Broken box blues

I have a very low tolerance for broken operating systems these days. If a machine is broke and I can't figure out what is wrong in like half an hour, I rebuild it. Today, I had a box that would not boot all the way in Linux. The first error that I got was something about the inability to mount local file systems. I checked the fstab, I  booted in Knoppix and ran fsck. It found something small, but not the problem. I messed with some other settings. The machine took ages because of redundant BIOS bits.

By the way, my spell checker saw the word 'fsck' (file system check program in Linux) and promptly suggested the word 'fuck'. We are dealing with reality I suppose. It is a word and has a proper spelling.

I'm trying to think what this is a symptom of.

• Having a bunch of stuff to do.
• Knowing how to fix a bunch of things. Hitting the obvious bullets and giving up too quickly.
• laziness.
• Not knowing what I'm doing well enough to diagnose and fix the trouble.

None really hit the nail on the head. I think it was the best thing to do in this case to be honest. That error is at the root of  OS. I could boot in level 1 (the most basic machine level). Level 2 and anything above would blow a gasket. I could mount the OS and the root  (/) from anywhere except when booting Linux. When I tried an upgrade option, the installer for Red Hat told me the system had not shut down properly, even out of run level 1, which did shut down properly, but must not have thrown some switch somewhere that says "Hey, I shut down properly. Don't freak out."

We are finally getting to the point of automating this setup business. There was not even a real written document when I started. I managed that. Jake came along and automated several steps. The only trouble is one script does not fit all. It is a complex process to set things up on a network these days. I remember when it was Net/BIOS and an Ethernet driver.

Both the Linux (completely redone) and Windows (not touched) worked when I was done.

Then came a Windows 2003 server. I couldn't get the NIC working to save my life. Twice the recovery failed. I installed Windows from the top. No NIC. Can't figure out the name of the motherboard without tarring the box apart. Guess what I get to do in the morning.