single user mode buildwerld failures

Thu Apr 5 09:17:20 UTC 2007

On Wed, 2007-04-04 at 18:20 -0700, kayve at sfsu.edu wrote:
> Quoting kayve at sfsu.edu:
> 
> > Quoting Christian Walther <cptsalek at gmail.com>:
> > 
> > > On 04/04/07, KAYVEN RIESE <kayve at sfsu.edu> wrote:
> > > > there were so many steps they didn't seem obvious.. i got halfway thru
> > and
> > > > realized i
> > > > was in some prompt for mergemaster -p, or so i thought, so i started
> > over.
> > > > i had no
> > > > idea what was happening.  i can't log on now.
> > > > /etc/passwd is gone.  i used a freeBSD disk that is certainly old to go
> > to
> > > > a fixit shell but i didn't
> > > > know what to do.  i can go back to the fixit shell if somebody tells me
> > > > what to do but i have
> > > > to *#@&ing walk over to kinkos now to get on the internet.
> > > 
> > > So firstly you should probably sit down and take a deep breath.
> > > 
> > > Secondly, it appears that you messed up your system pretty badly, I'm
> > > not sure that it can be fixed. On the other hand, it just might be
> > > that you missed a few steps.
> > > 
> > > For example, when you're in single user mode the root filesystem is
> > > mounted read only, which means that you can't write to it. Anything
> > > related to the upgrade process (installworld, mergemaster...) has to
> > > fail.
> > 
> > i looked at the /usr/src/UPDATING and what to do after the command
> > mergemaster -p was not described.  is there a better web page for 
> > that somewhere?  i was also taking advice from an "expert" on 
> > experts-exchange  both sources did not described the bizzare behavior
> > i observed after simply invoking the command "mergemaster -p" both
> > sources informed me to do that command followed by another command.
> > i saw no advice telling me more details than that.  if such a site
> > exists, could i please have a direct relevant link?
> > 
> > 
> > > 
> > > Question is (sorry this isn't ment to sound harsch) if you read the
> > > manual carefully, because it describes the entire process pretty
> > > detailed. That is to say you have to read all the chapters, not only
> > > the beginning.
> > > For example it appears that you didn't remount the root filesystem
> > > read/writeable after you booted to single user mode.
> > 
> > i followed some instructions but nothing perpared me for the way
> > my acted after the command "mergemaster -p"  i did not get back
> > the same prompt from which i invoked "mergemaster -p" from.  it
> > asked me a question that i fergot what it was.  that was bad.. i
> > know.. i could not cut and paste there.  i could have maybe
> > done "mergemaster -p > file.out" but i didn't.  oops.  that was 
> > stupid.
> > 
> > > 
> > > Passwords are not stored in /etc/passwd, there is /etc/pwd.db,
> > > /etc/master.passwd and /etc/spwd.db, too. All are required for the
> > > system to be fully functional. The latter two contain the passwords in
> > > encrypted form. You might want to try to restore these files in
> > > particular.
> > 
> > okay.. /etc/passwd was in /var/tmp/etc/passwd, so the others will
> > be similarly so? i can handle this.
> > 
> > > 
> > > BTW: Your mailer appears to be broken. Some of your postings are
> > > really difficult to read, it seems as if quoted postings aren't marked
> > > properly, for example with a ">".
> > 
> > sorry.  i use pine.  ">" marks recursively who is saying what.  i
> > cut and pasted hurredly which i guess is stupid.  it sounds like you
> > are giving me good advice that i can easily follow.  i will try that
> > and get back to you.  it might be more easy to look at the links i gave,
> > but i posted a lot of makesplat that got that guy mad at me.  you can
> > scroll all the way to the bottom and see what the latest is maybe you
> > can follow.
> > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > freebsd-stable at freebsd.org mailing list
> > > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-stable
> > > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-stable-unsubscribe at freebsd.org"
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> 
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Your emails are ridiculously poorly formatted - I think your responses
are intermingled with quoted text, and it is hard to decipher what you
have done.

The guy helping you from "expertsexchange" isn't helping you. He clearly
has some inkling of a clue, but he doesn't know what he is doing (or
maybe he knows more than me. Whatever. I know how to read a manual, and
the manual says not to do it like that). To upgrade FreeBSD, use the
instructions in the handbook. They are clear, concise and correct.

If you have a running system, read Appendix A.5 "Using CVSup" [1] of the
handbook, which details how to update your sources and ports to the
current version.

If you don't have a running system, rebuild world + kernel and hope that
restores enough functionality so you can update the sources and go
again. This is all described in section 22.4 "Rebuilding world" [2] of
the handbook, but I will summarise it for you.

// change to root
$ su -
// remove /usr/obj to speed up the build
# cd /usr/obj && chflags -R noschg * && rm -rf *
// Build a new world
# cd /usr/src
# make -j4 buildworld
// build a new kernel (do not put any job options for this build)
# make buildkernel
// install the new kernel
# make installkernel
// reboot to single user mode (boot -s from the loader prompt)
# shutdown -r now

// After reboot
// check + mount all filesystems
# fsck -p
# mount -u /
# mount -a -t ufs
# swapon -a
// prepare /etc for the world install
# mergemaster -p
// install the new world
# cd /usr/src ; make installworld
// run mergemaster again
# mergemaster
// reboot to an updated system
# shutdown -r now

All these instructions are in the handbook.

Cheers

Tom

[1] http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/cvsup.html
[2]
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/makeworld.html
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