EL2NSYNC
Linux / POSIXERRORCriticalDeviceHIGH confidence

Level 2 Not Synchronized

Production Risk

Rare; indicates hardware/driver-level synchronization failure.

What this means

EL2NSYNC (errno 45) is a Linux/STREAMS-specific error indicating that level 2 of a layered protocol or device is not synchronized.

Why it happens
  1. 1STREAMS or layered device driver synchronization failure at protocol level 2
How to reproduce

STREAMS driver protocol level 2 sync failure.

trigger — this will error
trigger — this will error
// Returned by STREAMS drivers internally
// errno = EL2NSYNC after failed sync operation

expected output

Level 2 not synchronized (EL2NSYNC)

Fix

Reset or reinitialize the device

WHEN When this error is returned from a STREAMS driver

Reset or reinitialize the device
// Close and reopen the device to reset state
close(fd);
fd = open("/dev/streams_device", O_RDWR);

Why this works

Resetting the device connection forces protocol re-synchronization.

Sources
Official documentation ↗

Linux Programmer Manual errno(3)

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