SQLITE_IOERR_WRITEFATALTier 3 — Handle with care⚠️ MEDIUM confidenceI/O error during file write
Category: I/O ErrorVersions: 3.0+
🔴 Production Risk Error
Critical — database may be corrupt after a partial write.
What this means
SQLITE_IOERR_WRITE (778) is returned when the OS reports an error during a write to the database file. The write may have been partial, leaving the database in an inconsistent state.
Why it happens
- 1Disk full (ENOSPC).
- 2Hardware failure during write.
- 3Network filesystem disconnect.
- 4Read-only filesystem.
How to reproduce
Any write transaction when the OS write() syscall fails.
trigger — this will ERROR
# Check disk space:
# df -h /path/to/databasesqlite3.DatabaseError: disk I/O error
Fix 1
Why this works
Free disk space: df -h to identify the full filesystem.
Fix 2
Why this works
Check for hardware errors: dmesg | tail -50
Fix 3
Why this works
Use WAL mode to reduce write amplification.
Fix 4
Why this works
Restore from backup after addressing the root cause.
What not to do
✗
Why it's wrong:
Sources
📚 Official docs: https://www.sqlite.org/rescode.html#ioerr_write
🔧 Source ref: sqlite3.h — SQLITE_IOERR_WRITE = 778
Confidence assessment
⚠️ MEDIUM confidence
Stable.
See also
⚙️ This error reference was generated with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Examples are provided to illustrate common scenarios and may not cover every case. Always test fixes in a development environment before applying to production. Spotted an error? Suggest a correction →