Why does every Grok Bot command hang for 840 seconds and "fail to spawn"?
Last checked October 29, 2026 · Grok Bot changes often
When every Shell call, even "echo ok", stalls for 840 seconds and ends with "Command failed to spawn", forum staff found the same cause in the October 2026 reports: a line near the end of /home/box/.profile or /home/box/.bashrc that starts a program in the background (nohup, setsid, flock or a trailing &). Fix the file with CopyFromBox and CopyToBox, not Shell, then restart the computer. Update and Reset alone do not clear it, because they reload the same saved startup files.
What the reports looked like
Several users reported the same pattern from October 22, 2026: the Bots still replied in chat, but every Shell call waited 840 seconds and failed, routines failed, and some file reads hung too. Update and Reset did not help.
Staff explained that every Bot command starts a login shell, which loads the saved startup files. A line that launches a background program keeps the command's output open, so the command never registers as started. Each restart loads the same files, so the hang comes back.
Staff's recovery steps (summarised)
- Ask a Bot to read
/home/box/.profileand/home/box/.bashrcwith its file tool, not Shell, and show the last lines of each. - If a line starts something in the background, copy that file to your computer with CopyFromBox. This needs local execution allowed in Settings > Computer.
- Put a
#at the start of that line. Keep Unix (LF) line endings; Windows (CRLF) endings break the file. - Copy it back with CopyToBox.
- If reading
.bashrcitself hangs, replace it with the stock/etc/skel/.bashrc. - Restart the computer once, then ask a Bot to run
echo ok.
One user found that Update said "already up to date" and did not restart anything; a single Reset after fixing the files forced the restart. Overwriting .bashrc removes anything your Bots added there.
Avoid it next time
Do not let a Bot add autostart lines to startup files. Run long-lived helpers from a scheduled routine instead; see Why didn't my Grok Bot routine run on time?. Keep scripts and configs in a git remote so a bad box is cheap to rebuild.
If the computer never starts at all, see Grok Bot says "Can't reach your computer" and the Update button that bounces back.
Not tested by Boterly
We have not reproduced this on a live Bot. The steps are staff's, from the threads above; the tool names and menu labels may change.