Bad Ooops
 

Hi,

Ok, this IS a newbe question, but here goes. I recently installed red hat 8 (because I had in lying around) and tried something out on the console, no X-win (ctrl-Alt F1) and just switched off the PC (ouch), at reboot it cycles tru to show a login a second, then blanks the screen and re-shows the login for one second. It keeps doing that, login is impossible. I tried a boot from the diskette and typed "linux single" in - then I requested a full system scan, now (at writeup) it died on me.
If possible, how do I recover, if not, how do I re-install the thing. It IS a play-around, no data was on the thing anyway...


Tnx 4 helping

T01dev

I had something similar happen when I was running Suse 10.2. I noticed that the num lock light was flashing in cadence to the monitor flicker, and when I turned my monitor off, the num lock stopped flickering. Upon turning the monitor back on, the screen was stable and I could log in. Maybe the same will work for you?

Nope, I just now tried it, but to no avail. I think he's trying to start uop the X-system...could'nt I go into rescue mode and somehow set the system to not start the X-windows and re-instrall it as soon as the system fully booted in char-mode?

Eh, I may have to repair the X-crap...(sorry, but I dont know what it actually is...is it really a SERVER?)because the screen seems to "want" to go HiRes, but something fails...
Strategy: set the runlevel to non-graphic, use RPM to re-install the X-thing, if I dont have to DE-install that first, therein lies one of the many questions...

Snag: how to I set that runlevel, I already got into rescue mode from the boot/install disk, but I get lost in the folders...
Other snag: do I use VI? probably
Very Big S-N-A-G: what file do I edit - if that's what it takes...

You played around, and you broke it :(
This happens when you are new: Oh - lots of things to play with :) Let me play :) :) :) !
But then you break it :(

But this is good learning material: - I will not try that again until I know better what I am doing. I'll read a bit more, and pay more attention to the instructions / README.FILE

But you have a "play" system: So use it as that. Enjoy it for what it is: Free software that is very functional.

Just do a re-install, and play a bit more. Learn what you can break and how you broke it, and eventually, how to fix it without a reinstall, or reboot. It's not that difficult, it just takes practice, and getting to know how linux does things both differently, and better.

When I started with linux I broke it many times within the first few weeks and at times was in absolute despair, but (I now know) it was my fault, and I was just playing / experimenting. This is a useful part of the learning process: what you can and cannot mess with impunity.

So, just reinstall, play a bit more, test the system to its limits, have fun with it (you no doubt have another OS to fall back to). Then, when you have learned what you can / cannot / should not - mess with, start from a clean install and fix it up the way you really like. This is easily possible and great fun. I have not had to reboot or reinstall (or go back to windows) for 3+ years now, it just works. I love linux, but you have a learning-curve to negociate, and yes, it requires you to do a little work / play / reinstall at the beginning.

Meanwhile, keep playing, testing, and pushing linux: I was, and am continually surprised by what it is capable of. Don't give up. Play, break, reinstall, and get the OS that works for you, for what you want to do.

Linux does all I need and want :)
You use http://google/linux as your search engine.

There are very may vi tutorials out there. They are not difficult to follow.
There are other editors also: try nano /path/to/filename It is not difficult.

Thanks for the support, and INDEED it is instructive. So, here is where I stand now. It seems that the system cannot go hires, the mode I choose (perhaps not the Linux-way but then, I am a windows-dumdum trying to upgrade ;-) ...) for login. What happened and what I saw before seemed to end up in the same spot. I did make a user account to use other than the Root, just as I should, but could not log in because the mkdir for temp files failed, due to disk space or the lack thereof.
To escape from the try-and-fail-and-retry loop at login (the thing did WANT to go hires) I editted the inittab file and commented the respauw for the X-engine out ... And then I could log back in - be it in text mode. Then I tried a startx - and got the exception that unix/:7100 could not be found. Unix? Yes, Unix, and Unix uses its own type of sockets to do stuff, and they ... need diskspace.
The next snag is: can I resize the partition, without dataloss? Remember, I am a newbe, without experience with tools. I did play (again? O dear...) around with the MC though, perhaps a swapspace that needs to be cleared, that stuff Linux cleans up at unmount?

I dont know...

Greetz and thanks for your insight!!

"Wellness to you, you loved ones and the community!"

Thor

No OS is going to work if you do not give it enough disk space to install to and run from.
So make a bigger partition, and try again. You shouldn't need to worry about "data loss" as you say there's no data yet!

Hmm, of course you do have a point there, and a re-install would impose itself anyway...

Two things I may need to figure out:
- a (simple) formula to anticipate the needs of the OS in dispspace
- what if this happens with a fully operational machine? This could have been a server having some months worth of service "on the clock" - would that imply a fresh install and a restore of a backup? Are there tools available? Does that mean there is a growth-stop/limit I should keep in mind?

Oh well, this is perhaps as far as I can go with THIS installation - perhaps it is wise (and less time-consuming - this could have happened in a money-oriented situation) to learn the lessons learned and re-install...

Thanks! Enjoy what you have left of your weekend!

Thor

If you're going to do that, please get a current distro. That one (RH8) was discontinued yrs ago, so has no updates (eg security).

I can't believe some of the advice dished out here. Reinstall, what kind of answer is that? The entry you want to adjust to go into text mode is at the top of /etc/inittab.
Change the 5 to a 3 and remove the comment your entered on the respawn line at the bottom. This is your default runlevel. 3 will give you networking, 5 is for X windows. If you don't know the vi editor try using nano.

