Check the Processes

AIX Version 4.3 Problem Solving Guide and Reference

A stopped or stalled process might make your system inactive. Check your system processes by:

Restart line scrolling halted by the Ctrl-S key sequence by doing the following:

The Ctrl-S key sequence stops line scrolling and the Ctrl-Q key sequence restarts scrolling.

Is your system now active?

Yes	Your scroll check corrected the problem with your inactive system.
No	Go to the next step, "Using the Ctrl-D Key Sequence" .

End a stopped process by doing the following:

Activate the window or shell with the problem process.
Press the Ctrl-D key sequence. The Ctrl-D key sequence sends an end of file (EOF) to the process. The Ctrl-D key sequence may close the window or shell and log you out.

Is your system now active?

Yes	The Ctrl-D key sequence corrected the problem with your inactive system.
No	Go to the next step,"Using the Ctrl-C Key Sequence" .

End a stopped process by doing the following:

Activate the window or shell with the problem process.
Press the Ctrl-C key sequence. The Ctrl-C key sequence stops the current search or filter.

Is your system now active?

Yes	The Ctrl-C key sequence corrected the problem with your inactive system.
No	Go to the next step, "Logging In from a Remote Terminal or Host".

Log in to the system from another terminal if more than one terminal is attached to your system.
Log in from another host on the network (if your system is connected to a network) by entering the following tn command:
```
tn YourSystemName
```
The system asks for your regular login name and password when you use the tn command.

Were you able to log in to the system from another terminal or host?

Yes	Go to the next step, "Ending Stalled Processes Remotely".
No	Go to "Restart the System". Or, you can start a system dump to find out why your system became inactive. Go to "System Dump Facility" for more information.

End a stalled process from a remote terminal by doing the following:

List active processes by entering the following ps command:
```
ps -ef
```
The -e and -f flags identify all active and inactive processes.
Identify the process ID of the stalled process.
For help identifying processes, you can use the grep command with a search string. For example, to quit the xlock process, enter the following to find the process ID:
```
ps -ef | grep xlock
```
The grep command allows you to search on the output from the ps command to identify the process ID of a specific process.
End the process by entering the following kill command:
Note: You must have root user authority to use the kill command on processes you did not initiate.
```
kill -9 ProcessID
```
If you cannot identify the problem process, the most recently activated process might be the cause of your inactive system. End the most recent process if you think that is the problem.

Is your system now active?

Yes	Your process checks have corrected the problem with your inactive system.
No	Go to "Restart the System". Or, you can start a system dump to find out why your system became inactive. Go to "System Dump Facility" for more information.