please help

[jengle]

i recently attempted to follow some online instructions to change my default konsole shell from bash to tcsh. (i'm running breezy--i know it's old but i just haven't found the time or guts to upgrade yet).

per these instructions, i backed up the executable /bin/bash and created a soft link called /bin/bash@ that pointed to /bin/tcsh. i also moved the .bashrc to .bashrc_backup and .bash_profile and .bash_history to .bash_profile_backup and .bash_history_backup in my home directory.

everything worked fine till i restarted my computer this morning...

now i don't even get as far as the splash screen; instead, i see the error

badly placed ()'s
give root password for maintenance
or press Control-D to continue

if i provide the root password and try to go back and replace all relevant files with the backups i created in the shell-like prompt that follows, i continually get the message that this is a "read-only file system" so any operation (cp, mv, rm, etc...) can't be completed. i haven't changed anything other than what's listed above (though i did add a .tcshrc file).

please help...

j

[podunk]

Re: please help

Download a live cd from somewhere and boot up with it. Once you're up, mount your root hard drive and change the files back.

A how to on mounting partitions while using a live CD is here:
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/mountlinux

[jengle]

Re: please help

thanks--i'll try that a little later when i get home.

j

[jengle]

Re: please help

ok, still having some problems.

i successfully downloaded a copy of dapper and used the live cd to mount my old hard drive. i then replaced the bash executable in /bin on the harddrive and replaced all the bashrc files with the backups i created in my home directory.

now it appears that kde starts ok, and i get to the splash/login screen. i type my login and password, and my entry appears to be accepted. the splash screen disappears, is replaced by the speckled gray screen that i associate with the start of xwindows, and then everything goes black before returning me to the same splash/login screen. i can do this as many times as i like. if i type the wrong login/pass, i get a message that the login has failed, which i do not get if i type accurately.

i appreciate any additional help. as far as i know, everything is back to the way it was before the restart.

j

[podunk]

Re: please help

Maybe something changed with your xorg configuration? When I kept getting kicked back to the log in screen like that it was because I had messed up my video drivers.

Do you have a back up of your xorg.conf file you could restore?
/etc/X11/xorg.conf
is the full path.

If not you could try to reconfigure it. What kind of video card do you have?

[jengle]

Re: please help

thanks for the suggestion but no dice on the xorg.conf file--i had an older backup of it as well, but the two files were identical when i diffed them.

if i had to guess, i'd still say it's somehow a problem with the bash executable (copying and moving such files is something i'd rather not do too much of, but it's done now). but i don't know how to ensure that i get a real, working version of it back in the right place without doing such things.

i dunno though. i'm definitely a newbie.

thanks again.

[podunk]

Re: please help

Well, we're all new once. Some folks like me stay new forever! :-) I have a hell of a time fixing stuff when I break it.

In fact, a lot of times I find it easier to just reinstall. This is not a very good way to learn of course.

I have learned one thing. It's just amazingly easy and fast to back up and restore with Linux. So once I got my rig set up and stable I backed that configuration up and put it away safe.

I back every week, it's not like windows where it takes all night.