exec of init (/sbin/init) failed

[David Curry]

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.