/var/log/messages

[jdow]

On 2011/12/22 17:16, Joe Zeff wrote:
> On 12/22/2011 04:29 PM, jdow wrote:
>>
>> (Joe MIGHT have been wise to move to 15 from 14 then move to 16 from 15 as
>> the upgrade path would have smaller changes. 14 to 15 might have properly
>> caught his syslogd problem. I'm not looking forward to the day the RHEL
>> path
>> adopts systemd. It sounds like more problem than solution.)
>
> I'd skipped F10 earlier, because it seemed to have lots of problems, and found
> the upgrade from 9 to 11 painless. I was hoping to have the same luck this time,
> but no. Neither my desktop nor my laptop has sound any more, nor can either one
> recognize a blank CD and write to it. Not only that, I can only mount flash
> drives on my desktop as root, and it insists that only root can write to them,
> no matter what I do to change the permissions. And, the only kernel that boots
> correctly on my laptop is the F14 kernel, which might have something to do with
> it. I'm seriously considering uninstalling all 3.X kernels, rebooting and
> updating the kernel to see if that helps. And, I'd still like to know how having
> /var/log/messages active would have been much of a help because AFAICT, most of
> the info I need doesn't get put there anyway.

Get a cheap replacement drive and install fresh on it. See if that works.

If it works you can recover your old data with a $10 USB->IDE/SATA dongle.
(I love mine, even though it keeps trying to fall apart it's so cheaply
made.) For a 2.5" drive you'd not even have to use external power for
the drive. USB is enough.

Then you can shuffle installs back and forth between disks, if you want,
using a live CD. Grandma might not have the talent for that even though
this elderly lady does. I do feel you're smart enough and experienced
enough to do it if you decide to.

{^_-}