hi i m working on the sixth chapter of lfs 6.0 but as soon as i run the commands

cat > /etc/passwd << "EOF"
root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
EOF
and

cat > /etc/group << "EOF"
root:x:0:
bin:x:1:
sys:x:2:
kmem:x:3:
tty:x:4:
tape:x:5:
daemon:x:6:
floppy:x:7:
disk:x:8:
lp:x:9:
dialout:x:10:
audio:x:11:
video:x:12:
utmp:x:13:
usb:x:14:
EOF

the changes are reflected in the etc file of the host system as well
which at later stage leads to crashing of my system
while entering the chroot env i do

su
which gets the root:/$
then cd /mnt/lfs which gets root:/mnt/lfs:$
and we are running all the command of chapter 6 at this prompt only
is this the reason for such a problem?
looking forward to a quick reply!
please help as i have to finish the project within june

Sounds like you haven't done the chroot. You're supposed to chroot before typing those commands since you chroot in 6.3 and you create those files in 6.7.

hi
i first did su
then cd /mnt/lfs and then
ran this command given in 6.3

chroot "$LFS" /tools/bin/env -i \
HOME=/root TERM="$TERM" PS1='\u:\w\$ ' \
PATH=/bin:/usr/bin:/sbin:/usr/sbin:/tools/bin \
/tools/bin/bash --login +h
and then i started modifying etc files

i have followed all the instructions as it is given in this chapter but still getting the same problem thrice.
can i take the backup of the work done in chapter 5 and run that on some other drive or partition.



please help

I don't see how you could be overwriting your etc files in your host system if $LFS is defined correctly and if /mnt/lfs points to a different partition than your host environment.