How to Resolve init: Id “x” respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes

In most of linux distributions, this message means that the system boot by default into runlevel 5, which is supposed to respawn (re-start again after it’s been exited) a gui login via x windows, kdm, gdm, or whatever, but the system can’t locate the program. Consequently, the following logs will continue to appear on your /var/log/messages for every 5 minutes.

    Mar 22 21:05:14 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:10:15 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:15:16 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:20:17 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:20:32 server last message repeated 11 times
    Mar 22 21:25:18 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:30:19 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:35:20 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:40:21 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:45:22 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:50:23 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:55:25 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 21:59:53 server last message repeated 4 times
    Mar 22 21:59:53 server last message repeated 3 times
    Mar 22 22:00:26 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:05:27 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:09:33 server last message repeated 7 times
    Mar 22 22:10:28 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:15:29 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:20:30 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:23:49 server last message repeated 2 times
    Mar 22 22:25:31 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:27:58 server last message repeated 2 times
    Mar 22 22:30:32 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:35:33 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:36:01 server last message repeated 3 times
    Mar 22 22:40:34 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:45:35 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:50:36 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 22:55:37 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 23:00:38 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    Mar 22 23:05:39 server init: Id "x" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
    

However, “Id” can also indicate the absence or misconfiguration of another program, like mingetty, if init tries to respawn itself more than 10 times in 2 minutes.

See also  How to Create Additional User on VMware ESXi 4.1 Host

Reason:
I have removed the “X Window System” and “GNOME Desktop Environment” but never update the /etc/inittab.

Solution:

    [root@server ~]# vi /etc/inittab
    

Change the initdefault id to 3 as below:-

    #
    # inittab       This file describes how the INIT process should set up
    #               the system in a certain run-level.
    #
    # Author:       Miquel van Smoorenburg, 
    #               Modified for RHS Linux by Marc Ewing and Donnie Barnes
    #
    
    # Default runlevel. The runlevels used by RHS are:
    #   0 - halt (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
    #   1 - Single user mode
    #   2 - Multiuser, without NFS (The same as 3, if you do not have networking)
    #   3 - Full multiuser mode
    #   4 - unused
    #   5 - X11
    #   6 - reboot (Do NOT set initdefault to this)
    #
    id:3:initdefault:
    

Save and quit the /etc/inittab then reboot the system.

How to Reset the Directory Manager Password on RHEL 7 / CentOS 7
How to Reset the Directory Manager Password on RHEL 7 / CentOS 7

It is best practice to remember passwords, but because too many passwords, sometimes we forget. We are not encouraged to write the password on any paper or share the password...

How to Find Big Files Size on Linux RHEL/CentOS
How to Find Big Files Size on Linux RHEL/CentOS

As the linux administrator, sometimes we have to identify which files are most take much space in the linux server resulting in low free space. Low disk space can also...

Why Linux users should worry about malware and what they can do about it
Why Linux users should worry about malware and what they can do about it

Don’t drop your guard just because you’re running Linux. Preventing the spread of malware and/or dealing with the consequences of infection are a fact of life when using computers. If...

How to Reset Forgotten Root Password on Linux RHEL 7 / CentOS 7
How to Reset Forgotten Root Password on Linux RHEL 7 / CentOS 7

This short howto will explain the steps to reset a lost root password or to reset a forgotten root password on Linux RHEL 7 or CentOS 7. Basically, we will...

How to Update CentOS or Upgrade CentOS to the Latest Version
How to Update CentOS or Upgrade CentOS to the Latest Version

Recently, the latest version of CentOS 7.3 was released. All users of CentOS 7.0, 7.1 and 7.2 can upgrade their system to the most recent. This quick guide will explain...

How to Change your WordPress Username, Nickname and Display Name in MySQL
How to Change your WordPress Username, Nickname and Display Name in MySQL

After you create an account log in WordPress, you may want to change your WordPress username, as appropriate or due to security reason. However, you can not do this from...

How to Enable SSH Root Login on Ubuntu 16.04
How to Enable SSH Root Login on Ubuntu 16.04

As what we wrote in the previous article on how to allow SSH root on Ubuntu 14.04, after installing a fresh new copy of Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, we find that...

How to Change UUID of Linux Partition on CentOS 7
How to Change UUID of Linux Partition on CentOS 7

UUID (Universally Unique IDentifier) should be unique and it is used to identify storage devices on a linux system. If you cloned a virtual machine from vCenter, the metadata containing...

2 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *