UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Zombie processes which are not cleaned up by unix within a few hours can really only be cleared by a reboot.

The odd few zomboes will be caused by untidy disconnects from clients. If you get large numbers, suspect a hardware or software fault. After replacing a failed hot-pull tape drive it could still be necessary to reboot the computer to clear zombie processes left with incomplete I/O from the original fault. I have seen faulty client/server software which accumulated zombies at an alarming rate.

Hi, methyl.

Your post does not describe zombies (processes which have already exited), but living processes which are permanently stuck in an uninterruptible sleep (as you mentioned, typically due to a driver bug and/or hardware fault).

Regards,
Alister