Hi all,

Specs: DeLL XPS 15Z running a CERN SL Carbon distro.

Last thing I did was download a kernel update. I guess I shouldn't.

System fails to boot now:

afs: hard-mount waiting for a vlserver... (returns code 1)
lost contact with volume location server..

Any ideas what's going on?

Cheers

boot into surveilance mode, do the following:

- clear both /tmp and /var/tmp,
- unmount /home, /dev/sd0, /fstab
- unsign X11 core-unit

After all above, restart computer and boot normally. Give feedback.

Thanks for the feedback. The issue appeared to be simpler:

I assume the new kernel download didn't complete properly.
When booting statically, ie without an internet connection,
the OpenAFS mounting was failing to reach the "base" server machine.

The problem was solved instantaneously once connected to internet.

Looks like unresolved.

Now tried to boot without Ethernet cable plagued (wireless need pass to go through) and problem persists.
In details here are the messages from the boot log screen:

...(trying to connect to) www.openafs.org/dl/liscence10.html
Disabling lock debugging due to kernel taint
Enabling dynamically allocated vcaches
Starting AFS cache scan...found 5 non-empty cache files (0%)
Lost contact with volume location server ...in cell cern.ch (code -1)

Feedback/solutions will be appreciated.

Can you please explain in more details (newbie here)
how to proceed with steps you recommended.
- Login in surveillance mode > how ?
- Clear /tmp /var/tmp > delete all subfiles ?
- unmount /home, /dev/sd0, /fstab > shell command? Is it safe?
- unsign X11 core-unit > how ?

Looking for feedback. Need to solve issue soon,

ad 1. You enter surveilance mode by selecting it on grub's (or lilo) screen....
ad 2. yes, just manually delete all files (and subfolders if such exists),
ad 3. when done in surveilance mode it is safe (never ever do it in normal mode because you will damage your distro),
ad 4. when in surveilance mode, issue apt-get purge xserver-xorg* It will do the magick for you.

Simple enough: it would seem like the AFSD service is trying to start at boot-time, regardless of whether it's connected to the network or not. So, without a network connection, it's sitting there doing nothing until it gets one. Since this machine seems to be on/off the network, stop the AFSD service from starting automatically at boot-time.

I'm not familiar with your distro, but the openAFS guide is here:
http://docs.openafs.org/AdminGuide/i....html#HDRWQ392

..and has some hints. The CERN/SL documentation even mentions AFS at boot:
http://linux.web.cern.ch/linux/scien.../install.shtml
http://linux.web.cern.ch/linux/scien.../install.shtml

Seems like the standard chkconfig statement (see the man page) will work. Boot up on the network, and run (as root/sudo), "chkconfig --del afs", which will remove the service from auto-starting. Then disconnect from the network and reboot, and see what happens. You can always START the service manually by running "/sbin/service afs start"

Sorry, ALL of this is wrong and misleading.

• There is no such thing as 'surveilance' mode. It does not exist in ANY distro of Linux.
• There aren't any such options on grub or lilo screens for this, since (again), it doesn't exist
• Deleting things from /tmp and /var/tmp is a VERY BAD IDEA, no matter what mode you're in, unless you KNOW what those things are.
• Issuing an "apt-get purge" won't do ANYTHING, SINCE THE DISTRO DOES NOT HAVE APT-GET...it's RPM BASED.
• There is NOTHING wrong with the X server...the OP very clearly says that things work fine, ON THE NETWORK. The system is pausing because a network-based service can't connect. Has ZERO to do with X windows.

OP...please disregard the advice from pingwinowiewc.