From: tjrc1@cus.cam.ac.uk (T.J.R. Cutts) Subject: Re: Problem logging in Date: Mon, 15 Feb 1993 17:51:41 GMT
I had this problem a few days ago. In order to get talk working I had to
delete /etc/utmp each time the machine wast started (I have a line in rc saying
'rm -f /etc/utmp'). However, as you now know ;-) login barfs if you don't have
a /etc/utmp file, and you're locked out of your machine. Solution:
1) Use a bootdisk/rootdisk such as SLS disks a1 and a2 to start Linux on your
machine.
2) Mount your root partition on the hard disk.
3) '>/etc/utmp' (on the hard disk, not the rootdisk /etc/utmp)
4) If you are deleting utmp at startup, make sure you create it again
immediately afterwards!
Tim.