runlevel returning "unknown" and no services startetd

**vennervald** · 09-Sep-2009, 07:17

Hi Everybody

I have installed OpenSUSE 11.1 and have applied all relevant online updates.
When I reboot and log in the services for runlevel 5 are not started even though I have set it up in yast to do so.
When I execute the command runlevel it just returns "unknown".
If I execute "init 5" the services are started as expected.
So I'm guessing that something in the init proces is simply not executed right.
I have never experienced this before.
For now I have added "init 5" ad the end of boot.local, so the services are started, but I can only accept that as a temporary hack

Does anybody have any ideas?

Cheers,
Jacob Vennervald

**hcvv** · 09-Sep-2009, 08:22

Look in /etc/inittab. Somewhere at the top is the line containing the word initdefault:

Code:

id:5:initdefault:

There should be aa 5 in the second field.

**vennervald** · 09-Sep-2009, 08:41

Thanks for the quick answer.
I have already checked that and it's set correctly. And it changes correctly when I change it through Yast.

Cheers,
Jacob

**hcvv** · 09-Sep-2009, 09:20

Doesn't dmesg give any clues?
Also press the Esc key during boot and try to follow what happens.

**vennervald** · 09-Sep-2009, 12:51

Originally Posted by hcvv

Doesn't dmesg give any clues?
Also press the Esc key during boot and try to follow what happens.

Dmesg doesn't give any clues. I have also checked out log files in /var/log, but they don't really show anything either.
About following the boot screen. It's not that simple, because I don't have keyboard or monitor on the machine

Cheers,
Jacob

**hcvv** · 10-Sep-2009, 03:06

Right. That explains something, but it does not explain why you need runlevel 5. In general it only starts kdm/gdm above runlevel 3. Do you need kdm/gdm for something else than your not available keyboard/monitor (e.g. remote login)? Or are there any other services in "your" reunlevel 5 that I am not aware of?

In any case, though I also have a system without keyboard/monitor, for things like installation and making it up to the tasks it has to do, I can always connect them in those difficult times (lying on my knees to work them). And I must admit that I have a async console connected to the COM port for day to day work.

**Knurpht** · 10-Sep-2009, 03:43

Looks like your initrd is not correct. Run this from a terminal window:

su -c mkinitrd

This creates a new initrd. Reboot and see if problem persists.

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