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Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 10:53:47 -0400 (EDT)
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To: alex@fa.tdktca.com
Subject: Re: RE: unable to mount /
Cc: hackers@Freebsd.org
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>     Mark> I currently have release 2.0 loaded on a system I use for an
>     Mark> internet email server.  All of a sudden today while a remote
>     Mark> session was logged in trying to telnet out to another it
>     Mark> reported no available network sessions available..while
>     Mark> being the only one logged in...
> 
>     Mark> Then I went to the console to log in and no matter which of
>     Mark> my logins including root would allow access.  All reported
>     Mark> invalid username.
> 
>     Mark> Unfortunately, I had no other option that I know of so I
>     Mark> powered down the system thinking I could then fsck the
>     Mark> system and go about my business..instead the kernel runs
>     Mark> properly until it reaches mounting the /.  It reports the /
>     Mark> was unmounted improperly and locks up.
> 
> As Joerg pointed out, you can try the fixit floppy.
> 
>     Mark> What can be done without a reload, if anything?  An what can
>     Mark> I do to make the reload easier of Release 2.1?  I've never
>     Mark> done a complete load before.
> 
> If you look on the bright side, upgrading from 2.0 to 2.1 is a very
> wise move.  I've heard some very bad things about 2.0.  As for making
> the reload easy -- you needn't do anything, it's very easy.  I would
> recommend that you create separate paritions for different mount
> points.  For example, I have:
> 
>   /dev/sd0a on / (local)
>   /dev/sd1s1e on /tmp (local)
>   /dev/sd0s1d on /u1 (local)
>   /dev/sd1s1f on /u2 (local)
>   /dev/sd0s1e on /usr (local)
>   /dev/sd0s1f on /var (local)
>   /dev/sd0s1g on /var/mail (local)
>   /dev/sd0s1h on /var/spool (local)
> 
> The benefits are:
> 
>   - Spool areas are separated.  If I get mail bombed, I can still
>     print.  If /tmp fills up, I can still get mail, etc.
> 
>   - Areas such as the root file system rarely get touched, so
>     if the system goes down, there's less chance of corruption.
> 
>   - If a file system does get corrupted, the damage is contained
>     within a smaller area (for example, I had /u2 go bad last
>     week, but /u1 survived intact).
> 
>   - You can run a filesystem you don't care about (such as /tmp)
>     in async mode for better performance.  (UFS defaults to sync
>     metadata for safety purposes.)
> 
> Alex
> 

I'm in the process of trying to use the fixit floppy.  It boots to the 
Boot: then it can't find the kernel.  What am I doing wrong or what can I 
do at this point?  The kernel is found if I'm trying to boot the system 
normally but it freezes when mounting the root.

Thanks