Linux will not boot anymore

[linux_pete]

Linux boot hangs on the following:

INIT: Id "1" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
INIT: Id "2" respawning too fast: disabled for 5 minutes
...
up to Id "6"

This keeps repeating every 5 minutes.

Any ideas on how to correct this problem??

[Icarus]

Take a look here (http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue46/tag/5.html) this might be related

[linux_pete]

I modified the inittab file to enter runlevel 1 and it still hangs saying "no more processes left in this runlevel" and simply sits there.
This is very frustrating....

[linux_pete]

I have the feeling that it is related to my graphics environment - last night when everything was working fine - I shutdown the system and it went to a text mode login prompt and sat there.
From then on, my problems began....

/sbin/mingetty tty1 is the problem area in my inittab file.

I've tried multiple run levels and only single-user mode gets me in but won't let me change anything as it is in ro mode.

[slapNUT]

When you boot into single mode type this:
mount /dev/hdxx / -o remount,rw
This will put the partition in a read/write mode. Replaxe the xx with the drive letter and partition number e.g. hda2.

Look for mingetty. Another user ran into this exact same problem while upgrading initscripts and mingetty was missing. If thats the case then just reinstall the mingetty package.

[linux_pete]

I was able to remount the filesystem in rw mode so that I can make some file changes....
the /sbin/mingetty program is there so it didn't disappear on me but I still get the same respawn error both in runlevels 3 and 5.
Is there a way to shutdown the gnome display manager completely?? or simply restart it ??

[slapNUT]

Just because /sbin/mingetty is there does not mean it is working.

When you get a respawning error it is because /sbin/init is trying to setup a run level and something is failing. The most common cause for this is a broken X windows and run level 5 is set to the initdefault in inittab. But you are getting respawn errors on all run levels. If you look at inittab the only thing that is common to all run levels is the mingetty and of course /sbin/init is common because it actually sets up the system. So I would suspect either a faulty /etc/inittab file, a corrupted /sbin/init program or a corrupted /sbin/mingetty.

One easy check you could try to eliminate the mingetty is to change the lines that setup mingetty to use getty instead. You probably have it installed already. To see if you have it type ls -l /sbin/getty. Just edit /etc/inittab and change all the /sbin/mingetty lines to /sbin/getty, save and reboot then select linux single at the boot prompt.

[linux_pete]

I actually don't have /sbin/getty - but you may be right.
I am not seeing this problem during runlevel 1 (only 2-5) So it may be related to my entire X window system.
Are there any tests I can do to see if it is setup properly or do you know of a way to re-install only the X window portion of linux???
Thanks again for your help.

[slapNUT]

When you boot into single mode try this:
/sbin/chkconfig --list
Now if you want to try and boot into level 2 then every service that has a 2:on then turn it off for level 2: by issuing /sbin/chkconfig --level 2 <service> off.
Be sure to keep a list of what you turn off so that later you can turn it back on again.
After you turn off everything for init level 2 then you can try it by issuing this:
/sbin/init 2
If it works then you can try and find out what is crashing by returning to level 1 /sbin/init 1 then turning on services one at a time and testing them.

Also to test if mingetty is causing the problem you can remove the 2's from the inittab file and try to boot into level 2. If you don't get the errors then it is probably mingetty. This is what I mean:


1:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
2:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
3:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
4:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4<- Change these
5:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
6:2345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6

1:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty1
2:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty2
3:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty3
4:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty4<- To these
5:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty5
6:345:respawn:/sbin/mingetty tty6

Then type /sbin/init 2.

[slapNUT]

I am not seeing this problem during runlevel 1 (only 2-5) So it may be related to my entire X window system.

I just got a little time to read your last post more thoroughly. If you don't get the respawning errors at init 1 then it is probably mingetty causing the problem or a service which is on for levels 2345 but not for 1. So if you do what I mentioned in the last post, /sbin/chkconfg --list all you have to do is look at the services which are on for 2345 and off for level 1.

/sbin/chkconfig --list|grep 2:on

That should give you your suspects.

As for X being the problem, I don't think so. X will not be started till you try to enter run level 5 so it should not effect the other levels. But your display settings might cause problems with the mingettys. You could look in /etc/lilo.conf and comment out any vga settings to eliminate that.

[linux_pete]

I turned off all my level 2 services (ie. syslog, gpm, sendmail..linuxconf) everything that was on for level 2 was now off.
I rebooted and it still gave me the respawning problem.

I then proceeded to edit the inittab file to change the mingetty comands from 2345 to 345 runlevels only.

After rebooting, I did not get the respawning errors, however the system just hung there....

INIT: Entering runlevel 2
INIT: no more processes left in this runlevel

And it simply sits here and goes no further.
I even turned all level 2 services back on to see if something happens, but it still sits at this point.

Any ideas??

[slapNUT]

After rebooting, I did not get the respawning errors, however the system just hung there....
Well that pretty much proves you have a mingetty problem. About it just hanging there, well that is exactly what it should do, the important thing is that there were no respawning errors. Without the mingettys there is no way to input anything to the OS.

You will need to reboot into single mode and edit inittab and put the 2's back in there.

Then I would suggest reinstalling the mingetty package, turning back on all the packages you turned off for level 2, and reboot and all should be ok.

[linux_pete]

I ran the RedHat installation CD, selected Upgrade system, selected the mingetty package and it installed ok.
However, when I set the inittab back to normal (ie. with 2345 levels) - it still gave me the respawning errors.
Did I possibly not reinstall the package or is there another way to re-install it??
I even went as far as upgrading every package in the system and I still receive the respawning errors when I call the mingetty from the inittab - it still shows me the 6 respawning errors and then the system just hangs there and these msgs repeat every 5 min.
I may need to completely wipe out the old mingetty package and re-install it once again - - - did I reinstall it the correct way or is there another way to replace it??
Thanks again for all your help - I appreciate your patience.
Pete.

[slapNUT]

Well this is the first post that discloses your Distro. Since you are using RedHat you should use a command something like this:
rpm -uvh --replacepkgs mingetty-x.x.x.rpm
That should replace the bad files with good ones.

It's always better if you post stuff like your distro, cpu, mem, Hard drive config .... anything else that you might consider relevant to the problem

[linux_pete]

The rpm util simply updates files in the /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES directory and doesn't actually intall anything?
I went through all the man-page options for rpm but nothing physically installs anything?
I see .patch files and a .tar.gz file that gets placed in the SOURCES directory but that's it.

Am I missing a step here?

[mdwatts]

Are you installing the src.rpm package and not the i386.rpm?

You need the binary rpm package. i#86.rpm

[linux_pete]

Yes it is the .src.rpm
Where is the best site to download the binary rpm's.?

[mdwatts]

In the RPMS directory on your Redhat installation cd(s) and/or the Redhat ftp servers.

Try your installation cd first.