On Wednesday, Mar 30, 2005, at 13:26 US/Central, Rex Nelson wrote:
This is a terribly analog question, but why would you want to?
Because I should be able to. I can under Red Hat/Fedora Core. I can under OS/X, too. On every Unix-like system I've been on, single user mode means a bare-bones, just-enough-to-type-at-the-keyboard mode. Few if any modules are loaded. Being able to boot in such a minimal mode is useful, for example, when you've botched one of your startup scripts or when the module loader incorrectly guesses the module to load for your NIC, which causes the kernel to hang on bootup.
I asked around at the local meeting (AmesFUG) about this question. It seems that there are three factors which are at play. Since I am not an engineer, all I can do is pass on what I understood from the conversation, so here it goes.
The first factor is the kernel and how it was compiled. If it was compiled with a lot of modules such as the network modules then you cannot escape it.
The second factor is the Ram Disk and what it was set up to load. If it was set up to load the network, you are also SOL.
The last factor is/are the modules that get loaded at the end. This can be changed.
So from the conversation, it seems that it is a philosophical question of how to set the operating system up in the first place. Thus if the kernel and ram disk are set up minimally, then single user mode does what you want (no network) if not then you can not escape it. The BSD folks at the meeting said that BSD sets up a minimal system and the loads everything at the end (So that may be why OS X behaves in the expected manner and takes some time to load :) ). So, at the end of the day, if you need to have Debian/Knoppix do what you want you may have to "roll your own" kernel ( or Knoppix version) at the very least. I don't know about setting up the ram disk, that may have to be altered also.
Regards, Rex
--
Rex Nelson Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scientist
Ames,IA
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
(515) 294-1297
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