Rebooting linux with live cd
 

Hello all,

Brand new to linux and forum.

Details:

Linux running on an IBM 3x server.
We had a crash and what appears to be a boot sector issue.
Booted the machine with a Live CD.
When I get to the login, one of two things happens: If i wait too long the machine freezes and the scroll lock and caps lock lights on the console flash on and off.
If I type in Root, password: comes on to the screen, but is immediately followed by a response in RED and the computer freezes.

I am a entry level sys admin, so be kind.

Any words of advice??

BW

I think Live CD does not mean much until you state which system and version it has.

Sorry. I believe it is SUSE version 11.1. Does that help?

Silly question, the server was running SUSE 11.1 when it crashed, right? So your Live CD should be exactly the same. What sort of IBM server is it? Some, notably the X35x0 series, have built in diagnostics - hit F2 on boot, - Just in case you have a hardware problem. :(

Play Bonny! :hattip:

I'm running on an IBM X345 with 4 hot swappable drives. I have been struggling with this issue for days. Not knowing much about Linux has forced me to try so many different options that I need to go back and start from square one.
Error messages range from "Grub Geom error", to actually getting to a command line and typing in startx to load gui, only for it to say "not found"

BW

I would recommend to do a hardware test at first, to be sure that it is not your hardware. Run Memtest86+ to see if your RAM is causing your errors, and the diagnostic tool from your harddisk's manufacturer, to see if it is a disk failure.

As above, I think the X345 has integrated F2 diagnostics built into ROM. Check the startup screen when booting and hit F2. This should allow you to check the system out without resorting to any loaded oprating system (OK, OK, the F2 diags are embeded Linux based if I'm not mistaken.) :)

Play Bonny! :hattip: