This is an example of the errinfo program, which prints details on syscall failures. By default it "snoops" syscall failures and prints their details, # ./errinfo EXEC SYSCALL ERR DESC wnck-applet read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable Xorg read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable nautilus read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable Xorg read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable dsdm read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable Xorg read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable Xorg pollsys 4 interrupted system call mozilla-bin lwp_park 62 timer expired gnome-netstatus- ioctl 12 Not enough core mozilla-bin lwp_park 62 timer expired Xorg read 11 Resource temporarily unavailable mozilla-bin lwp_park 62 timer expired [...] which is useful to see these events live, but can scroll off the screen somewhat rapidly.. so, The "-c" option will count the number of errors. Hit Ctrl-C to stop the sample. For example, # ./errinfo -c Sampling... Hit Ctrl-C to end. ^C EXEC SYSCALL ERR COUNT DESC nscd fcntl 22 1 Invalid argument xscreensaver read 11 1 Resource temporarily unavailable inetd lwp_park 62 1 timer expired svc.startd lwp_park 62 1 timer expired svc.configd lwp_park 62 1 timer expired ttymon ioctl 25 1 Inappropriate ioctl for device gnome-netstatus- ioctl 12 2 Not enough core mozilla-bin lwp_kill 3 2 No such process mozilla-bin connect 150 5 operation now in progress svc.startd portfs 62 8 timer expired java_vm lwp_cond_wait 62 8 timer expired soffice.bin read 11 9 Resource temporarily unavailable gnome-terminal read 11 23 Resource temporarily unavailable mozilla-bin recv 11 26 Resource temporarily unavailable nautilus read 11 26 Resource temporarily unavailable gnome-settings-d read 11 26 Resource temporarily unavailable gnome-smproxy read 11 34 Resource temporarily unavailable gnome-panel read 11 42 Resource temporarily unavailable dsdm read 11 112 Resource temporarily unavailable metacity read 11 128 Resource temporarily unavailable mozilla-bin lwp_park 62 133 timer expired Xorg pollsys 4 147 interrupted system call wnck-applet read 11 179 Resource temporarily unavailable mozilla-bin read 11 258 Resource temporarily unavailable Xorg read 11 1707 Resource temporarily unavailable Ok, so Xorg has received 1707 of the same type of error for the syscall read(). The "-n" option lets us match on one type of process only. In the following we match processes that have the name "mozilla-bin", # ./errinfo -c -n mozilla-bin Sampling... Hit Ctrl-C to end. ^C EXEC SYSCALL ERR COUNT DESC mozilla-bin getpeername 134 1 Socket is not connected mozilla-bin recv 11 2 Resource temporarily unavailable mozilla-bin lwp_kill 3 2 No such process mozilla-bin connect 150 5 operation now in progress mozilla-bin lwp_park 62 207 timer expired mozilla-bin read 11 396 Resource temporarily unavailable The "-p" option lets us examine one PID only. The following example examines PID 1119, # ./errinfo -c -p 1119 Sampling... Hit Ctrl-C to end. ^C EXEC SYSCALL ERR COUNT DESC Xorg pollsys 4 47 interrupted system call Xorg read 11 669 Resource temporarily unavailable