[Tfug] Partition read/write

[Robert Hunter]

On 10/10/07, erich <erich1 at copper.net> wrote:
>     I'm upgrading the system on one of my machines, and while
> in the process, the /usr partition lost write status. I fixed this
> by rebooting the machine.
>
>     Question: What can cause a partition to lose write status?
> Oh sure, you can fix it by rebooting the machine; but the
> possibility exists that that option may become, (temporarily),
> closed for me.

Certain events, such as file-system errors, could cause a file-system to
be remounted as read-only.  The command to verify this is *mount*.  Also
check for kernel messages that may indicate what the problem is.  The
command is *dmesg*.  There's nothing like dying hardware to add a little
spice to your life.

Assuming that you do not need to take more drastic measures to correct
the problem, you may be able to avoid a reboot by:

1) switching to single-user run-level: *telinit 1*
2) checking the file-system *fsck /dev/<partition>*
3) if everything is OK, switching back to normal run-level *telinit <your
normal runlevel>*


-- 
Rob