[PLUG] Help needed: notebook stuck in mid-reboot

Rich Shepard rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
Fri Apr 4 07:02:01 UTC 2003


  I am learning more than I ever wanted to learn about the importance of
files in /etc. I have really outdone myself this time and I don't know how
to recover the system.

  When I went to reboot my Toshiba Portege last evening to re-install the OS
(I inadvertently deleted all of /etc becuse I hit the [Enter] key before the
~ key) it stopped part-way through the process. Here's what the screen
shows:

	The system is going down for reboot NOW!
	INIT: Switching to runlevel: 6
	INIT: No inittab file found
	INIT: Sending processes the TERM signal
	INIT: Sending processes the KILL signal
	INIT: No more processes left in this runlevel

and there it stays. Keypresses produce only their ANSI codes on screen. When
I power off, then power on again, the system doesn't do a POST, then look in
the attached floppy drive for the boot floppy. It just restores the state it
was in when shut down.

  I tried holding down the [Esc] key while powering on, but that made no
difference. I was trying to get to setup so I could turn off the auto-start
feature. Removing the pcmcia card attached to the cdrom drive produces a
beep; reinserting the card produces another beep and the drive spins before
again becoming comatose.

  I'm stuck in mud over the wheels on this and I need some expertise to pull
me out.

TIA,

Rich

Dr. Richard B. Shepard, President

                       Applied Ecosystem Services, Inc. (TM)
            2404 SW 22nd Street | Troutdale, OR 97060-1247 | U.S.A.
 + 1 503-667-4517 (voice) | + 1 503-667-8863 (fax) | rshepard at appl-ecosys.com
                         http://www.appl-ecosys.com/





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