If you are going to try a LiveCD and are able to mount the server's partitions, I would start by looking at its log files to see what it reported from the last boot attempt On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 10:05 AM, Carruth, Rusty < Rusty.Carruth@smartstoragesys.com> wrote: > Oh, yeah. I was going to explain my ‘(*)’ - so here is a short version.** > ** > > ** ** > > When you boot a live cd, for things to work well you really want to have > it look like you have a writable disk available. The nifty trick that > (some?) live CDs use is to use what amounts to a hierarchical file storage > system (probably have the wrong name here).**** > > > That is, at the bottom is a compressed filesystem on the CD, which you > expand and see somehow.**** > > ** ** > > When you try to write to that expanded filesystem, the data is copied to > what amounts to a ramdisk and the system now sends all requests for that > (part of the) file to the ramdisk rather than the original spot. So every > block on the disk you write ends up taking 512 bytes (or so) of ram. Sort > of ;-) But, if you download 100Meg, then you need to have that much RAM to > spare. If you set up swap it might help a little. Or connect an actual > disk (via usb or whatever) and do your download and extraction and so forth > there as much as possible, then you will avoid most of the ram usage (since > you aren’t writing to the boot drive, as it were)**** > > ** ** > > Rusty**** > > ** ** > > *From:* plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org [mailto: > plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org] *On Behalf Of *Carruth, Rusty > *Sent:* Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:58 AM > > *To:* Main PLUG discussion list > *Subject:* RE: Upgrade to Debian testing hosed my system**** > > ** ** > > Possible? Maybe. Easy/useful/the_fastest_way_to_get_going? Maybe or > maybe not J**** > > ** ** > > If you have enough RAM to hold everything (remember, a live CD uses ram to > hold changes ‘written’ to your virtual disk you think you are running > on(*)), then you can probably do it.**** > > ** ** > > However, I’d start with trying other video cards. Do you have any other > cards laying around you could try? (If not, I’ve got boatloads > (figuratively speaking!) - I could loan you a few - what’s the bus you > need? PCI? AGP? Something else?)**** > > ** ** > > I was going to say something else but it has escaped me. Oh well.**** > > ** ** > > Rusty**** > > ** ** > > *From:* plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org [ > mailto:plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org] > *On Behalf Of *Mark Phillips > *Sent:* Thursday, January 24, 2013 9:54 AM > *To:* Main PLUG discussion list > *Subject:* Re: Upgrade to Debian testing hosed my system**** > > ** ** > > I tried all sorts of F keys, and no response on the monitor. I am > wondering if there is something wrong with the driver. I had this problem > on a different machine, and I had to download, compile, and install a new > radeon driver. I can take the machine apart and see what the video card is > and see if that is a problem. Is there a way to fix a driver problem with a > live cd?**** > > ** ** > > Mark**** > > ** ** > > On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 8:34 AM, Carruth, Rusty < > Rusty.Carruth@smartstoragesys.com> wrote:**** > > If you hit control-alt-F1 (or F2 or … all the way to F6) do you see > anything?**** > > **** > > What happens on the monitor while you boot?**** > > **** > > I’ve seen cases (personally) where an install decides the monitor can do > more than it can (and I think I had an upgrade do that once also), leaving > you with a dead monitor.**** > > **** > > However, given that you cannot ssh into it I’ll bet that won’t be the case > - but hopefully you can see something on the monitor as it boots…**** > > **** > > Rusty**** > > **** > > *From:* plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org [mailto: > plug-discuss-bounces@lists.phxlinux.org] *On Behalf Of *Mark Phillips > *Sent:* Thursday, January 24, 2013 8:21 AM > *To:* Main PLUG discussion list > *Subject:* Re: Upgrade to Debian testing hosed my system**** > > **** > > Mike,**** > > **** > > Unfortunately, there is still no signal after a hard reboot. If there > were, then I would do what you suggest. **** > > **** > > Any ideas on how I can determine what is wrong by using something like a > knoppix cd?**** > > **** > > Mark**** > > **** > > On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 6:52 AM, Mike Ballon > wrote:**** > > If there is no signal to the monitor with the box "up" I would reboot it.* > *** > > **** > > From there you'll need to figure out if the boot loader is intact or not. > If it is you can boot into single user mode and try to figure out what's > going on with the box. If you do not get the boot loader now we're talking > about a repair to either the loader or the system as a whole using a disc > or memory stick.**** > > **** > > **** > > http://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/grub-boot-into-single-user-mode/**** > > **** > > **** > > On Thu, Jan 24, 2013 at 8:28 AM, Mark Phillips > wrote:**** > > **** > > I used aptitude to upgrade a headless server from Debian stable to Debian > testing. The upgrade did not generate any error messages, but when I > rebooted I could not ssh into the box (connection refused) nor do I get any > output on a monitor I attached to the box (no signal). Apache does not > appear to be running either on the box (could not connect to the box). I > can successfully ping the box.**** > > **** > > Any suggestions on how to fix this this server would be greatly > appreciated!**** > > **** > > Thanks,**** > > **** > > Mark **** > > **** > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss**** > > **** > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss**** > > **** > > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss**** > > ** ** > > --------------------------------------------------- > PLUG-discuss mailing list - PLUG-discuss@lists.phxlinux.org > To subscribe, unsubscribe, or to change your mail settings: > http://lists.phxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-discuss > -- Dazed_75 a.k.a. Larry Please protect my address like I protect yours. When sending messages to multiple recipients, use the BCC: (Blind carbon copy). Remove addresses from a forwarded message body before clicking Send.