Troubleshooting Post-Installation Configuration Problems

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As Linux continues to be developed, it has become increasingly fault-tolerant, meaning that if errors are encountered during the boot process, the errors will not cause a complete kernel or boot failure. Often, your computer might appear to be running fine, even though some device or process is not working correctly. The sources of such problems might include modules that did not load, services that did not start, or devices that are being used at sub optimum levels (such as hard drive transfer speeds).

You will find clues to many problems in dmesg output, or in the /var/log/messages file, a simple text file containing constantly updated kernel and system information that you can view in any editor. Take a moment to review this file or dmesg output after installing or configuring new hardware; you will see that they show the progress of booting and starting services on your system.

The messages are generated by the kernel, other software run by /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit, and Fedora's runlevel scripts. You might find what appear to be errors at first glance, but some errors are not really problems (for example, if a piece of hardware is configured but not present on your system).

When troubleshooting error messages, remember that "Google is your friend." Simply copy part or all of the error message and paste the information into a search field at http://www.google.com/linux/ and at http://marc.theaimsgroup.com/. You might find links to pages with information to help you solve your problem. It is quite likely that you are not the first person to encounter the problem. Reading the manual page for modprobe.conf and having perused /usr/src/linux-2.6/Documentation/devices.txt (and other files) will go a long way in helping you troubleshoot any problems.

Remember to only solve one problem at a time and always make a backup copy of any system file before you modify it. Do not use the common extension .bak because files with that extension can sometimes be overwritten. Here is a good method of copying the file:

 # cp filename filename.original 

And when restoring from that backup, do not rename the file, just copy it, like so:

 # cp filename.original filename 

(When these tips have saved you countless hours of frustration, thank us by purchasing copies of this book as gifts for your friends.)

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    Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed
    Red Hat Fedora 4 Unleashed
    ISBN: 0672327929
    EAN: 2147483647
    Year: 2006
    Pages: 361

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