Boot loader/kernel error

[Frank Shute]

On Fri, Oct 08, 2010 at 07:09:48PM -0700, Hac Phan wrote:
>
> Hi,
> 
> I'm having trouble with a machine that was recently rebooted and will no longer
> boot correctly.
> 
> The boot process hangs with the following screen:
> Loading /boot/defaults/loader.conf

It sounds like there is something in /boot/loader.conf, or another
file that is sourced by /boot/defaults/loader.conf that it doesn't like.

> -
> 
> The cursor does not move and no other text is displayed. After about 10 minutes,
> the boot finishes (without the splash screen) and displays the login prompt. I
> tried to login but it timed out after 300 seconds.
> 
> The server was using a custom built kernel. I tried to get the GENERIC kernel
> from the livefs ISO and restore it via FIXIT console, but I realized that I
> actually don't know how to do that...
> 
> So how do I go about fixing this? Thanks in advance.
> -- 

I'd try and boot into single user mode and edit the offending file:
maybe comment out the various lines until you find the line that's
causing the problem.

I think that as you can get to a login prompt, you should be able to
boot single user and shouldn't have to bother with the CD.

Touch wood, I've never had a problem that required booting external
media to fix, so I can't help you in that department.


Regards,

-- 

 Frank

 Contact info: http://www.shute.org.uk/misc/contact.html