UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

Hello
If you want a short description read my last thread!

I have no root access anymore. No remote access! By user access i get a programm started and when i close it, i got logged off!

So I guess I messed up the passwd file!

is there a chance of booting a unix system (SCO-UNIX UnixWare 7.1.1) in a kind of linux single mode? I need to edit the passwd file!!!


Please, I need some help!

Thanx
Marcus - -> an almost dead man!

I just started the RH7.0 rescue cd.
It found the scsi device.
But somehow I cannot use fdisk to view the partitiontable. When I use cat /proc/partitions then it says that there are a sda and sda4. But I cannot mount them. It says no valid device found.

Fwurm,

I can sympathize with your problem. I had a problem with root on an HP box a few months ago.

What I did was shutdown and come back up to single user mode.
When the system is coming back up, it should have a moment where it will ask you if you want to interupt. Do it.

This should take you to single user mode. You should be able to mount all available filesystems with "mount -a" command.

then do "df -k" to see if you can see all disks. Somewhere under /etc you should either have a backup password file you created or there should be a default minimal password file with just root, daemon, bin and some other ids in it.

You should save your current bad passwd file and copy over the minimal passwd file. This should help you get back upto multi user mode.

Hope this helps. Of course my advice is based on HPUX, so your results may vary.

My problme right now is that i dont know how to boot up in single user mode. (

I try to boot -s and different stuff. the only documentation i have is a solaris book, where i get some ideas from.

what did you issue at the boot promt fpr single user mode?

You should be able to type "boot -s" at the "ok" prompt. If not, answer the following questions and I will try and help you.

Is your box up at all? Do you have any kind of a prompt?
Do you have a rescue disk?
Can you turn off the box and hard boot? (switch off and on?) Then come to single user mode by typing "boot -s" then enter the root user and password.

Is this a home PC or work-related box?

Answer these and I will try to help further.

Even worse!
It is our one and only server!

Okay.
I get an boot promt where i cn choose between the different kernels (unix, unix.old and unix.pds) and i can specify different options there.
but i did not get to boot up in single user mode!
is tryied to set BOOTPROG=unix -s, but it did not find the kernel unix -s.
i also tried to type boot -s at the boot prompt. all with out success.