Boot SSD errors can freeze a small home server

A Debian server froze while using a Kingston A400 120GB SSD as its . The drive had already been unreliable for some time.

The console repeatedly showed failing to write to the system.journal file under /var/log/journal. It also failed to rotate that journal file, even after old log data had been cleaned up.

Every repeated message pointed to an I/O error, with hundreds of similar lines on screen. The main concern is that the boot SSD is failing, though another common cause has not been ruled out.

Key points

  • The server was and running Debian.
  • The was a Kingston A400 120GB SSD that had already seemed unreliable.
  • could not write or rotate the system.journal file.
  • The console repeated hundreds of I/O s.
  • A failing boot SSD is the most likely concern from the available details.
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