System Error Codes

System Error Codes are defined error codes and error messages that are used by programmers when their software has an issue. They can be displayed by computers to users review in response to software issues or hardware issues, or even specific kinds of input from users. The system error codes are displayed as an acronym, as well as a description and suggestions on what to do next.

These errors are visible on the Internet when a website isn’t available, or when there is an internal server problem like a data base issue. On local machines they could be as simple as a “file too long” where the solution is changing the name of the file, or more complex, like “no disk space left.” In this situation, the user may need to shut down the program (to free swap file usage) or delete certain files, or buy an extra hard drive.

Other system errors can be as serious as “fatal error,” where a program has decided to shut down and quit or it could be as simple as a warning that something isn’t working with an operation. The header file errno contains errors for almost every possible error that can occur on the GNU/Hurd operating system.

These errors can be as simple as “text file busy,” where the operation is attempting to modify a read-only file or as complicated as “broken pipe.” These errors could also mean that the process trying to perform on the resource has been stopped by a signal such as SIGPIPE and has not been dealt with.