Hi all! I am running some recent version of Mint. I have been away for a bit but came back and thenpc reads 0 bytes free. Ooening the directory shows tons of files in home/private/ecryptfs some as small at 12MB and some as big as 170GB.

I tried to get some info but the terminal returned nothing on them, thought it might be shit and I dont have anything precious on it so I moved to delete but was told there are no such files when I did. I tried to sudo remove but got permission denied.

At this point, realising I dont have this connected to the web, and it hasnt been switched on in months despite the files showing ages 1-6 months - I thought an aold fashioned reboot would solve but now Mint won’t let me passed the password login.

It recognises incorrect passwords but correct ones give a quick flash of a black screen with a typing marker flashing and back to login.

Any direction appreciated.

  • pogodem0n@lemmy.world
    11·
    3 days ago

    It looks like you opted for home directory encryption when installing the OS and somehow it got unmounted. It is also likely that by trying to delete encrypted chunks you have corrupted your home directory, which might explain login not working.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOP
      3·
      3 days ago

      Seems like something I would have done, not being that knowledgeable - encryption = good.

      But I didnt sucessfully delete anything. The one file was showing way bigger than any other and there should have been hundreds of gigs free.

      Makes sense though, thank you.

  • nao@sh.itjust.works
    3·
    3 days ago

    0 bytes free might be causing this, many things won’t work because they want to write something to disk. If logging in doesn’t work using the graphical interface, can you log in using a terminal? You can get to one by pressing crtl + alt + f1 on the login screen. If that works, you can try deleting some files and see if you can log in as usual again after rebooting.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      3 days ago

      These were my thoughts, lack of space but it should have hundreds free. I have a 500gb home drive and a separate tb for files.

      No idea what process would have created enough info to fill the home drive without an internet correction.

      • nao@sh.itjust.works
        2·
        3 days ago

        If you can log in somehow and it manages to mount your encrypted home, you can investigate what files are using the disk space.

        • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOP
          3·
          3 days ago

          I wiped it, clean install…then I fucked around with gnome and now I regret things.

          I didnt encrypt home this time around. This is a trial interaction for me and that is unnecessary complication.

    • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOP
      1·
      3 days ago

      Yeah, its my frst dip into linux bit apprehensive to to start over…cant even rememer what I installed.

      Would you recommend not encrypting home?

      • orsetto@lemmy.dbzer0.com
        2·
        3 days ago

        Encrypting home is good (although full disk encryption is better and with mint it’s still easy enough)

        Mint uses some helper scripts to mount/unmount your encfs, so maybe while trying to delete the files you deleted those too, and this would explain the login failing. It’s been a while tho so I’m not sure, better to wait for someone else.

        • Squizzy@lemmy.worldOP
          3·
          3 days ago

          I wiped it, coincidentally I also wiped the negligible amount of linux knowledge I had from my brain… restarting the process. I might write what I do down, preferences and software etc.