The server may crash because it has ran out of disk space on the root partition. A/UX needs less than 250K to startup. Once started, if you do anything that creates files, you will lock up if you run out of space.
Follow these steps to fix this problem after crashing:
Step 1
Restart the server and sign on as root user, when the "cancel" button
appears after the A/UX launch, click it which will take you to the
startup shell. You should then see the "startup#" prompt.
Step 2
Perform a manual file system check (fsck). At the prompt, type the
following UNIX command:
fsck -y /dev/default
It may take several minutes to complete the check. Upon completion of
fsck, if you see a message that says "FILE SYSTEM WAS MODIFIED" it is
recommended that you run fsck again using the same command. You want
fsck to make a complete check without making any changes.
Step 3
Usually the easiest thing to remove, if this is the first time you've
had this problem, is the /FILES file. This file lists all of the files
installed on the system; it is not normally needed, and takes about
600K of disk space. Use this command:
rm FILES
Step 4
Sometimes the desktop files can grow too large over time, and by
rebuilding them, hard disk space can be recovered. Type the following
commands to delete and then rebuild the desktop files:
cd "/mac/sys/System Folder"
rm "Desktop DB"
rm "Desktop DF"
rm "%Desktop DB"
rm "%Desktop DF"
launch
You will then see A/UX startup. Rebuilding the desktop may take some
time, depending on the amount of local disk space attached.
NOTE: If the steps above do NOT provide you with enough free hard disk space, repeat steps 1 and 2 above and then continue with step 5 below (skipping steps 3 and 4).
Step 5
Change to the "\\ Documentation" directory by typing the command:
cd /\\ Documentation
Step 6
List the contents of the "\\ Documentation" directory in long format by
typing the command to see what the directory contains:
ls -l
Step 7
By default, there are usually 2 to 4 MB of DocViewer documents that
can be removed if desired. Things you should expect to see include
DocViewer guide, Tuning Server Performance, Apple Share Pro guide, and
so on. Some of the files will end in ".idx".
Step 8
To remove the files you decide are no longer necessary type the
command:
rm -ir .
This will do an interactive rm on everything in the "\\ Documentation"
directory, asking if you want to delete on each file. Just type a "y"
for each file that you want to delete.
Step 9
To launch A/UX type the following command:
launch
The above steps usually clears enough space for the server to
function. You need to continue looking for other files to clear hard
disk space from the "/" partition. Often administrators will put
shared folders on the "/" partition, within / Shared Data.
Step 10
Other places to look for files to delete:
/ Applications
/lost+found
/tmp
If you think this condition can happen again, you may want to create a 500K file located in the "/" directory, and name it something like "FREE.TO.DELETE" in case this happens again.
The "/ Documentation" and "/ Applications" directories are the best places to look for files to delete, because they usually contain files you can remove to free hard disk space. The files removed from these directories should be reinstallable from either the A/UX install disks, or from original application disks.
Article Change History:
07 Nov 1996 - Added command to Step 3.
24 Mar 1995 - Change title for clarity and updated format.
09 Jan 1995 - Changed title to better reflect article.