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Re: [LUG]



On Monday 21 Jul 2003 6:41 pm, gemma@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
> I was changing some user settings in the root account on my laptop the

Always a bad idea (that's not to say I haven't done it, just that I now know 
better and must advise that you simply don't do that again!)

To help others on the list, please provide more info on exactly which files 
you remember editing and which services you were trying to configure.

> other day, when i logged out Linux stopped responding I left it to sort
> itself out but batteries ran out and things weren't unmounted properly. Now
> my Linux won't boot.
>
> When it tries i get:
>
> "Error: /proc must be mounted

Were you editing /etc/fstab by any chance?
Changed anything in /dev?
Stopped any services in /etc/rc.d or /etc/rc5.d?

I see from the members register you're using Red Hat 9.

> To mount /proc /proc -t proc
>
> /bin/grep: Permission Denied
> /bin/awk: Permission Denied

Nasty. How valuable is the data on this machine? It sounds like it could be a 
lot of work to get it right. You could try an upgrade from your existing CD's 
for the distro installed.

> Anyone had any similar problems and willing to help me?

Similar in terms of the cause (using root when not used to it, not reading the 
man pages properly), not the symptoms. You won't be short of help, just as 
long as you promise faithfully:
1. NOT to log in as root ever again.
2. To read up on tasks before using su to temporarily become root solely to 
accomplish the tasks you have already studied and promptly using exit to 
return to the ordinary user shell.
3. To always ask advice BEFORE 'having a go' at it as root.
4. Provide as much info as possible by keeping track of WHAT you did and WHY 
you did it.

> I haven't had Linux for long so I'm not used to using the shell

Then what on earth were you doing logged in as root???? 

Follow the 4 rules above and stick to ordinary user logins.

Read the man pages as an ordinary user and be CAREFUL. Mistakes as root can 
truly trash your system beyond repair.

> I haven't been to any meetings yet but I could bring laptop along if anyone
> wants a look

You're based in my area so email me off list and I'll see what can be done. 
(I'm not promising that I can save any of your data so you'd better have made 
a decent backup already!)

-- 

Neil Williams
=============
http://www.codehelp.co.uk
http://www.dclug.org.uk

http://slashdot.org/~codehelp

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