root problems!

[Voltage Spike]

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On Friday, September 27, 2002, at 08:26 AM, Alan Dayley wrote:

> Insightful, Kevin.
>
> I logged out of the computer and could not log back in.  Permission 
> errors on bash.  So the next time I try to boot it will have to be 
> alternative boot media, ie. a rescue CD.

Yeah, I cringed when the first response was to reboot the machine . . . 
I knew someone would get upset over that one.

First of all, try starting using an alternate shell.  If you use LILO, 
I believe the command you are looking for is:

linux init=/bin/ash

OR

linux init=/bin/tcsh

OR

linux init=/bin/ksh

If you are lucky, then you will have one of these alternate shells 
installed (very likely).  If not, as noted, you will need to boot using 
a recovery disk.  If you have the install CDs you should be able to use 
them to recover things.  If you can't figure out how, then don't 
hesitate to ask.  (Hint: at a very minimum, you might be able to Alt-F2 
on the graphical screen to get a shell.  You can probably mount, fix, 
and reboot, but it will take a bit o' knowledge.)

In either case, you can fix bash when you get a shell by typing:

chmod 755 /bin/bash

Good luck.  If you don't get it fixed, someone at the InstallFest can 
get it done in minutes.  Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend, but 
if you have a "Linux" hat (not "GNU/Linux") then you will soon find out 
who knows their way around. :-)

- -- 
                                                            Voltage Spike
       ,,,
      (. .)
- --ooO-(_)-Ooo--

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