Skip site navigation (1)Skip section navigation (2) 
Date:      Thu, 7 Sep 2000 21:42:04 -0400
From:      "Otter" <otterr@telocity.com>
To:        "Tomlinson, Drew" <Drew.Tomlinson@lc.ca.gov>, "'FreeBSD Questions (E-mail)'" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   RE: How to Edit FSTAB When / is Read-Only
Message-ID:  <HLEDJBJKDDPDJBMGCLPPKEDLCCAA.otterr@telocity.com>
In-Reply-To: <8C224DC088D8D111B67D0000F67AC17E029C4AA4@ldcmsx01.lc.ca.gov>
index | next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail 

[-- Attachment #1 --]
How to Edit FSTAB When / is Read-OnlyTry issuing a "mount / " command. When
it gives you the prompt for location of /bin/sh, and dumps you to a ro
filesystem, mounting it manually should make it rw for you.
-Otter

  -----Original Message-----
  From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
[mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Tomlinson, Drew
  Sent: Thursday, September 07, 2000 7:48 PM
  To: 'FreeBSD Questions (E-mail)'
  Subject: How to Edit FSTAB When / is Read-Only


  I am new to both Unix and FreeBSD so I apologize if this question is very
elementary.

  I am running release 4.0 on a 486-DX with a 850 MB IDE drive.  I have
since added a 6 GB IDE drive.  I used /stand/sysinstall to both FDISK and
Label the drive.  Both drives in this system were FDISKed with the option to
use all space for FBSD and not be compatible with other file systems.

  Next, I added the drives to /etc/fstab and then issued a mount -a.  At
this point my system quit responding, even from the console port.  Every
command I entered was invalid.  Even simple commands like ls, pwd, cd, etc.
no longer were valid.  I had no choice other than to power off/on the
machine.

  Upon reboot, there were many errors that scrolled by before I could
capture them but they were all related to the new drive that I attempted to
install.  After the errors, I'm left with a # prompt at the console.  I
assume this is the sh shell.  I believe if I can edit or change my
/etc/fstab file, my problems will be gone and the system won't have mounting
problems and will boot normally.  Because the file system isn't mounted, the
vi editor is not available.  I do have a backup of the fstab but when I
attempt to copy it, I get an error because the / filesystem is mounted
read-only.  What can I do to fix this problem?

  Here is the content of my /etc/fstab:
  # Device                Mountpoint      FStype  Options         Dump
Pass#
  /dev/ad0s1b             none            swap    sw              0       0
  /dev/ad0s1a             /               ufs     rw              1       1
  /dev/ad0s1f             /usr            ufs     rw              2       2
  /dev/ad0s1e             /var            ufs     rw              2       2
  /dev/acd0c              /cdrom  cd9660  ro,noauto       0       0
  /dev/ad2s1b             none            swap    sw              0       0
  /dev/ad2s1a             /               ufs     rw              1       1
  /dev/ad2s1f             /usr            ufs     rw              2       2
  /dev/ad2s1e             /var            ufs     rw              2       2
  proc                    /proc           procfs  rw              0       0
  192.168.0.254:/My_Webs /usr/local/www/data   nfs     ro,union   0       0

  Thanks in advance for your assistance!

  Drew


[-- Attachment #2 --]
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>How to Edit FSTAB When / is Read-Only</TITLE>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<META content="MSHTML 5.50.4207.2601" name=GENERATOR></HEAD>
<BODY>
<DIV><SPAN class=859013701-08092000><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff size=2>Try 
issuing a "mount / " command. When it gives you the prompt for location of 
/bin/sh, and dumps you to a ro filesystem, mounting it manually should make it 
rw for you.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=859013701-08092000><FONT face=Arial color=#0000ff 
size=2>-Otter</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=859013701-08092000></SPAN>&nbsp;</DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr 
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
  <DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader dir=ltr align=left><FONT face=Tahoma 
  size=2>-----Original Message-----<BR><B>From:</B> 
  owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG 
  [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]<B>On Behalf Of </B>Tomlinson, 
  Drew<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, September 07, 2000 7:48 PM<BR><B>To:</B> 
  'FreeBSD Questions (E-mail)'<BR><B>Subject:</B> How to Edit FSTAB When / is 
  Read-Only<BR><BR></FONT></DIV>
  <P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am new to both Unix and FreeBSD so I apologize if 
  this question is very elementary.</FONT> </P>
  <P><FONT face=Arial size=2>I am running release 4.0 on a 486-DX with a 850 MB 
  IDE drive.&nbsp; I have since added a 6 GB IDE drive.&nbsp; I used 
  /stand/sysinstall to both FDISK and Label the drive.&nbsp; Both drives in this 
  system were FDISKed with the option to use all space for FBSD and not be 
  compatible with other file systems.</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Next, I added the drives to /etc/fstab and then 
  issued a mount -a.&nbsp; At this point my system quit responding, even from 
  the console port.&nbsp; Every command I entered was invalid.&nbsp; Even simple 
  commands like ls, pwd, cd, etc. no longer were valid.&nbsp; I had no choice 
  other than to power off/on the machine.</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Upon reboot, there were many errors that scrolled 
  by before I could capture them but they were all related to the new drive that 
  I attempted to install.&nbsp; After the errors, I'm left with a # prompt at 
  the console.&nbsp; I assume this is the sh shell.&nbsp; I believe if I can 
  edit or change my /etc/fstab file, my problems will be gone and the system 
  won't have mounting problems and will boot normally.&nbsp; Because the file 
  system isn't mounted, the vi editor is not available.&nbsp; I do have a backup 
  of the fstab but when I attempt to copy it, I get an error because the / 
  filesystem is mounted read-only.&nbsp; What can I do to fix this 
  problem?</FONT></P>
  <P><FONT face=Arial size=2>Here is the content of my /etc/fstab:</FONT> 
  <BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>#</FONT><FONT face="Courier New" size=2> 
  Device&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  Mountpoint&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; FStype&nbsp; 
  Options&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Dump&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  Pass#</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad0s1b&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  none&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  swap&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  sw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad0s1a&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad0s1f&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /usr&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad0s1e&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /var&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/acd0c&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /cdrom&nbsp; cd9660&nbsp; ro,noauto&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad2s1b&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  none&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  swap&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  sw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad2s1a&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  1&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad2s1f&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /usr&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>/dev/ad2s1e&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /var&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  ufs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  2&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>proc&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  /proc&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; procfs&nbsp; 
  rw&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Courier New" 
  size=2>192.168.0.254:/My_Webs /usr/local/www/data&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  nfs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ro,union&nbsp;&nbsp; 
  0&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 0</FONT> </P>
  <P><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>Thanks in advance for your 
  assistance!</FONT> </P>
  <P><FONT face="Courier New" size=2>Drew</FONT> </P></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
help

Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?HLEDJBJKDDPDJBMGCLPPKEDLCCAA.otterr>