Re: [cobalt-users] question

[Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"[C] Paulick, Jim" wrote:

> if one were to completely mess up the root file system.... how would
> one use the restore disk when there is no cd-rom, nor floppy drive
> on  the RaQ4?

You put a supported network interface card (nic) into a spare computer,
and boot it from the CD-ROM.  It turns your spare computer into a
combination DHCP server/ftp server.  The RaQ has a built in facility for
"network" booting, so you run it with that facility (from the front
panel) and your computer takes over and rebuilds the operating system. 
Very similar to Red Hat's network installation option, except it's
completely scripted and you don't do anything.

> I also don't have the option of removing the harddisk and mounting
> it on a working machine and making the change that I need to make.

Why not?  That's the best way to go; it saves all your data.

> (this happened because I accidentally corrupted libc.so.6)  so it's
> just one file that I need to fix..

We do it this way all the time; it's less time-consuming and a lot
easier than starting from scratch when there's only a few files to fix. 
Why can't you do it?  If you can't, then you can't use the restore CD
either; it takes the same amount of resources.

> note: I can't boot at all of course...
> 
> can I mount on a temp fs?   I could do this with a normal server with a floppy....but...

Remove the disk from the RaQ; put a ten gig (or so) hard disk into the
RaQ instead, and use the restore CD-ROM to rebuild the RaQ software on
that.  Power down the system, put the broken drive into the RaQ as a
second drive, reboot, mount the second drive, and do the file move that
way.

If you need remote hands in Southern California, let me know.

Jeff
-- 
Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Linux and Cobalt/Sun/RaQ Consulting
nobaloney.net
P. O. Box 52672, Riverside, CA  92517
voice: (909) 778-9980  *  fax: (702) 548-9484