exec of init (/sbin/init) failed

[Barry Yu]

David Curry wrote:

> Barry Yu wrote:
>
>> David Curry wrote:
>>
>>> Barry Yu wrote:
>>>
>>>> One of my machine broke downn during the process of updating (with 
>>>> yum), I had to reboot and during the booting up in level 3 a 
>>>> message displayed;
>>>>
>>>> exec of init (/sbin/init) failed !!!: 2
>>>> umount /initrd/dev  failed: 2
>>>> kernel panic - not syncing. Attempted to kill init!
>>>>
>>>> And the machine just freezes right there!
>>>> I powered it down and start it again, same thing happened - FC3 is 
>>>> completely down.
>>>> Any solution? Tks
>>>>
>>> Have you tried booting from a rescue CD or the installation CD1 and 
>>> examining your init files?
>>>
>> I haven't done that yet, can you be more specific and tell me what 
>> step and how to do that - I am inexperient in that at all, I know how 
>> to use the rescue CD to boot up, but what to do next?
>>
> It is doubtful whether I have the technical knowledge to lead you 
> through a step by step process, Barry.  On re-reading your earlier 
> message, I find that I did not take notice of your statement that the 
> machine "broke down during the process of updating (with yum)."   
> Rather, I will only offer an approach I would personally consider if I 
> was in your situation and one of the real fedora linux experts on the 
> list did not respond to my messages.
> If I had not backed up my important data files before the yum update, 
> I would boot from the rescue CD or the 1st installation CD and try to 
> copy those important files to a back up CD/floppy/tape or transfer 
> them to another machine.  Then, I would reinstall from the 
> installation CDs and fully update the system via yum before restoring 
> my personal data files.
>
>
I do backup my data and I also had made a recovery image of fc3, I post 
this because I want to know if I can have an answer specifically to this 
issue so I can fix it the next time when it happens again; I google and 
use MARC mailing list but can't find any close resolution. tks any way.