cannot boot - xserver not working
 

Machine doesn't work and in recovery mode it says the xserver is disables and one should read syslog. How do I do that without xserver. Also, I tried to reinstall packages as this is an option in recovery mode, but it looks like I cannot get access to the Internet. Is this normal in recovery mode?can I change this? Or .... What is the fix so I can fully reboot my computer again?

The first step would be to actually provide useful information. Telling us what version and distro of linux, what hardware you're on, and what you did to get into this situation, would be a great start. Saying "machine doesn't work", and "tried to reinstall packages", without giving any details, won't give folks enough information to help you.

Second,,,X windows isn't needed for Linux to work. You can boot to single-user mode, or into failsafe mode (init 3), and get to a prompt to be able to log in. From there, you can check log files. Check them, and provide complete information, and we may be able to help you.

Hi,

Welcome to LQ.

I agree with 'TBone's' advice. One caveat is to maintain a hand written system log to provide a trail for what has been done or to do on the system. I timestamp each entry to provide the trail. Don't erase any entry(s), just mark through a errant entry. This too provides feedback as to what you may have been thinking or what was occurring at the time.

Whenever you post to the forum be sure to include your system data along with distribution and kernel.

You could read the next two links to aid you in posting questions;

also to read that log file ( most likely in /var/log)
most if not all *nix distros have " nano " and " vi " installed by default , nether of them need x to be running
for example in fedora 9 i would use

Hi,

You could use 'most', 'more' or even 'less' from the cli to view the logs.

You should 'man' the commands to get a better understanding.

Thanks very much for the replies. I got the internet working again by changing the the /etc/network/interfaces file. I then reinstalled packages as this was an option in the recovery mode. And now the computer is booting again as before. My distro is Ubuntu and I just installed it. I had some problems installing the scanner and still have problems installing a NAS (Dlink- DNS 321). As I fiddle around with it I must have damaged something on my penthium 4 desktop. I will further read your suggested websites and hope that I also find something to get the NAS working finally.