm: dpkg pkgs: 3079 libs: 1705
    tools: apt,apt-get,aptitude,nala pm: rpm pkgs: 0 pm: flatpak pkgs: 18
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian-stable-updates.list
    1: deb http://mirror.plusserver.com/debian/debian bookworm-updates main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/debian.list
    1: deb http://mirror.plusserver.com/debian/debian bookworm main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
    2: deb http://security.debian.org/debian-security bookworm-security main contrib non-free non-free-firmware
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mx.list
    1: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm main non-free
    2: deb http://ftp.halifax.rwth-aachen.de/mxlinux/packages/mx/repo/ bookworm ahs
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/signal-xenial.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/signal-desktop-keyring.gpg] https://updates.signal.org/desktop/apt xenial main
  No active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/skype-stable.list
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/softmaker.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/softmaker.gpg] https://shop.softmaker.com/repo/apt stable non-free
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/surfshark.list
    1: deb https://ocean.surfshark.com/debian stretch main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/teamviewer.list
    1: deb [signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/teamviewer-keyring.gpg] https://linux.teamviewer.com/deb stable main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/termius.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64 signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/termius-2023.gpg,/usr/share/keyrings/termius-2026.gpg] https://deb.termius.com squeeze main
  Active apt repos in: /etc/apt/sources.list.d/vivaldi.list
    1: deb [arch=amd64] https://repo.vivaldi.com/stable/deb/ stable main
Info:
  Processes: 358 Uptime: 2h 8m wakeups: 3 Memory: 31.27 GiB
  used: 6.66 GiB (21.3%) Init: SysVinit v: 3.06 runlevel: 5 default: graphical
  tool: systemctl Compilers: gcc: 12.2.0 alt: 12 Shell: quick-system-in
  default: fish v: 3.6.0 running-in: quick-system-in inxi: 3.3.26
Boot Mode: UEFI

This part of QSI works both in command line and in GUI - it's the log files that cause the trouble.

[fehlix]

Sorry, here it is:
This part of QSI works both in command line and in GUI - it's the log files that cause the trouble.

Ahh ok, thanks, that was not clear to me, b/c both the tool and sometimes the report are referenced as "QSI".
Any other logs involved or only syslog?
Also any other observation or changes you made recently, which caused the tool to not work on some logs.
Perhaps what the size of those failing logs?

[FadeToGrey]

I have observed seemingly outdated logs for a while now but only now found out that the logs are actually there but are not displayed completely. Let me check if there are currently others which are not displayed - I fear I did not find out yet how to search for that coluprit character via command line.

[FadeToGrey]

Apart from boot.log I found:

- user.log
- opensnitchd.log (Opensnitch is however nothing you provide, thus I see it als "for sake of completeness only" ;-) )
- syslog
- kern.log
- /cups/access_log

I think that's it - opening each log file in the same instance of Kate lets you search for the character.

Edit: interestingly, in some of those logs there are a lot of those characters an a row - access:log for example contains 184 of those in a row, kern.log has a row of 313 of those...

[timkb4cq]

I wonder if the issue is using fish as your default shell instead of bash or dash.
Fish isn't fully Posix compliant so some system shell scripts may not be running as intended.

[FadeToGrey]

I wonder if the issue is using fish as your default shell instead of bash or dash.
Fish isn't fully Posix compliant so some system shell scripts may not be running as intended.

Thanks for pointing that out! Let me try switching system standard back to bash, reboot a couple of times and come back to you.

[dolphin_oracle]

hmm null characters.


I don't remember, did we stitch together rotated log files? if so, maybe something when combined.