I'm confused why you were not able to go into single user mode. This should have worked. How did you attempt to do it?

How much diskspace did you provide for the linux partitions and how much do you have to spare? Going to the Do You Have Enough Diskspace section of the Red Hat Installation Guide will answer how much you need to install. If you have free space left on the disk we can use parted to resize your partion. Once again, no need to reinstall.

If this would have happened on a fully operational machine I would have tried going into text mode. If that didn't work I would have booted with the install CD and gone into rescue mode to repair it or get it at least running in text mode. There have been significant changes to X windows since RHL8 which used XFree86. Fortunately someone wrote an LQWiki on the subject of configuring XFree86. This can be done in text mode. You can probably find more info within the RHL8 Documentation.

While I agree that you should consider installing a more recent distribution, I also think it is polite to answer the original question. I may have stepped on a few peoples toes here, sorry, but in the words of Eek the Cat, "It's Always Nice to Help!"

Bill

Hi all!

Well, in reply of the latest post (by Bill - thanks Bill), I was not too sure just what to do at the time about the inittab. I seems (now) a newbe sollution, at the time it seemed the only one ;-)

Ok, here's the whole path: some time ago I logged in a root, all went fine, then I tried to log in as the user (so as to shield the system from root privvies) and did'nt get access. I set up the system to run in xwindows (not THE Linux way, I admit) and the error code said something about not being able to make a temp dir due to lack in diskspace. So I logged back in as Root to try to fix that. I wanted to go to the command/terminal and used Ctrl-Alt-F1, did'nt know the proper command and (yes - I AM a NEWbeee) just killed the PC by shutting it of - the hard way: "click" said the switch. I suspected trouble and started up again, and the system told me about the unclean shutdown, it got to the login, there it seemed to want to go hires - "click" said the screen and went blank. Then it came back to textmode for a second and tried it again, and again and again - and was stuck in a loop. Since mode 5 is Hires, I edited it away in the inittab, and got access again. I started the X up by hand and it said that the unix/:7100 fixed font (or something) could not be found. Unix, read sockets on disk, read ... unsufficient disk space. A resize seems in order. It would take a live CD (got one) and some time (got some tomorrow - I hope).

Well, for a play around, this has been instructive so far. First, I think it is wise to edit the inittab to some more proper values - as Bill suggested. Then, a quick check on the diskspace, and then on to the resize (if possible). I do hope I dont have to download a new Linux, the aim is to LEARN how to get out of this kind of trouble. A re-install seems too easy...

By the way, I am considering dumping windows altogether in favor of Linux, even as my main PC. So it is FORTUNATE the this happens NOW, and not at some later date.

Thanks for the input, pleople!

Greetz

Thor

Keep at it Thor, what you learn now will help a great deal with other problems you may encounter. When working with the earlier releases of Red Hat I found the documentation very helpful. For future reference to exit completely from X you can use Ctl+Alt+Backspace. This will shutdown the X server cleanly and get you to a prompt. You may have the need to do this after you configure X and use startx to try out your new configuration. It's not always possible to get it right the first time.

The virtual consoles are always there and I'm not certain how you got into trouble by going to Ctl+Alt+F1. The systems I've worked on normally recover from hard shutdowns without a hitch. I have the occaisional power failure at home and recently had a CPU go bad which would cause the machine to lock up. That was a tough one to debug.

Question on space, what is the result of the command df -h? You'll be able to see the Size, Used, Avail, Use% for each filesystem. You may not have a problem with disk space. The unix/:7100 message you are getting is usually caused by a problem with the font server. Check the net for a solution.

There is a good section on Rescue Mode at the Red Hat site. It explains how to get into rescue mode and single user mode. I believe you've already discovered linux rescue. These can be handy for dealing with issues that come up.

Okay, time to educate me. What do you mean by "hires"? I've never heard that term. Is that slang for something?

Bill

In /etc/inittab, the default runlevel is set so:

# The default runlevel is defined here
id:3:initdefault:

3 -> text/console, 5 ->GUI/X-Win (which I think is what he meant by HiRes...)

Hi Bill,

Well, as Chris figured out, "Hires" stands for Hi-Resolution...still some old left-over from my ... (drum roll) ... Commodore 64 era...where text was all there was, and HIRES was a "mystical mode " where games lived... ;-)
Wow... where have I come from, innit???

At any rate, I think that my "problem" is most likely the result of a constellation of little things that just did'nt work out. I did not get any time to fire up the thing yet, have annother meeting today, so probably, I'll have to devote some weekend time on that, in the mean time: thanks for the links, they'll be studied - anything new is anything learned...

Greetz!

Thor

Hi!

Bad news, I think, the df -h gave me this

Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/hda5 494M 477M 0 100% /
/dev/hda1 99M 9.2M 84M 10% /boot
/dev/hda3 1.1G 36M 1.0G 4% /home
none 62M 0 61M 0% /dev/sml
/dev/hda2 3.2G 1.4G 1.4G 47% /usr
/dev/hda6 872M 57M 722M 7% /var

And I think that hda5 is the one that gives me problems. I tried a resize as described in http://www.howtoforge.com/linux_resi...xt3_partitions but ... I dont have a Live rescure CD yet.
I believe resizing the hda5 and shrinking the user/home (hda3) would help, as I anm the only one on the system - by the way, the disk has a mere 6G, enough to play with, but of course, easier to get into trouble with...hehe ;-)

I tried to get a Live CD from a nearby highschool - let's see what that gives...

Click!

Thor