[CS-FSLUG] How to resolve anapparent Linux crash

[Eduardo Sanchez]

Hi Ruth,

First of all, welcome to the list. I am sorry I haven't had the time to 
welcome you before, but I'm really swamped.

I am, if I can say so, a kind of Mandrake veteran, so I might try a hand 
on helping you. Your system appears to be really hosed!

Were you able to go into a text-based console? You said:

> However, NumLock with Ctl+Alt did bring on the command line. I put in 
my login and password... now what? 

Did you get a prompt that looks something in the level of:

[ruth at localhost ruth] $ ...?

If that's the case, then you got into the console.

How do you usually start the graphical environment (KDE)? Do you log in 
using a graphical window, or do you type the "startx" command to start 
the environment?

I would like to have this information so that I could be of further help 
to you.

Blessings,


Eduardo


On Friday 20 August 2004 02:04, linux at rmf.mailshell.com wrote:
> Hi everyone,
> I'm back to report on trying out the various pieces of advice you gave 
me on my apparent crash of Linux or Mandrake 9.1 . I took time off to 
do that last night.
> 
> Since there were quite a few, I'll try to condense this rather than 
doing a lot of quoting. Just to refresh your memories, I have no 
graphics or links on my desktop so I can't get into Mandrake Control to 
change any settings. I had figured out how to get a command prompt, but 
didn't (still don't ) know what commands to give.
> 
> First I tried Jukka's idea of  Ctrl+Alt++ to resize the screen in case 
the graphics were just beyond the edge.  (Easiest first). No go. It did 
adjust the black edges of the screen, but didn't bring the toolbar, or 
anything to click on back.
> 
> I tried Kathy's idea next to bring up a console with the Alt+<Fn> or 
function keys. No go. You said  using Alt+Ctrl+backspace would kill my 
X server. Oh-oh! Maybe the damage has already been done? However, 
NumLock with Ctl+Alt did bring on the command line. I put in my login 
and password... now what? :)
> 
> So I tried various commands that I thought would get me 
nto /etc/X11/XF86Config files the way Bradley suggested. I kept getting 
"no such directory" so I suspect I didn't have the full path correct. 
Can you give me a bit more help there?
> 
> David M. asked if I was running KDE. Yes, I am/was, but I couldn't 
figure out how to get to that folder to rename it.
> 
> I did try too, to stick a floppy in and give the command;
> dd if=/home/*myusername"/Mail of=/dev/fd0
> The answer I got was, 
> is a directory
> 0+0 records in
> 0+0 records out.
> In other words, nothing happened.
> 
> Somewhere I'd read that you could type *man* and a command, and the 
manual pages would come up right at the command line. So I entertained 
and educated myself for a while by trying that with different words. A 
lot of them had no man pages, but bash - now that was another story! 
Got far more than I could absorb or understand at one sitting. :)
> 
> It looks like I may just have to try a re-install and forget the files 
I started in my two week honeymoon in Mandrake, or else take that other 
piece of advice,  - wait for Mandrake 10.1 and upgrade.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who offered ideas. I've appreciated them, and 
learned again from my efforts. Just think; one day I'll be helping 
others because of the things things I'm struggling through to get out 
of my chrysalis!
> 
> By the way, anybody got some good experience with form2mail php 
scripts?
> 
> 
> Blessings & Thanks,
> Ruth
> http://Ruthes-SecretRoses.com
> When you meet Ruthe and her Friend - you've got Friends
> 
> 
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-- 
Prof. Eduardo Sanchez
Asuncion, Paraguay, South America
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If a transtemporal, transfinite good is our real destiny, then any other
good on which our desire fixes must be in some degree fallacious, must
bear at best only a symbolical relation to what will truly satisfy.

	-- C.S. Lewis, "The Weight of Glory"

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