[lug] Unable to cleanly reboot

[J. Wayde Allen]

On Thu, 18 Oct 2001, Michael Deck wrote:

> What has "changed" is basically everything. I wiped out Mandrake and 
> installed RedHat. What hasn't changed is, I didn't wipe /var (because that 
> has my postgresql databases on it as well as qmail) or /export (because that 
> contains all my shared Samba file systems.)

Were the /var and /export directories on a different file system from your
root?  If not, it sounds like you tried simply installing over the
existing Mandrake system.  If that is the case, we "might" be able to
figure out what is going on here given enough time.  From a purely
academic standpoint that would certainly be interesting.  From a more
practical position though my guess is you need this system up as soon as
possible.

So ... rather than trying to blend the two distributions together it seems
you should consider reformating the disk and making a clean reinstall.  
I'm hoping that you did back up these data you want to save?  If not, it
would definitely be worth trying to do so now before it is too late.

Your /var directory usually contains some state information (package
databases, lock files, etc.).  Reinstalling without wiping this clean
could certainly mean that you are trying to run the new KRUD with state
information from the old Mandrake system.  That in itself could cause a
host of problems.

- Wayde
  (wallen at lug.boulder.co.us)