From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Mar 15 1:46: 0 2002 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from andrsn.stanford.edu (andrsn.Stanford.EDU [171.66.112.163]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9FFD737B416 for ; Fri, 15 Mar 2002 01:45:12 -0800 (PST) Received: from localhost (andrsn@localhost.stanford.edu [127.0.0.1]) by andrsn.stanford.edu (8.9.3/8.9.1) with ESMTP id BAA38247; Fri, 15 Mar 2002 01:44:00 -0800 (PST) Date: Fri, 15 Mar 2002 01:44:00 -0800 (PST) From: Annelise Anderson To: Mike Meyer Cc: Terrac Skiens , freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Which list? In-Reply-To: <15505.45752.652421.129662@guru.mired.org> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk List-ID: List-Archive: (Web Archive) List-Help: (List Instructions) List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG On Fri, 15 Mar 2002, Mike Meyer wrote: > In , Terrac Skiens typed: > > I need assistance in getting my system back from the point of > > near-deadness. I screwed up the CVSup and got 1/2 way into a make > > installworld of the current tree. I am stuck with a 4.2 kernel and 1/2 a > > 5.0 userland. oops, my bad. > > i can't get root, I get all sorts of weird errors. which list is best for > > my plight? > > This one. -questions is almost *never* the wrong place to ask a > question, so long as it's pertinent to FreeBSD. At worst you don't get > an answer in a couple of days, and try another list. At best, you get > the answer. In the middle, you get pointed to another list. > > I'd recommend booting the 4.2 fixit cdrom, mounting your file systems > under /mnt, then copying userland from the CDROM to /mnt. That should > get you running off your disk again, though it's not optimal. While > you're at it, go to /mnt/dev and do a "./MAKEDEV all" to make sure > you've got the right devices. At this point, you can cvsup the sources > you want to install, and try again. > > On a related note, if you're installing -current, the approach of > newfs'ing the disk and starting from scratch should be perfectly > acceptable, if not optimal. If you can't afford to fry a system, you > probably can't afford to run -current on it. > > As an aside to those who haven't been paying attention, *this* is why > we always install and boot a new kernel before trying to install the > world. > What a great answer. I wonder how others who need it will find it in the archives. Keywords trouble, crisis? Another option (not as good as a fixit CD) is booting from an installation CD and using the "Upgrade an Existing System" option to reinstall such distros as you may choose. I think the bin distro (which is necessary here) may overwrite /etc, but it should be backed up somewhere. I suggest this because some people won't have a CD #2 or be able to download/burn the second CD from an ftp site. Annelise -- Annelise Anderson Author of: FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC Available from: BSDmall.com and amazon.com Book Website: http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/ To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message