init : no more processes left in this thread

Hello,

Last friday my workstation worked fine, but after the weekend, somehow it rebooted, but failed to continue until the GUI.

There was a prompt waiting for my input :

INIT : entering runlevel :

I tried entering 0-5, but this error appears

INIT : no more processes left in this runlevel

I've encountered numerous of threads regarding this, but mostly it occurs during shut down.

What I have done :

1. Use the CD to enter the 'linux rescue' mode --> chroot /mnt/sysimage
2. Checked my /etc/inittab, i have only "id:5:initdefault:" uncommented.
3. Assuming the file was corrupted, Tried to copy from /etc/inittab.rpmsave, but there's no such file.
4. So I’ve added the /etc/inittab with these commands:
   

   id:5:initdefault:
   si::sysinit:/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit
    
   l0:0:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 0
   l1:1:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 1
   l2:2:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 2
   l3:3:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 3
   l4:4:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 4
   l5:5:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 5
   l6:6:wait:/etc/rc.d/rc 6
    
   ca::ctrlaltdel:/sbin/shutdown -t3 -r now
    
   pf::powerfail:/sbin/shutdown -f -h +2 "Power Failure; System Shutting Down"
   
   pr:12345:powerokwait:/sbin/shutdown -c "Power Restored; Shutdown Cancelled"
   
   1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
   2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
   3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
   4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4
   5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
   6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6
    
   x:5:respawn:/etc/X11/prefdm -nodaemon

   (taken from http://basiclinuxcommand.blogspot.co...iguration.html)
   
   After I rebooted, it had successfully entering level 5.
   But there were numerous 'Segmentation Faults', which I wasn't able to capture as it was too fast.(May I know how can I capture all those errors?)
   Then, instead of the GUI, a black screen with these prompt came out.
   

   Centos release 5.2 (Final)
   Kernel 2.6.18.92.1.13.e15 on an i686
   (none) login:

   And even I entered a login (root or other users), it came back the same prompt. No prompt for password, just login.
   
   So I reverted back to the original version of inittab.
   Tried id:0-5, still the same error ("no more processes left")
   
5. fsck : "Running e2fsck on mounted filesystem may cause severe damage filesystem."So I skipped.
6. fdisk -l :
   

   disk /dev/sda xxxGB 
   Device     Boot   Start    End     Blocks    Id     System
   /dev/sda1   *       1       13     104381    83     Linux
   /dev/sda2          14      17821   14xxxxx   8e     Linux LVM

7. uname -r : 2.6.18-92.1.13.e15
8. rpm -qV initscripts
   

   S.?.... T c /etc/inittab
   S.?.... T c /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit

9. I tried to access using the single mode, ('a' then 'single' during boot choice) and succeded.
   • fsck :

     fsck 1.3.9 (2/5/06)
     e2fsck 1.3.9 (2/5/06) 
     /dev/VolGroup00/LogVol00: clean,
     e2fsck 1.3.9 (2/5/06)
     /boot: clean,

   • When I exited the single mode, the same thing appears.
     

     INIT : entering runlevel : 5
     INIT : no more processes left in this runlevel

Sorry for the lengthy post.
I am still new at this and I think I am running in circles.
Any suggestions will be much appreciated.
Btw, if possible, I would like to avoid wiping out all my data.

Thank you.

So u are not able to enter the GUI mode :

try these steps at single user mode :

cross check or verify the rpm packages related gnome or kde.

then run the command

# startx

With the modified /etc/inittab file, you get to a login prompt but are unable to login as any user?

Check that /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow exist and have the correct information. Single user mode doesn't need to read either of these files, but an attempt to login would need to be able to read both.