I got a huge problem, i have Linux Redhat 7.2 installed on my computer and since yesterday it stopped working. Since it's my dads i need to get it fixed, or else... Now i'm not sure what i've done wrong, but there's definitivly a problem cause it won't start properly.

Everytime it loads at one point, after checking the hard drives, it keeps on saying :

Init : no inittab (file) found
can't open (file) : no such file or directory
enter runlevel:
can't open (file)
entering runlevel:
no more processes left in this runlevel

Now at the moment where it ask for the runlevel i'm supposed to write in a number , i believe 1 is for single user, 2 multi user, 3 multi user over a network, 4 nothing, .... 0 reboot. Anyhow, none of the numbers seem to work. I'm not even sure if i have a boot disk and even if i did if it would help me out in this case. Time is precious, cause it needs to be fixed before my dad uses it. If anyone can help me out here, plzzzz do :crazy:

Ok, I'm NO Linux expert but I did some searching (google) and found this ...

Your inittab is missing. This means /sbin/init can not set up your system properly. Quite how to fix it is hard to tell beforehand (other than that you need a /etc/inittab... I hope you didn't make /etc a separate filesystem!), but you can boot up into a sort-of-single-user rescue capable mode by adding "init=/bin/sh" to your kernel's command line (LILO prompt, GRUB kernel line, syslinux kernel prompt, loadlin command line etc). This will cause the kernel to run /bin/sh, your default shell, on the console. You'll probably want to remount / readwrite, fix the problem, remount / readonly again, and type "xxec /sbin/init". (remounting is done using "mount -o remount,rw /")

Also, try answering 'single'.
That boots into 'single user mode': no daemons, no try to load inittab. Just a shell to let you check if an /etc/inittab file exists.


Sorry, I'm not much help on Linux.
Mucks

Sorry, I didn't see this at first Mucks, and I've been away a while.

The system starts as defined in /etc/inittab in the line initdefault.

The runlevels are:

0 System Halt
S Single User Mode; from boot prompt
1 Single User Mode
2 Local Multiuser without remote network
3 Full multiuser with network
4 Unused
5 Full multiuser mode with network and xdm (this is the normal mode)
6 System Reboot

The normal place for running linux is init 5 as it gives you the graphical interface. As root you can type in init 5 from the command line.
Then startx to start xwindows. Don't know how you lost inittab unless it's a filesystem error. Might try running e2fsck if it's a ext2 file system. Of course you really need the manual.

Time to install a REAL distro, I say.

Which Distro do you like, maybe i should start another thread.

Aye, I'm curious as well. I always thought RedHat was a good one.

I've had a brief play with it but I prefer Mandrake cos basically I find the whole thing a bit confusing. No manual, you see

So, EP, pray tell us your recommendation

Three levels of distros:

Mandrake 9.0 Beta 2 for newbies
Gentoo 1.2 for hardcore geeks,
and Debian 3.0r0 in between.