/dev/null strangeness-SOLVED

[akonstam at trinity.edu]

I posted the problem stated below and did not get any solutions but a
solution described below showed up.

On Mon, Dec 26, 2005 at 11:20:56AM -0600, akonstam wrote:
> I have a FC4 system that every time it reboots the permissions on
> /dev/null change from 0666 to 0660. This causes boot errors and the
> system will not boot.
> 
I mention this so if this happens to anyone else they will know what
the problem was. It was that I managed to create a FC4 system without
a /sys file. 

To get this solution I had to use the wisdom of a Volvo mechanic that
I called in a panic. I told him that as I was driving on the
Interstate my gas gage was heading quickly toward empty. He asked the
critical question, "What else is not working?". As soon as I told him
the windshield wipers were not working he diagnosed the problem. A fuse
is blown.

So in this case I asked myself what else was not working? The /media
directory was missing. And so on. I recommend this approach to anyone
else who is faced with similar impossible behavior.
-------------------------------------------
Aaron Konstam
Computer Science
Trinity University
telephone: (210)-999-7484