RE: Need help recovering system
Ross Boylan Wrote:
> I was having some hardware problems with my drives, and it seems to have
> damaged my setup (which is weird, because I thought I had a normal shutdown
> just before the problem). My boot floppy is from a couple generations back
> (2.4.7, I think) from my current kernel 2.4.9. I'm running woody. I think
> I've updated LILO more recently than the kernel, which is a custom build.
>---snip---<
There are several "emergency" disk bootup sets around that can boot up
off a floppy and get you into a "minimal" linux. I like to use the disk
version of GNU PARTED for this, as it has some disk partition
manipulation software on it. You should be able to examine your
partitions using it. Be sure to d/l the docs too! There are other sets
listed on Freshmeat that you can use.
Once you get to the command prompt of the minimal diskette, you can do a
bit of exploring. If you want to browse your old linux install, create
a new directory somewhere..under /mnt is a good place with a name of
your choice (linux for example) and mount your affected OLD linux root
partition on this new directory and then CD to it. You can use the
"chroot" command to make it the "root" directory so you don't have to
keep track of where you are, OR be able to run commands located therein
that may have duplicates on the floppy, i.e. lilo, etc. I would suggest
you use FULL path names for any programs you want to run as the current
path setup will probably NOT match your OLD (broken) install. You might
also have to set your shell to something you are used to using...like
bash.
Dunno what could have gone wrong, but the above should let you dig
around a bit....
Cheers & Good Luck!
-Don Spoon-
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