From: John Caywood (caywood@wyvern.wyvern.com)
Date: 04/11/93


From: caywood@wyvern.wyvern.com (John Caywood)
Subject: Re: [Q] cannot login as root (SLS 0.99p6)
Date: Mon, 12 Apr 1993 02:18:28 GMT

luoma@binah.cc.brandeis.edu wrote:
: To the linux experts:

: I have tried to install the tine base system
: of SLS flavor of linux version 0.99p6
: from /pub/linux/packages/SLS
: on TSX-11.mit.edu.

: I have gotten past the doinstall part and
: created the boot diskette.
: When I reboot, I find that I cannot
: login as root (or anybody else listed in /etc/passwd).
I had the same problem, and the fix is easy -- but it's not hardware.

: Linux version 0.99.pl6-26 (root@tritin) 03/01/93 20:31:04
: Apr 11 08:46:36 init[1]: version 2.0 booting
: /bin/touch: cannot execute binary file
This is it -- right here!

Boot from a1/a2. Mount your hard drive's linux root on /mnt,
then mount your linux /usr onto /mnt/usr, copy touch to /bin:
   mount /dev/sdb2 /mnt
   mount /dev/sdb3 /mnt/usr
   cp /mnt/usr/bin/touch /mnt/bin/touch
   umount /mnt/usr
   umount /mnt

Reboot.

I think SLS gets upset when root (/) and /usr are not in the same
partition. I'm guessing that /bin/touch is a hard link to /usr/bin/touch,
but you can't make a hard link across file systems. So you end up with
no touch in /, and you have to have it because /usr either isn't
mounted yet, or /usr/bin isn't in the path when /etc/rc runs.

-- 
 "If you've always done it that way, it's probably wrong"
 --------------------------------------attributed to Edward Kettering
 John Caywood, aspiring Linux S.A.,    ! caywood@wyvern.wyvern.com
         vi bigot, and wine drinker    ! J.S.Caywood@LaRC.NASA.GOV