date: 	    Fri May 30 11:10:00 1997
to: 	    mklinux-setup@mklinux.apple.com
from: 	    Jerry (J.) Quinn			  :6X31
subject:     Re: Help! Respawning too fast!
size: 	    1760

>> "aard" == aard  <aard@best.com> writes:

 aard> Greetings,
 >>>>>> "Jerry" == Jerry Quinn <jquinn@nortel.ca> writes:

 Jerry> After having just moved, I set my system up again and Lo and Behold, I
 Jerry> now have the dreaded processes respawning too fast.  I know this has
 Jerry> been discussed before, but I scoured the web last night and couldn't
 Jerry> find any reference to the problem.

 aard> When this happend to me a while back it was because getty_ps was
 aard> segfaulting.  It was because I'd replaced my /etc/termcap file with a
 aard> newer version.  Unfortunately, the new version I used, which was from
 aard> GNU termcap-1.3, had a linux term entry that was larger than 1024
 aard> bytes.  Getty_ps doesn't like that since it only reserves a 1024 byte
 aard> buffer for termcap entries. :-(

 aard> It may not be your termcap file, but in any case if init says getty is
 aard> respawning too fast it's probably because getty is crashing.

 aard> If it is your termcap file, boot into single-user mode and restore your
 aard> /etc/termcap file from backup, or tweak it by hand, or whatever.

It turned out to be getty crashing.  I looked in the syslog and saw the
segfault messages.  I installed the latest getty_ps shared lib rpm from
single-user mode, and got back up and running.  The thing I don't understand
is why it broke in the first place.

 aard> Good luck,

 aard> Anthony C. Ard <aard@best.com>

 aard> "Wouldn't you rather be involved in a series of colorful, time-wasting
 aard> trends?" -- Frank Zappa, Greggery Peccary.

-- 
Jerry Quinn              Tel: (514) 761-8737
jquinn@nortel.ca         Fax: (514) 761-8505
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